Gone in 15 days: How the James Franklin era fell apart at Penn State
Folks in and around the Nittany Lions dish on how things got so bad so quickly in Happy Valley.
The season was on the brink, and the coach was worried about a videographer.
Penn State entered Saturday’s game against Northwestern teetering, having dropped two straight contests and facing the reality that this all-in season was all but doomed before it even reached its midway point. Already, the vibe had seemed off during the week with James Franklin, a big Standard Operating Procedure guy known for his “1-0” mentality on game weeks. Across his tenure leading the Nittany Lions, Franklin had made a habit of devoting a healthy portion of the beginning of his Monday news conference to his team’s upcoming opponent. Last week, though, Franklin spent the entirety of his opening statement recapping his team’s stunning loss to UCLA two days earlier, only adding at the end that he was on to Northwestern.
Asked at the end of that news conference why he deviated from his routine and did not open with a scouting report of the Wildcats, Franklin began his answer with: “That’s fair. Obviously focused on the last game as much as we possibly could, so I’m glad you asked.”
The visiting Wildcats were not expected to pose much of a threat, having already lost two games by 20 points apiece. They were 21-point underdogs for their trip to Happy Valley.
Northwestern had hired a freelance videographer for the game, A.J. Poindexter, and this made Franklin uneasy. Poindexter is the son of Anthony Poindexter, Penn State’s co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. He had done work for NFL Films, the NCAA and Penn State football, among others.
To Franklin, the sight of the son of one of his trusted lieutenants working the visiting sidelines at Beaver Stadium would create a terrible look for him and his program. Never mind that few, if any, fans or media members would notice Poindexter, or likely care that he was working for the opposition. By mid-week, he had tried to talk the younger Poindexter out of doing the job.
What happened to going 1-0 each week, to blocking out distractions, to focusing on Northwestern, Northwestern, Northwestern?
“This guy’s head is f—ing spinning,” a person with knowledge of the exchange told The Inside Zone of Franklin’s attitude last week.
It was a theme that followed Franklin throughout what would end up being his final week as Penn State’s coach.
On Sept. 27, the Nittany Lions were a fourth-down stop away from beating Oregon and making good on much of the preseason hype that had surrounded them. They had “College GameDay” on-hand for a primetime White Out game. Franklin drummed up interest all summer long for this showcase, and he even appeared on the ESPN set in the morning next to the legendary Nick Saban, who was wearing a Nittany Lion mascot costume for the segment.
Incredibly, Franklin was fired 15 days later, on Sunday, bringing to end a 12-year era that featured 104 wins, four New Year’s Six bowl wins, five top-10 finishes and a run to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
“Football is our backbone,” Penn State athletic director Patrick Kraft said Monday. “We have invested at the highest level. With that comes high expectations. Ultimately, I believe a new leader can help us win a national championship, and now is the right time for this change.”
On paper, the firing of a coach who was on the brink of the national championship game nine months ago — a coach who had a nearly $50 million buyout, no less — looks harsh. Following Penn State’s loss to Northwestern, agents and ADs around the country seriously doubted that the school would pull the plug on Franklin after a three-game losing streak. Yet in State College, Pa., the decision became abundantly clear. The Inside Zone spoke to a dozen sources in and around the program in the days since Franklin’s firing to examine where it all went south.