What did James Franklin say about Penn State football on 'College GameDay?'

James Franklin said he is still trying to wrap his head around his abrupt firing at Penn State six days ago.

He was direct and spoke confidently about how his ultimate head coaching goal hasn't changed during a Saturday morning exclusive interview on ESPN's "College GameDay" on Oct. 18.

“I thought we were going to win a national championship there, we were close," he said about his 12 seasons with Penn State football. "That goal hasn’t changed. We’re just going to go win a national championship somewhere else now."

Franklin spoke for about nine minutes on the set of ESPN's weekly college football preview show, this time broadcasting from the University of Georgia. It was his first public statement and appearance since being fired from the Nittany Lions last Sunday.

Later Saturday night, his former team will give a defining performance on its state of being in its game against the rising Iowa Hawkeyes in raucous Kinnick Stadium. They will play their first game without Franklin, their coach for 12 seasons, and injured starting quarterback Drew Allar.

Instead, interim head coach Terry Smith and redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer will lead the Lions.

During the ESPN interview, Franklin, 53, gave his thoughts about the bold if not stunning midseason firing just a few of weeks after his team was ranked No. 2 nationally − and how he will move on to what lies ahead.

He said he was informed of his firing by athletic director Pat Kraft just before the Lions' typical Sunday afternoon team meeting.

"I was in shock, obviously. So I took the next 15 mintues to let my kids know so they wouldn't find out on the Internet," Franklin said. "And then walked down and had a super-emotional meeting with the team to tell them I was leaving. Really, that was it. That quick. Pretty much in shock as that was going on."

How does he feel he was treated by Penn State officials?

"Fair is not for me to decide. That's for other people to decide, the decision that was made that was hard for me to comprehend at the time. But I want to focus on all the unbelievable moments. I had a great run there, 12 years. Penn State was great to me and my family.

"Most importantly it's about the players. I'm a players-coach, always have been. That's the hardest part. It's walking away from all those young men in that locker room, the recruits that were committed to us, alot of tough conversations. That's the challenge. It's the people at the end of the day ..."

"What I don't think people realize is how many people this affects, a ton of people. That's where my heart breaks."

James Franklin's Penn State football career

Penn State and Franklin's fall truly began in a late-September double overtime loss to Oregon in a Beaver Stadium White Out.

PSU surprisingly followed that up Oregon loss with two embarassing defeats to huge underdogs, ruining its hopes for a national championship drive, a repeat College Football Playoff bid and now, quite possibly, even a winning season. The final defeat, on homecoming, ended with senior quarterback Drew Allar suffering a season-ending injury.

Franklin was fired the next day.

"It feels surreal," Franklin said, relaying a message he got from Allar's father, Kevin, who told them how they both should be in Iowa this weekend for the Lions' game.

Now, Franklin and his wife and two daughters must move on. His youngest, a senior in high school, was planning to attend Penn State and "obviously the plans have changed there," he said.

What's next?

"I don't know anything else, I 've been doing this for 30 years. I don't have hobbies, I don't golf, I don't fish. This has been such a big part of my identity, such a big part of my family, we love it. So it's take a deep breath ... then it's, 'Hey, we got to get back to doing what we do, which is help young people achieve their dreams ...

"I can't wait for that next challenge, and we're goint to go win a national champioship at the highest level."

Franklin produced an impressive 100-45 record in 12 seasons at Penn State, which included a Big Ten championship in 2016, three New Year's Six bowl victories and two playoff wins. He is tied with Rip Engle for the second-most head coaching victories Penn State, behind Joe Paterno's major college football record 409.

However, Franklin's Penn State teams rarely ever won marquee match-ups. His Lions were just 4-21 against top-10 ranked teams in that span, including a 1-10 record against Big Ten rival Ohio State

According to a financial term sheet he signed in 2022, which was obtained by the USA TODAY Network, Franklin is owed just under $50 million for being fired without cause.

No matter, athletic director Pat Kraft said this week that Penn State simply needed a new leader to reach its intended goals.

"This is not a three-game thing," Kraft said. "It's really diving into where we were as a program, the trajectory of the program. And you all know I’m here to win national championships, and I believe our fans deserve that.

“I do data, I do analytics, I do everything. And when you start to look at where we’re going, and, yes, how this year had been playing out, all those things you have to take into consideration."

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: What James Franklin said about Penn State football on College GameDay