One of the biggest college football stories of the past few days was the firing of James Franklin as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, a move that surprised many. One person who weighed in was fellow coach Marcus Freeman, leader of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who offered his first comments on the situation.
When results on the field don’t meet expectations, the head coach is often the first to take the fall. After a string of tough losses, the Lions’ front office made the significant decision to part ways with Franklin.
Marcus Freeman, someone who knows firsthand the work Franklin puts into his teams, spoke to the media and expressed regret over his colleague’s fate—acknowledging that getting fired is something no coach ever wants to experience.
“Let’s start with James Franklin,” the Fighting Irish coach said. “Again, I have a lot of respect for any coach, but what he’s done for college football has been tremendous. You never want to see somebody fired.
Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions shakes hands with head coach Marcus Freeman.
“As a head coach, right — I’m a head coach — you’re going to be okay, right? You’re gonna be okay. You feel awful for the people that come and join you that are going to be out of a job too. There’s a lot of people affected, a lot of families affected. Like if Pete [Bevacqua] said, ‘Marcus, you’re gone’ tomorrow, it stinks cause I love what I do, and I love coaching these young people,” he also added.
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“But I’m going to be okay. But you feel awful for the people that have joined your program, and their families that don’t have a job at the end of the year. That’s what’s challenging about that.”
No resting on laurels
Marcus Freeman knows that being a coach in college football is extremely risky, even when achieving good results. This is something Franklin experienced at Penn State, who, despite having led the program to the Playoffs, losing several games in a row means losing the job.
“And it’s a reminder to — listen, don’t ever get too comfortable. I mean, you’re just in the college football semi-finals last year,” Freeman said. “And had a heck of a team. I don’t know what’s going on with Penn State. I don’t watch any of their games, and you lose three, and that’s it.
“So, it’s a challenging profession. It’s a reminder to be grateful for the opportunities you have. But again, each administration will make their own — Penn State made their own decision and every administration makes decisions based off what they think’s important.”
Could Freeman be heading to Penn State?
The swirling rumors around James Franklin’s potential replacement continue, and alongside names like Curt Cignetti and Matt Rhule, Marcus Freeman has also emerged as a candidate. However, all are purely speculative at this point, and Freeman himself has not commented on the possibility of switching programs mid-season.
