Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1430714
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 3 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M It was hard to argue with any of what he said, and even his harshest critics would concede that he has worked tire- lessly to return the program to cham- pionship contention. But the "moving parts" comment got a lot of people's attention. Might one of those moving parts be Franklin himself? A PATH TO THE PLAYOFF There are a couple of reasons why Franklin might be reluctant to say un- equivocally that he's not interested in other jobs. The first reason is that he might actu- ally be interested in other jobs. He's already had success in the Southeastern Conference, having gone 24-15 in three seasons at Vanderbilt before heading to Penn State in 2014. Given his recruiting prowess, it's not hard to imagine him thriving in Baton Rouge, where LSU is only two years re- moved from winning a national title un- der Ed Orgeron. Both of Orgeron's pre- decessors — Nick Saban and Les Miles — won national championships with the Tigers, too. Yes, Franklin would be going up against a brutal slate of divisional rivals every year, no matter how the league rearranges itself with the impending addition of Oklahoma and Texas. But Orgeron was able to capitalize on the state's deep high school talent pool as well as the arrival via the transfer portal of future Heisman Trophy-win- ning quarterback Joe Burrow to finish No. 1 in 2019. And while LSU's decision to fire Org- eron just 22 months later might seem like something that would deter poten- tial replacements, it's also an indication of how seriously the university takes its football. If you're an ambitious coach who's in a hurry to win a championship, LSU's impatience might seem less like a red flag and more like a sign that your goals are in alignment. The USC job might be even more en- ticing. It's located in the heart of one of the nation's most talent-rich recruiting areas, and it's also in a city that's home to some of the biggest entertainment conglomerates in the world — no small consideration now that the NCAA has discarded its name, image and likeness restrictions and is allowing players to capitalize on their collegiate fame. W h a t's m o re , a t USC , Fra n k l i n wouldn't have an Ohio State or an Ala- bama standing in the way of his cham- pionship aspirations every year. The Pac-12's flagship program for the past decade or so has been Oregon, and the Ducks can be beaten. Of their 10 losses over the past four seasons, six were to unranked opponents, including a 31-24 overtime defeat at Stanford this past October. Compare that to the Buckeyes, who've lost only 11 games in the past 10 seasons and haven't lost to an unranked oppo- nent since falling at Purdue in 2018. The possibility that another school Franklin has stated he is "fiercely loyal" to Penn State and that "it's about my relationships," but the eighth-year coach of the Nittany Lions only fueled further speculation when he added that there are "a lot of moving parts." PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL