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Penn State Football: Is James Franklin a top-10 Coach?

By Andrew Adair

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 03: James Franklin, head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, celebrates with the Big Ten Championship trophy after Penn State beat the Wisconsin Badgers 38-31 at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 3, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 03: James Franklin, head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, celebrates with the Big Ten Championship trophy after Penn State beat the Wisconsin Badgers 38-31 at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 3, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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James Franklin is a lightning rod for criticism. But could Penn State Football fans be taking their head coach for granted?

Wednesday afternoon, On3.com released a ranking by Bruce Feldman that ranks the top-ten coaches in college football. Penn State Football Head Coach James Franklin is included on this list.

Should he be? Let’s take a look.

https://twitter.com/On3sports/status/1501667617920147469?s=20&t=RHZqtXGLvrJF0zJ7ri6YTQ

College Football is a culture of “what have you done for me lately.” For Franklin, lately, that is a .500 coach with an 11-11 record in the last two seasons.

Is this who James Franklin is? I don’t think so.

Franklin has had his shares of ups and downs over his eleven-year career. Fortunately for him, there have been many more ups. You don’t get to be a Head Coach in the SEC and Big Ten for this long without doing something right.

We all know that Franklin makes questionable decisions during games, but you can’t deny the success he has had on the field or the recruiting trail. He led lowly Vanderbilt to nine-win seasons twice in his three seasons. That has yet to be replicated by his successors there.

The success at Vanderbilt led James Franklin to land the gig at Penn State. Since arriving at Penn State, James Franklin has a record of 67-34. He has one Big Ten Championship and three New Year Six bowl appearances.

Penn State Football, James Franklin
Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions is soaked with the Gatorade cooler by Cam Brown #6 of the Penn State Nittany Lions after the Nittany Lions beat the Memphis Tigers 53-39 at AT&T Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Penn State Football’s James Franklin has strong case to be top-10 nationally

These accomplishments have landed James Franklin at number nine on this list.

Penn State Football is riding on the momentum of their best-recruiting classes under Franklin. And, the Nittany Lions will look very different this season with all the changes made within the program.

If you want to read into the going on’s of winter workouts, there is a renewed energy within the Penn State Football program. It’s giving off a sense of optimism we haven’t seen in the last two off-seasons.

Franklin is a great CEO for a program and a great recruiter. The coaching aspect can be questioned, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a top-ten coach.  Let’s hope for James Franklins’ sake, Penn State can return to their winning ways this season.

light. Hot. Inside how James Franklin restored Penn State's roar on the recruiting trail

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