Penn State football head coach James Franklin is always under some heat and after the 2024-25 season (and its blunders), the narrative going around is that there's too much hype brewing around the Nittany Lions.
CBS Sports Cody Nagel, though, doesn't seem to think Franklin is overrated in his 2025 Big Ten coaches ranking.
CBS Sports' Cody Nagel ranks Penn State's James Franklin No. 3 among Big Ten coaches
Before even hitting the rankings, Nagel wrote, "Franklin continues to push Penn State toward elite status despite ongoing debates about his ceiling."
The Nittany Lion head coach is currently ranked No. 7 overall among Power Four coaches. He finished the 2024-25 season third in the Big Ten with a 13-3 overall and 8-1 conference record. Penn State wins when it's supposed to, but it's those big games where Franklinand his team need to kick another gear into action.
The 2025-26 season is the perfect time to do it. In fact, CBS Sports says it's a career-defining year for Franklin.
If Franklin can't bring titles back to Happy Valley, most importantly the national title, fans and critics are going to fume. Outside noise shouldn't affect him, but it is time for those big games to fall in favor of the Nittany Lions. They were minutes away from the College Football Playoff championship game and let a Big Ten title slip through their fingers with a late interception.
"Elite status" is right there for Penn State, and with the roster it has for 2025-26, it should reach just that. It's the favorite to win the Big Ten and one of the top six favorites to win the national championship.
Both are more than possible for Franklin, and if he can't do it with offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, and defensive tackle Zane Durant, who can he do it with?
"Big Game James" didn't cloud Nagel's opinions as to where Franklin should be ranked in the Big Ten, though. He sits at the No. 3 spot behind No. 1 Ohio State's Ryan Day and No. 2 Oregon's Dan Lanning. Before the 2024-25 season, Franklin was ranked fourth behind USC's Lincoln Riley, but the two switched places ahead of 2025-26.
For most Big Ten coaches in 2025-26, it's about finishing with a winning record, an improved run in the Big Ten, or another championship or Bowl Game win. For Franklin, though, it's about finishing on top of every other school in the country.