James Franklin opens up on why he can never watch a Penn State game ever again

This is not the least bit surprising. Former Penn State head coach James Franklin could not stomach watching Nittany Lions games after he had been let go. Franklin's dismissal from the program came after a dreadful 0-3 start to Big Ten play. This was not even a year after he guided Penn State to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Not long after being let go, he was hired to take over Virginia Tech.

When talking to one of his former players in Adam Breneman, Franklin was especially candid about it.

"I had a hard time watching college football, specifically Penn State. I couldn't sit back and watch ... I could watch college football, I couldn't watch Penn State. I couldn't do it. It was just too many emotions."

Franklin then said that his wife and daughters would still watch games because of their friendships.

"And sometimes, my wife and daughters would be upstairs in the kitchen. They'd be screaming, and I don't know what they're screaming about, but I knew they weren't that into the other games that were on TV. For my daughters, those players have been like their brothers. But yeah, I'd watch college football, but I couldn't watch the Penn State games."

You can tell from this 30-second clip that being able to lead Penn State meant so much to Franklin.

Franklin is entering year one in Blacksburg, hoping to turn the Hokies around in the next season or so.

If anybody is going to be able to return the Hokies to their former glory in the 21st century, it is him.

James Franklin found Penn State games too emotional for him to watch

Just because it did not work out for Franklin in the end at Penn State does not mean he will not achieve success at his next stop of Virginia Tech. He won a lot of games in State College, as well as being a breakthrough head coach of sorts for the Vanderbilt Commodores over a decade ago. He was the heir apparent to replace Ralph Friedgen at Maryland for a while there, but it never manifested.

Where Franklin may have gotten burned last year was with his coordinator hires. Andy Kotlenicki never really amounted to much on his own away from his mentor Lance Leipold. Guess what Big 12 team Kotelnicki works for now... While Jim Knowles was a rockstar at Ohio State and Oklahoma State previously, he was not up to snuff at Penn State. It was a regrettable hire. Now, he is with Tennessee...

Overall, Franklin speaking this openly with Breneman showed that he always cared about this team and its players. His termination from Penn State was not an easy decision for the athletic department to make. Simply put, Franklin did not win enough big games at the helm of the Nittany Lions program to get to keep on coaching Penn State. Matt Campbell is coming over from Iowa State to be that guy.

At this time, maybe we can start to heal and begin to look back fondly on some of his best moments?

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