What if James Franklin Had Left Penn State for USC?

Three years ago, Franklin appeared to be among the favorites for the USC job. Now, he's coaching against the Trojans in the Big Ten.

Penn State coach James Franklin stands on the field during a warmup prior to the game against the Bowling Green Falcons at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column first appeared at Ben Jones on Penn State.

In a world not much different from ours, James Franklin would be walking the sideline this weekend as USC’s head coach rather than Penn State’s.

Three years ago, Franklin appeared to be among the favorites to land in sunny California, which would have marked the second major inflection point for Penn State football since the start of the Bill O’Brien era. Instead, USC hired Lincoln Riley who subsequently produced a Heisman winner and something of a mixed bag of results on the field. For his part, Franklin landed a 10-year deal and has done more or less what Penn State has always done under his watch. Franklin also ended up with an athletic director more to his liking. More on that later.

How close Franklin actually was to ending up at USC, which his fourth-ranked Penn State team will visit Saturday, falls squarely in the department of “depends who you ask.” But of all the jobs Franklin has been associated with over the years, USC has always been the one which made the most sense. He would thrive in LA, recruit well in a talent-rich state, potentially have the sort of administrative support he had longed for, and — prior to Big Ten expansion — have a friendly path to the postseason. Of the people who might know, most of them were convinced it nearly happened, but that’s water under the bridge.

"As you know, I can't stand any form of distraction," Franklin said in the fall of 2021. "I'll discuss this today with our leadership council so that we can make sure all of our energy is on our preparation for Auburn."

The current state of college football does lend itself to the question of where Franklin would end up if he opted to leave State College and why he might go.

There are schools closer to more talent — Florida State and Florida both have nice backyards to recruit — but that also exist in a world full of insane people operating as powerful boosters. For whatever shortcomings Franklin might have, and for however passionate Penn State fans might be, there’s a lot less perpetual threat of mutiny. Just about anywhere in the SEC isn’t going to provide
Franklin with a ton of goodwill or a ton of time. This is probably only accentuated by the fact Franklin’s record in big games against quality teams is what it is. It’s one thing to be the up-and-coming coach, another to be the guy people think can’t get over the hump.

Regarding competition, Franklin could hitch his wagon to a smaller conference, but it’s hard to imagine, if winning is the goal, that this would make sense, even harder still to imagine the money is there to pay him. All told, there probably aren’t any jobs that would actually hire Franklin where the path to winning is easier and the existential angst is less.

Of course, Franklin’s buyout to leave for another job is next to nothing these days ($2 million in 2024), a hurdle gone.

Where does this land us? It’s hard to imagine a world in this day and age where you can say a coach will be around for another seven years. But if Penn State gives him what he wants, which it appears to be doing, there’s not a terribly obvious alternative or a terribly obvious reason for him to leave. One might argue Clemson for a fairly friendly path in comparison to others. But if Penn State continues to finish in the Top 12, Clemson’s slightly easier path toward the postseason isn’t as immediately appealing as it once was. There also are zero guarantee these days that Clemson won’t end up somewhere else in a few years.

“I did say that this was my dream job [in 2014], but in a lot of ways it really wasn’t because I didn’t really see this. I thought it would always stay kind of within the family,” Franklin told me once. “And when I say within the family, somebody with strong Penn State ties, you know? … When I’m at Vanderbilt, and I saw I saw [Bill O’Brien] got the job, I think that kind of changed that a little bit. But I would also say I’m not wired like a lot of people were, a lot of people in this industry. They get a job and then a couple of years in, or even right away, sometimes they’re already thinking about the next job. And I’m really just not wired like that. So no, to sit here and say, I think I’d be here 10-plus years, no because I’ve never done that if you look at my career. I’ve never done that and been able to do that.”

And also of note: Franklin, who turns 53 in the next few months, would be around 60 when this current deal ends. So there is a question of how long he might live this kind of life in the first place.

“I don’t have a number, but me and my wife kind of go back and forth on this all the time,” Franklin said in 2023. “I don’t really know what I would do. I don’t have a whole lot of other hobbies. So I worry a little bit about that. She always talks to me about going on TV. I’ve done a little bit of that, some of that broadcasting stuff. But I’m not really sure — I don’t have a number in my mind. I think a lot of it’s going to be just how I feel, you know, those types of things. It’s not just how I feel but do I feel like I have the energy to give what college football takes nowadays and what Penn State needs. So it’s more of that; it’s not a number it’s kind of a feel.”

“It’s funny that you say that, though. We’re not an early offer team for the most part and we offered to a rising eighth grader in my office yesterday. I remember I’m sitting there meeting with the parents and the kid. I’m like holy s---, like, am I really about to do this? Like I don’t believe in this; what am I doing? Well, thank God I got a 10-year contract. That’s the only chance I’ve got, you know, with
this young man to kind of see it through with him.”

Where does all of this lead? College football is too fluid to really know into the future that far, but one thing is for certain: This weekend would be a lot weirder, and maybe 10 percent more interesting, if Franklin was on the other sideline.

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Ben Jones has been covering Penn State athletics for 13 years, having been to countless home and road games for Nittany Lion sporting events spanning from the Rose Bowl to the NCAA Tournament. He's also the author of the book Happy Valley Hockey. You can read his work at https://benjonesonpennstate.substack.com and follow him on X (Twitter) at Ben_Jones88