Expert Dishes on His No. 1 Candidate for USC Job

This coach 'checks all the boxes'.

The coaching carousel continues as does the search for USC football's next head coach. The organization fired Clay Helton a little over one month ago, and is now conducting a national search to find the next best candidate.

ESPN's Paul Finebaum believes that man is none other than Penn State's James Franklin. During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Finebaum made an argument for why the Trojans' should consider the Big Ten coach.

“I would hire James Franklin,” Finebaum said. “He checks a lot of boxes in the sense that he’s a very good CEO. Which means he’ll bring in a top-flight staff. From there, I think this program needs to be run like a big-time operation, which it hasn’t been.”

"If I'm over at Penn State right now I'd be searching the yellow pages for a new coach because I think James Franklin is leaving."

-@Finebaum weighs in on who he'd hire at #USC

For Paul's full appearance: https://t.co/Z9RiNjTFEE pic.twitter.com/PsSdkrpnsP

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) October 11, 2021

"If I'm over at Penn State right now, I would be searching the yellow pages for a new coach, because I think Franklin is leaving." 

USA TODAY

This year, Franklin has led Penn State to a 5-1 overall record halfway into the 2021 season. Their first loss was against Iowa in a close 23-20 victory by the Hawkeyes. Nonetheless, the Nittany Lions continue to shine in the AP Top 25, currently holding the No. 7 overall spot, and No. 2 overall seed in 247Sports recruiting rankings. 

It's clear that Franklin has done an exceptional job with Penn State's football program, which makes him an intriguing candidate for the vacancy in Southern California. 

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