James Franklin’s GameDay appearance: A calculated job interview after Penn State firing

James Franklin’s interview on ESPN’s College GameDay, his first time speaking publicly since being fired by Penn State, was nothing more than a calculated PR move.

It served as a platform for Franklin to tell athletic directors across the country that he’s open for business, wants to coach again and win a national title at their school. That was it, and that’s how these things go.

If you expected anything different — any real substance or accountability — you haven’t been listening to the Nittany Lions’ former coach for the last 11 years.

Franklin, always the intentional diplomat, said all the things you’d expect him to say on Saturday when he joined the GameDay set in Athens, Ga., six days removed from being fired.

He carried himself well. He talked about all the good he did at Penn State, which was a lot. He talked about the relationships with his players. He talked about his family. And he didn’t openly didn’t bad-mouth Penn State.

Nick Saban did that for him.

When asked if he thought he was treated “fairly,” Franklin said, “Fair is not for me to decide.” Then, Saban chimed in.

“It’s unfair as hell,” Saban said, “for you to go to the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, get in the Final Four. Come out, being ranked number one this year — an expectation that you created by what you accomplished at Penn State — and for those people not to show enough appreciation for that and gratitude for all the hard work that you did, I’m saying it’s unfair.”

Conveniently, Saban and Franklin share the same agent, Jimmy Sexton. I wonder if those comments were planned at all.

Everyone else on GameDay was just as deferential. Rece Davis and the crew praised Franklin several times for coming on to talk so soon after he was fired. As if it wasn’t in his best interest to do so. As if they weren’t going to lob him some softballs and let him wave away what got him fired.

There was no mention of UCLA and Northwestern, the embarrassing losses after another heartbreaker against Oregon that got us to this point in the first place. No mention of how the Lions looked like they either didn’t care or were unprepared against the Bruins and Wildcats.

There was a question about Franklin’s 4-21 record against top-10 opponents and if he has to change his approach to those games. Franklin gave a patented non-answer.

Only a couple slivers of information were revealed on the GameDay set. Franklin said he found out he was fired by athletic director Pat Kraft 15 minutes before Sunday’s team meeting. No one followed up and asked, “What reasons were given for your dismissal?” That would have been nice.

The other piece of info was that Franklin wants to coach again soon. That’s why the whole thing felt like a job interview. Because it was.

When asked what’s next, Franklin said he has “no hobbies.” He doesn’t golf. He doesn’t fish. The 53-year-old has been a coach for three decades, and he wants to continue that.

Franklin, after his long run of success, will be a top candidate for a lot of schools in what promises to be a crazy coaching carousel.

“I can’t wait for that next challenge,” Franklin said. “We’re going to go win a national championship at the highest level.”

The fact that Franklin is thinking that way is a good thing for Penn State. If Franklin takes a new job, it reduces the buyout Penn State would have to pay him. Franklin is owed $8 million per year from Penn State through 2031. But his new salary at Insert School Here will help offset what Kraft and the Nittany Lions owe their former coach.

But outside of the acknowledgement that he still wants to coach, Franklin’s interview on GameDay was a nothing burger. It was well-manicured and lacked substance.

Not that we should have expected anything else.

Listen to the Blue-White Breakdown podcast