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California bound? CFB experts consider James Franklin candidate if USC job opens
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It’s hard to believe that we’ve already reached this time of year. With one week remaining in the regular season, the coaching carousel is at full speed and the rumor mill is churning at rapid pace.
One of the more interesting coaching conversations involves Penn State head coach James Franklin and USC.
At the end of the season, many are anticipating the Trojans will terminate head coach Clay Helton after an underwhelming year in Los Angeles. Of course, that’s prompted several debates about which head coach would be a good fit for the best job out West.
Enter Franklin.
His name has been tied to high-profile jobs since resurrecting Penn State over the last three seasons. Franklin has denied most of the rumors, but a few college football experts believe he’s a serious contender if the USC position becomes vacant.
Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman, both of The Athletic, discussed the topic during an episode of The Audible podcast:
Feldman: People will say, “He’s a Pennsylvania guy.” Yes he is. And he has really done a really good job in State College. Here is the reality though, and I don’t know if Penn State fans probably will not like to hear this, but if you’re the head coach at USC, you have by far the best job, the best program in the conference. It is not even close in terms of you have all these recruits in your background. You have manageable academics to get them into school. A lot of these kids — most of these kids — grew up dreaming of playing for USC. You have really good facilities. You are also going into the Pac 12 South when it is in complete disarray, right? If you’re at Penn State. Yeah, it’s got great tradition too, and you got really good facilities. You also have Ohio State and Michigan in your division, not to mention Michigan State. I mean, I think most people who are objective and who are not diehard Penn State fans would say that’s probably the third best job in the division, right?
Mandel: Absolutely. That’s the reality of it. And another thing that should be brought up is: I don’t know if the Penn State fan base has ever fully embraced James Franklin even after winning a Big Ten Championship. I still hear the criticism every time they lose a game. They’re 8-3, you know, that’s not a bad season by any means, but I’m sure a lot of people thought it should have been better. So you could stick around and continue to butt heads with Ohio State and Michigan and trying to keep winning everybody over, or you could go to a place that is so hungry and desperate to win that you’ll be given the royal treatment the minute you step off the plane.
Franklin is a Pennsylvania native and appears to be comfortable in his home state. And with the possibility of leading Penn State to three-straight 10-win seasons — something that hasn’t happened in Happy Valley since the 1980s — it’s hard to believe he’s eager to leave.
But USC is considered one of the top jobs in the country and it’s definitely the premier program in the Pac-12.
Things could get pretty interesting in Happy Valley if USC makes a move on Helton after the season.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB