Joel Klatt issues apology for crack at James Franklin: 'I wasn't at my best'
Joel Klatt knows he was not at the top of his game during FOX’s Week 7 broadcast. While covering the showdown between Indiana and Michigan, Klatt and Gus Johnson brought up the recent drama centered around James Franklin’s comments about scheduling.
Klatt responded with a wisecrack, noting that Franklin’s comments were “rich” for someone facing UMass in Week 7. While Johnson and Klatt laughed it off in the moment, Klatt responded and apologized in a recent segment.
Klatt began his apology by pointing out Franklin had a thorough and thoughtful answer about scheduling.
“There was something brought up on the broadcast and I just don’t like the way I handled it,” said Klatt. “It was brought up that James Franklin had talked in a press conference about scheduling, and he gave a long and thoughtful answer about scheduling and at one point had insinuated — there was one part of the quote that insinuated — hey we’ve got teams in this conference buying out… a tough game to go play not a tough game.”
Considering Franklin’s full answer, Klatt felt the need to admit to viewers when he misses the mark or is not at his best:
“He gave a much more thoughtful answer than just the quote that I referred to. I want to be transparent enough with you, the listener, the viewer and the fan of college football,” Klatt explained. “You deserve to know when I feel like I wasn’t at my best. What I said on the broadcast was not my best.”
At the end of the day, Klatt did not want to take a shot at Franklin, and the broadcaster would like to have that moment back:
“My intent was not to take a shot at James Franklin… I’m here to tell you I wish I could have handled that one differently,” Klatt concluded.
Just want to be honest and transparent pic.twitter.com/Wf2g7TCiuW
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) October 18, 2023