ALTOONA, Pa. -- It's been only two years since James Franklin got his last contract extension and big raise from Penn State, and since then he's won 11 football games while losing nine. One of those losses was as a 27-point favorite against Maryland last year, and another as a 23-point favorite against Illinois this season.
Penn State started last season ranked No. 7, then lost five straight games and finished 4-5.
The Nittany Lions were No. 4 in the country six weeks ago, then lost four of five. They're now unranked and headed to some lesser-tier bowl game, most likely either Las Vegas or Nashville.
But somehow, despite all of that, Franklin appears to be on the verge of getting a massive new contract from Penn State. It's all still speculation at this point, but come Tuesday, many are expecting Franklin could get a new contract potentially for 10 years and upwards of $80 million.
Is he really worth that?
No.
Although in some ways yes.
And lots of in between.
I've got a bunch of thoughts on this issue, first and foremost being that I have a huge problem with this whole process.
The process of how a coach, who still has four years left on his current contract and who has struggled for two seasons, can still hold a major football program hostage, to where the program feels like it has no other choice but to cave to the coach's demands because it's deemed too big of a risk to let him go.
A coach, once again, who has gone 11-9 over the past two seasons.
Can we not call that failing upwards?
Has there ever been a coach who received a 10-year contract during a season in which he went 7-5, which is what Penn State would be if it loses this week at Michigan State?
Here are a bunch of components I'd like to discuss:
* For the record, I'm glad Franklin is still going to be Penn State's coach. God's honest truth. He's a real pro to deal with from a media standpoint because he's respectful, intelligent and makes our jobs easier. From a sheer selfish standpoint, that beats bringing in some jerk coach who likes to yell at the media or act like a goof.
I just wanted to put that out there to clear up ANY misconceptions that I have some kind of agenda against Franklin or want him to leave, just because I've written about all of this coaching carousel stuff extensively every step of the way. I've written about it because it's my job, and it's newsworthy, not because I ever wanted Franklin to leave. That was never the case.
* I happen to believe Franklin has not done a very good job as head coach for two seasons now. And I don't even know why I have to say this, because it should be crystal clear with his record, but it's astonishing to me that there are some diehard Penn State fans out there who continue to believe Franklin is such an awesome coach that it would be disastrous if he ever left.
I just don't get it. The standard at Penn State should be to hold a coach accountable to a better record than Franklin has had recently, not to reward him with a massive new contract.
* Franklin is a good coach and a phenomenal CEO. He worked a miracle in 2016 with the Big Ten title. He's a terrific recruiter. He has a lot going for him. It helps Penn State to keep him around from a stability standpoint.
* People fear the unknown. That's why, I believe, a lot of Penn State fans are afraid of the program falling apart -- like, for instance, Nebraska -- if Franklin were to leave. The fear factor I get to a degree. What I don't get is the complete loyalty to Franklin that some fans have and believing Penn State cannot find a better coach anywhere.
* To believe that the sky would fall if Franklin were to leave is pure folly. This is Penn State, for crying out loud, and the program would find another good coach. There are lots of them out there, and they could come in and succeed to a certain degree given all the advantages Penn State provides. The fact that some fans draw such a hard line in the sand with Franklin is baffling to me, based on the results of the past two years.
* Here's what bothers me the most: I believe Franklin has perfectly gamed the system at every turn and kept everybody guessing about what he would do just so he could maximize his leverage. I believe that what he's done, while common in the coaching ranks, is shady. I'm not calling Franklin shady. I'm calling the entire damn system shady because that's just how all this crap works. And again, all that has really happened is that Penn State will be forced to shell out more money and more resources just so that it can appease a football coach.
A football coach who is good but not great.
* Look, if you think Franklin is a great coach, and that him leaving would be devastating to Penn State, then you and I will never agree on any of this stuff I'm writing.
If you think Franklin is a good coach who can still improve in a lot of ways, then we can see eye to eye on a lot of this.
* I don't want Franklin gone.
I want to see Franklin do his job better, to not lose to 20-point underdogs, to not make bad decisions in big games, to not to lose to Ohio State all the time, to not lose nine consecutive games to top 10 opponents while Penn State is also ranked.
The coach who has done all of that apparently is about to get a new 10-year contract worth around $80 million. I don't think it's unfair to question and to criticize a lot of how all this has gone down when the final result is a good but not great coach getting the kind of contract that should be reserved for a coach who, you know, hasn't gone 11-9 over two seasons.
* This should not be and really is not about Franklin getting more money. All of this should be about Penn State making the biggest commitment it possibly can to the football program, which pays for everything else.
But just giving Franklin a lot more money -- if that does indeed happen -- is problematic. The program needs more money to be spent in a lot of areas, and Franklin already was making $6-7 million with incentives. If he gets millions more, doesn't it stand to reason to say that any extra money he's getting should, in fact, be used to pay for all of the extra stuff the coach says he wants?
For instance, Franklin may want more analysts. The program could get numerous analysts for an extra million dollars a year, but if that money is going to the coach, then it's money that can't be spent on analysts. Or assistant coaches. Or upgrades.
So, if Franklin does indeed get a big raise -- and we don't for sure that will be the case -- then I don't want to hear him complaining any more about needing other resources that that money could have been spent on in the first place.
* What I would love to see, no matter how much more money Franklin gets or not, would be Penn State releasing a bullet point list of items that it plans to spend more money on going forward. And hey, maybe Franklin won't be getting a huge raise for himself, because if he does, then it would be fair game to wonder if that money is truly going to help the football program, or just to help Franklin's bank account.
* Lastly, if Franklin gets a 10-year contract or anything of the sort, then his name had better not come up in connection with any job ever again. And if it does, no more of this nonsense of him beating around the bush by failing to fully commit to Penn State.
If there's a rumor about another job in the future, I want to hear Franklin flat out declare emphatically, "I am not going anywhere. I will be staying at Penn State. They made a commitment to me, and I am fully, 100 percent committed to Penn State."
He should have been doing that all along anyway. But then again, he was too busy gaming the system to make sure he gets everything he wants out of Penn State, whether he fully deserves it or not.
