More James Franklin to USC speculation, only this time it’s a different USC

Here we go again with speculation about James Franklin possibly going to USC. But this time it’s not the University of Southern California, but instead the University of South Carolina.

Franklin’s one-time quarterback at Vanderbilt, Jordan Rodgers, who’s now an SEC analyst, mentioned that possibility Monday afternoon with this tweet:

While throwing out names that are not currently on the “media short list” for SC…

James Franklin

No one has proven the elite ability to completely rebuild a program better than JF. Vandy turnaround was historic. PSU under scholarship sanctions + dark cloud, won B10 champ.

— Jordan Rodgers (@JRodgers11) November 16, 2020

And yes if you are going to reply about their current record and state of affairs….

You have a valid point.

However if you’re entertaining the idea of Freeze’s buyout you may be able to get JF at a buyout discount.

He would put SC on the recruiting map again

— Jordan Rodgers (@JRodgers11) November 16, 2020

Now, if most analysts just threw out Franklin’s name with the South Carolina possibility, it would go largely ignored. But this comes from a former Franklin player, so you’d think that maybe Rodgers knows a thing or two about Franklin in making such a prediction.

Still, it seems very far fetched that Franklin would walk away from all the resources he has at Penn State, a traditional national power despite this year’s 0-4 start, to go to a place like South Carolina that has only occasionally been a major player on the national scene.

Saturday night, an Associated Press story linked Franklin as a possible candidate to Southern Cal, speculation that has come up before and probably will continue to come up in the future.