One of my favorite summer blockbusters is the 1984 Eddie Murphy classic “Beverly Hills Cop,” which details the journey of Detroit detective Axel Foley, who makes a visit to Beverly Hills to help solve the mystery behind the murder of his best friend.
On the soundtrack of the hit film is the Glenn Frey song, “The Heat Is On,” something Foley experienced in the trials of solving his case in the film.
In real life, Penn State coach James Franklin can “feel it,” no matter if it is internally in the Lasch Building amongst his players or coaches or even when he makes media appearances.
Even if Franklin isn’t present, he is often reminded of the pressure he has, which many feel he has the most.
“I’m going into Big Ten, I’m going James Franklin,” ESPN’s Greg McElroy said on Get Up last week. “This is the first year where you can go into the season and say Penn State has, arguably, a superior roster to that of Michigan and Ohio State. We’ve always kind of looked at James Franklin and knocked him because he can’t win the big one, but he’s never had the same tools that the teams he was trying to beat had, so this is the first time that he actually has the advantage.”
McElroy continued, “If he were to lose those games to his rivals there in the Big Ten, that would be a reflection on him. So, I think this is the year he has to get over the hump. This is the year he has to beat the Michigans, the Ohio States, the Oregons, and capture that elusive Big Ten title for the first time in nearly a decade.”
The self proclaimed “Mouth From the South” Paul Finebaum, was more direct about Franklin’s past and future pressure.
“I so desperately want to think, ‘Greg, what are you talking about? How can you put heat on James Franklin?’ But I was the one who put all the heat on James Franklin after he blew the Orange Bowl, which Greg’s pretty familiar with, having done that game,” Finebaum said.
Franklin is seemingly Finebaum’s new favorite target, replacing former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh in that regard.
While I have been critical of Franklin in the past, I cannot beat Franklin up for the Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame back in January. I can count at least five plays that I know Franklin coaches his team on that his players failed on, that isn’t an indictment on the coach.
Unfortunately in this bottomline business, when coaches are the constant, they take all the responsibility.
Franklin fell to 4-20 against AP Top 10 teams at Penn State.
The great coaches have to figure it out when they got the pieces.
A great case is that of former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne. It took Osborne 22 seasons to win his first national championship.
Franklin’s 1-10 record against Ohio State is as ugly as Osborne’s 5-12 record against Barry Switzer coached Oklahoma teams. Nebraska lost seven major bowl games in a row, going winless against Miami and Florida State teams that dominated the era.
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: James Franklin
Even during Osborne’s journey to his first national championship, he had a team in 1983 that many thought leading up to the 1984 Orange Bowl was the greatest team of all time. Penn State got eviscerated by Nebraska 44-6 in the inaugural Kickoff Classic. The team averaged 52 points per game and were dubbed the “Scoring Explosion.”
Osborne’s big game failure appeared in that classic Orange Bowl with no overtime, Osborne opted for the win instead of the tie and was denied at least a share of his first national championship.
Florida State’s Bobby Bowden had to contend with a Miami program that seemingly had his number for years but eventually overcame it.
While the analogies to Bowden and Osborne help soften the pain, the game is different now with the expanded College Football Playoff.
Can you imagine how many more championships Bowden, Osborne or even Paterno would have with an expanded College Football Playoffs or even second chances?
That is what Ryan Day got. The coaches back in the day had to be perfect or have to at least earn the perception of the best of one-loss teams. I can tell you, Florida State had many dangerous teams that were 10-2 and if they had a tournament like they do now, Bowden would have at least six or seven championships.
Franklin has a team in the classic college football format that would go undefeated and win a bowl to be national championship. Now Franklin faces not only a 12-game regular season, but most likely a Big Ten Championship Game, and an additional three or four College Football Playoff games – none of which are easy.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Unlike Osborne, who blew a golden opportunity with his 1983 Huskers, none of us today know if there will be a golden run at the end for Franklin. Osborne went 60-3 in his final five seasons in Lincoln with three national championships. Without those championships, Osborne wouldn’t have the stature he does in college football let alone Nebraska.
Franklin knows teams like the 2025 ones come around rarely. We all dream Penn State could have Nick Saban Alabama dynasty or Bobby Bowden Florida State-type runs in them where it is reload and be at the very top of college football. Franklin has managed to keep Penn State a perennial Top 10 power and that is the envy of many programs out there.
What changed the narrative for Day was winning last year’s national championship. Even with a fourth straight loss to Michigan, what neutralizes the vitriol is winning the whole thing.
That is Franklin’s blueprint to a T.
Day’s legacy is completely different in Columbus. While some may have the bitterness for his recent Michigan failings, Day is not John Cooper 2.0 in Columbus by any stretch. That national championship puts him alongside Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel, and Urban Meyer with the great Ohio State coaches. No matter how bad Day is against Michigan, that national championship distinguishes himself from the likes of Cooper.
Franklin is venerated by most of Penn State’s faithful. He’s a Hall of Fame coach right now and continues that Penn State tradition. But Franklin isn’t just coaching just to be among the best, he wants to be the best.
“I don’t usually talk about this publicly, but my goal is to be the first African-American football coach to win a college national championship,” Franklin said in 2019. “That’s something that’s very historic.”
There is no doubt Franklin relishes in his legacy the men he helped mold and the impact they had on their families and community, but the sweetest part of legacy is winning championships and eradicating any negative connotations Franklin may have. .
As summer continues to barrel on, and Big Ten Media Days approaches and then Nevada to open the 2025 season, Franklin is feeling it because the heat is on.
