Reaction has been swift to the firing of James Franklin, who was dismissed Sunday just six games into his 12th season at Penn State.
There has been support from all sides regarding the decision, but one of college football’s most prominent voices called the move “insane.”
Josh Pate, host of The Late Kick with Josh Pate, weighed in on Penn State’s decision to end Franklin’s tenure.
“I think firing him is insane. I think Penn State firing him right now, off of 34–8 the past three years, one play away from a national championship appearance last year, is insane. And thinking you can do better — to the tune of paying $50 million in buyout money to prove it — is insane.”
During his broadcast, Pate disclosed that he has a good relationship with Franklin, adding that he admires the coach for running his program ethically while balancing on-field success with the development of young men.
While many share Pate’s perspective, the question remains: Is he right?
In one sense, if you believe in what college football used to be, then yes — he’s absolutely right. Franklin is a Hall of Fame-caliber coach who arguably deserved the decency of finishing the season and earning a review before being shown the door.
But here’s the problem with that stance: this isn’t the college football you or I grew up watching.
Penn State’s decision was unprecedented in its nature — more akin to a professional franchise firing a much-maligned coach than a traditional collegiate move. The university has invested heavily in its 2025 roster and staff, and the expectations reflected that.
It’s easy to say Penn State should never lose to UCLA or Northwestern, but today’s game allows programs to leverage the transfer portal and quickly upgrade talent. College football has become professionalized — results-driven, transactional, and often detached from the developmental ideals that once defined it.
Franklin himself acknowledged that shift last season:
“I think the majority of people who got into coaching college football, probably my generation and older, did it to be transformational in young people’s lives,” Franklin said.“But with the way the sport has changed — through the transfer portal and NIL — a lot of young people and families are now making decisions based on a transactional experience rather than a transformational one. We’re one of a handful of programs still holding on to that.”
That may have been Franklin’s fatal flaw — and the gap in Pate’s take.
Today, programs must recognize that parity has arrived in major college football. You can lose occasionally, but you can’t sink an entire season.
Indiana understood that. New coach Curt Cignetti embraced the modern model, built a roster to win now, and just went to Oregon and beat the Ducks. The Hoosiers now sit in the driver’s seat to meet Ohio State in Indianapolis and make a second consecutive playoff run.
Penn State, meanwhile, has watched Indiana surpass it in the Big Ten hierarchy. There’s no longer a birthright in college football — no guarantee of 10-win seasons based on talent alone.
Penn State recognized that reality and acted accordingly. That’s why Pate’s take, while understandable, misses the point.
In old college football, Pate is 100% right. The problem is, this is a new era — and Penn State just executed its first truly professional firing.
If Pate still believes that’s insane, it may be because he doesn’t yet have his finger on the pulse of what college football has become. Maybe the larger question is the direction of the sport going in the proper direction with moves like this?
