Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
James Franklin was fired at Penn State on Sunday. Despite being in his 12th year at PSU, and leading the Nittany Lions to the CFP Semifinals a season ago, he was relieved of his duties after a third consecutive loss.
Who Penn State replaces Franklin with is none of my concern. It will be Matt Rhule, by the way. That job is the definition of being born on third base. Besides Notre Dame, no program in America benefited more from playoff expansion than the team who was always good enough to beat ten unranked teams but never two ranked ones.
🚨BREAKING: James Franklin will make over 20 THOUSAND DOLLARS PER DAY from Penn State for the next six years.
• Per minute: $15
• Per hour: $913
• Per day: $21,917
• Per week: $153,846
• Per month: $666,666The greatest gig in the world. Getting fired as a head coach.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) October 12, 2025
Regardless, what is interesting is the possibility of Franklin returning to the SEC. BetOnline posted odds today of what school is most likely to hire him now that he’s available. Six SEC schools had available odds, with Arkansas and Vanderbilt leading the way at +200 and +400, respectively.
It’s incredibly disrespectful to Clark Lea to even have Vanderbilt as an option. But the bold take for me on Franklin is that he ends up in the same state where a lot of people from Pennsylvania love to travel once the snow starts: Florida.
Franklin to Florida makes too much sense. The only path for Billy Napier to save his job is win out. With Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida State still on the schedule, that seems unlikely. Honestly, I don’t think he survives the month and could be fired after a loss to Mississippi State this weekend.
James Franklin won 11, 10, and 13 games over the last three seasons and got fired
Billy Napier won 8, 5, and 6 games over the last three seasons and still has his job pic.twitter.com/IAYYDSOkng
— Swish (@swishxvibes) October 13, 2025
Regardless, Franklin to Florida is the perfect fit. He’s already shown he is more than happy to build a program up from the ashes. He took Vanderbilt from a basement dweller to a nine win team. He led Penn State from one of the darkest periods in program history back into national relevance and consistent contention for conference titles.
One of the biggest issues facing Florida is that no one in the administration seems to realize the obvious, which is that this is not a simple fix. It is also not a time to test the waters with an inexperienced coach, a first timer or someone you’re gambling on as a program.
Your biggest conference rivals, Georgia and Tennessee, aren’t down like they were in the early 2010s. They’re both at the highest point they’ve been at in 25 years. You’re no longer just competing against them as division rivals with those regular clashes against SEC West powers like LSU and Alabama. With Oklahoma and Texas joining the fold, divisions are gone, and the conference is deeper and tougher than ever.
If you’re Florida, this isn’t just the best option, it’s the only option. And it needs to happen fast. Otherwise, you’ll be coaching against him soon. And before anyone says, “but he’s terrible against ranked teams,” remember, Florida doesn’t qualify for that right now. And won’t, unless they hire him.
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