Making his first public appearance since his firing, former Penn State head coach James Franklin joined names like Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit on ESPN’s “College GameDay” to talk about his time in Happy Valley and his eventual dismissal.

Despite the 12-year head coach of the Nittany Lions leading the program to a 104-45 record during his tenure and its first College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, Franklin was fired on Oct. 12 after suffering his third consecutive loss of the season to unranked Northwestern, 22-21.

For years, no one questioned Franklin’s ability to win against 99% of FBS teams; the criticism always came against his performances against elite competition — a 4-21 record against AP top-10 teams and a 1-18 record against Big Ten top-10 teams.

But when F

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