Former Head Coach James Franklin Takes Another Shot at Penn State

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Another week, another shot across the bow from former Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin.

Franklin was doing his media hit at ACC Media Days where he said a lot of things, including the fact that he believed Virginia Tech "won the offseason," and now that has to translate to winning during the season.

However, what caught the attention of most Penn State fans is what he had to say about one of his former schools, again. He said, "Early in my career, we always had to do more with less. And then you get to a place like Virginia Tech, you gotta understand how to do more with more."

Now, whether or not he was referencing his time with Vanderbilt or his time with Penn State, he was taking a shot at one of his former schools with the investment that Virginia Tech has armed him with. 

Every time Franklin speaks he finds a way to turn it back to his former team. The reality is that what happened last year was simply the final straw during his time at Penn State.

The decision to move on from Franklin had to do with the years prior, where Franklin established the Penn State program as a good program, while Ryan Day and Dan Lanning established their program as National Contenders. 

Penn State was very clearly and obviously on the second tier of both the Big Ten and of College Football as a whole. 

Now, where I will contend that Franklin has a point is that in this era of NIL and spending, you have to spend to be able to compete with the best in the country.

It is public knowledge that Franklin's 2025 roster was about $20M less than that of Ohio State and some of the other teams at the top of College Football.

When Virginia Tech's numbers come out, we will actually see the difference in what his new University is pouring into the program compared to what his last one did.

Regardless, the season couldn't get here soon enough for everyone. Franklin needs football to talk about, and Penn State fans need to have their own team to worry about. 

Until then, Franklin is going to continue talking about that water that is trying to get under the bridge.

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