James Franklin addresses whether he still wants to be Penn State coach amid fan backlash

Penn State suffered a third straight loss and fans waved goodbye to and flipped off coach James Franklin in the waning moments of Saturday’s loss to Northwestern. The heat is on.

Naturally, Franklin faced immediate questions from reporters about his status with the program going forward. Specifically, he was asked whether he still wants to be the coach at Penn State.

He didn’t tackle the question directly but instead spoke about his commitment to his players. It was an answer that lasted about two minutes.

“Yeah, for me, it’s always been about our players,” James Franklin said. “And those guys are hurting right now. And the fans are frustrated. And I get it. I totally get it. I totally get it. We have great fans here. We get unbelievable support. And I understand their frustration, trust me. We’re as frustrated as anybody, the guys in the locker room.”

That frustration has bled over to the fanbase, which had hoped to see Penn State compete for a national title this season. A ton of key players were back, the Nittany Lions were aggressive in the transfer portal and the schedule set up nicely for a major run.

Instead, Penn State has allowed an overtime loss to Oregon to snowball into back-to-back losses to two of the worst teams in the Big Ten — UCLA and Northwestern.

Any thoughts about the playoffs are now shelved. And Penn State might have an uphill climb to bowl eligibility now, with quarterback Drew Allar out for the season.

“But to me, ultimately, it’s about the guys,” James Franklin said. “It’s about the guys in the locker room. And they’re hurting in there. I’d do anything I could to take that hurt away from them. But like I told them, we’ve got to stick together. We’ve got to tune out all the noise and we’ve got to get to work. That’s the only answer is get to work. We’ve had some adversity in the past. Not like this. We’re going to get to work.”

Penn State’s next two games will take it on the road, too. First to Iowa and then to Ohio State.

James Franklin probably needs to win at least one, if not both, to start to quiet the noise. For now, though, he’s focused on what the players mean to him.

“I love those kids. I am committed to those players in that locker room,” he said. “I’ve been that way for 12 years. I’ve been that way for 15 years of my head coaching career, and I’ve been that way for 30 years. That won’t change. That won’t change.

“It’s always been about the players for me. That won’t ever change. That’s what it’s all about for me. So my commitment is to the guys in that locker room and all the guys that have been in that locker room in the past. So that’s where my commitment is.”