Todd McShay shreds James Franklin for 'selfishness, agenda' after firing at Penn State

NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay went scorched earth on James Franklin following the latter’s firing at Penn State. The former coach will be paid, as of now, a near $49 million buyout while the Nittany Lions search for what’s next.

A long time and accomplished coach, Franklin could certainly rub people the wrong way, as could anyone who is highly competitive in a big spot. But McShay seemed to be set off by Franklin, for some reason.

In fact, McShay told OutKick’s Dan Dakich that he was glad Penn State made the move to fire Franklin. You can see the rant for yourself.

“Well, (I’m) thrilled that Penn State made the decision it did,” McShay said. “Image, selfishness, agenda, eventually that kind of leadership rears its ugly head. I think James Franklin got away with it for entirely too long. I think it was, you know, unfortunately, with some coaches, it’s all about them.”

It’s unclear the source of McShay’s beef with Franklin or vice versa if there is one. Funny enough, McShay had an intriguing comment when picking last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal game between Notre Dame and Penn State. The Fighting Irish won, denying Franklin of his first national title game appearance.

“Notre Dame,” McShay said. “There are a couple of biases that I’m willing to admit. I don’t trust James Franklin. And for those saying you just hate James Franklin, you hate Penn State, nah… This is business, and with business, you make business decisions.”

This isn’t the first time McShay has had beef with someone in the last month. He doubled down on his criticism of ESPN’s Paul Finebaum after calling the latter a “coward.” Whether Franklin and McShay make amends or if the former Penn State coach has a response remains to be seen.

Franklin has not spoken publicly since being let go by the school after nearly 12 seasons. Penn State ADF Pat Kraft felt recent events compounded some long standing issues about not getting over the hump and felt this was the time to make a move.

“I felt after sitting down Saturday and looking at everything, at where we were in terms of the best interest of the athletes and where the program was going that we had to make the hard decision,” Kraft said. “Looking at where the program was, where it is, and where we want to be, I felt that there was no other course. I felt it was time.”