Matt Leinart weighs in on possibility of James Franklin to USC

Current Penn State head coach James Franklin appears to be one of the top candidates to become the new head coach at USC. As rumors continue to swirl, legendary USC quarterback Matt Leinart chimed in on Franklin being a candidate to become the next head coach of the Trojans.

“Clearly his name has been right there at the top of the list,” Leinart said of Franklin being a candidate for USC. “In regards to James, I know him personally. Love him, think he’s a great guy and a really good football coach. People can talk about, ‘Oh well he hasn’t won a championship.’ Well, at USC you aren’t dealing with Ohio State every year. It’s tough to win that division (in the Big Ten) and he’s won a Big Ten championship.

“James has a good personality, he’s a good recruiter, they have a top five class next year. The whole regional thing, there’s some coaches out there and when you say it it just doesn’t make sense from a regional standpoint or a personality standpoint. But, listen, if you’re a good coach and you understand what it takes to win, I don’t really care personally as a Trojan. I just want the best guy for the job that could go out there, get the players we need to rebuild this program.”

How Penn State finishes the year could impact Franklin’s status as a USC candidate

Penn State has a tough end of season schedule with matchups against Ohio State, Michigan State, and Michigan looming. The Nittany Lions already have two losses on the year. If Penn State loses three more games this year, Franklin’s status in the USC search could take a hit.

“But the thing is with James, they lost a really tough one last week to Illinois,” said Leinart. “You go to Ohio State this week, you still have Michigan and Michigan State. All of a sudden if they lose three or four games, the luster is gone. It doesn’t take away from him, just from the fan base and what USC wants. So it’s an interesting one. But I love James Franklin. He’s a really good coach and guy. I think he’s an obviously good fit for USC but this is going to be a process.”

Franklin talked earlier in the week of the rumors, stating that he is “fiercely loyal” to Penn State.

“I think I have shown my loyalty to this team, to this program, to this community,” Franklin said of USC rumors. “I think I’ve been pretty consistent with that. There are times that you’re put in challenging situations. And I just always want to be able to, when I say something, it’s done and it’s in stone. When you’re talking about the future, that can be challenging at times. So I am fiercely loyal to Penn State. I am fiercely loyal. Most importantly to these players and staff. But there’s a lot of moving parts with all of these things.

“There’s a lot of moving parts, some of which we have talked about in the past. At some point when it’s appropriate, I would love to sit down with you guys and just kind of talk through college football.”