Dan Lanning offers his perspective on James Franklin in-season firing

James Franklin‘s midseason firing last Sunday following a third-consecutive loss for his Penn State Nittany Lions sent seismic shockwaves throughout the college football world. It was particularly jarring — especially among the collegiate coaching ranks — given the Nittany Lions’ precipitous fall from grace from a preseason national title contender to completely out of the national polls in a matter of two weeks.

This week, college sports pundits from all across the country have reacted to news of Franklin’s Penn State ouster, many of whom have expressed everything from disappointment to understanding. But it was the reactions from Franklin’s fellow coaching peers that struck at the heart of the unforgiving reality for major college football coaches.

Duke head coach Manny Diaz, who served as Franklin’s defensive coordinator from 2022-23, commiserated with his former Penn State colleagues still on staff in Happy Valley. Also, Notre Dame‘s Marcus Freeman sympathized with everyone else that’s been impacted by Franklin’s firing, including the families of the current PSU staffers that will be exploring other opportunties this offseason.

Third-year Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, who led the sixth-ranked Ducks to a 30-24 double-overtime victory over the host Nittany Lions on Sept. 27, was far more frank when asked about his perspective on how quickly life can change for big-time college football coaches.

“That’s the business that we’re in. It’s a heavy pressure position, there’s high expectations, fanbases want to win — they expect that,” Lanning said Tuesday. “You know, there’s some really good coaches that it’s really about what have you done lately, and that’s college football. That’s the world we live in.

“So, it is what it is, right? There’s not a lot you can say about it other than go do your job and try your best to go win games.”

Urban Meyer admits he was shocked by firing of James Franklin at Penn State

Following a 3-3 start to the season and back-to-back losses to UCLA and Northwestern, Penn State parted ways with James Franklin after 12 seasons on Sunday.

Over his 12 seasons in Happy Valley, Franklin led the Nittany Lions to a 104-45 (64-36) record with six 10-plus win seasons and an appearance in the 2024 College Football Playoff. Last season, Franklin led Penn State to a top-five finish inside the season-ending polls for the first time since 2005. Just six games later however, he is searching for a new job and the program is searching for a new head coach.

On the latest edition of The Triple Option podcast, Hall of Fame former head coach Urban Meyer revealed he was “shocked” that Penn State made the move to fire Franklin. When Meyer was head coach at Ohio State, he enjoyed a 4-1 record against Franklin’s Nittany Lions.

“I was shocked,” Meyer said. “We all like the Athletic Director Pat Kraft… he’s fantastic. He’s a football guy and treats us great. Everybody’s got great things to say about him. Obviously he made the decision and I know a lot of Penn State people and alums and I was very close to the late coach (Joe) Paterno. What I had heard from several sources is that this was one man’s call, the Athletic Director, which it should be. The board was really not aware is what I was told and this is, when you start adding it up, it’s not just a 40-something million dollar transition. The number will push $75 million.”

— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.