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, College Football Hall of Famer 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.”

Urban Meyer discusses potential buyouts for Kotelnicki and Knowles

While Franklin’s firing has (rightfully so) garnered most of the media attention, many haven’t considered the potential buyouts for Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.

“Jim Knowles is the highest-paid assistant coach in college football history,” Meyer continued. “He’s got a multi-year contract and (Andy) Kotelnicki is also extremely highly paid. Highly-paid staff, and it should be because it’s Penn State. Those guys are all gone, and you have to pay them off. These staff’s years were small but now they’re very big. The way it happens, and we all know this, is that it’s a complete flush. They bring in their new people and then when you pay a buyout of a coach if you’re gonna hire an established coach, you’re talking (and this is what someone told me in the Penn State team) a $75 million transaction.”

“My comment to that person was ‘where does that money come from?’ I made the comment earlier that I didn’t think they would do it. Where will the money come from? And the one person said ‘I have no idea.’ It’s not there, but obviously Pat Kraft knows what he’s doing.”

The Nittany Lions opened the season ranked No. 2 in the country and won their first three games of the season. This set up a top-six ‘White Out’ matchup between No. 3 Penn State and No. 6 Oregon in Happy Valley three weeks ago, which the Nittany Lions dropped in overtime. This spiraled into losses to previously 0-4 UCLA and Northwestern, which turned into Franklin’s firing.