Penn State Fires Franklin and Owes Him $49 Million

Penn State fires Franklin: James Franklin's Nittany Lions lost to Northwestern 22-21 on Saturday. Despite spending $700 million dollars for stadium renovations, requiring $21 million dollars for revenue sharing each year and owing Franklin the remaining $49 million dollars on his contract, the school said enough is enough, and fired Franklin Sunday.

Associate coach Terry Smith will be the interim coach. He faces the rest of the season without starting quarterback Drew Allar. He suffered a season ending injury in the loss to the Wildcats.

It wasn't just the loss to Northwestern that did Franklin in. This team was ranked #2 in the country's preseason polls. They were poised to win it all. But Saturday's loss marked an unexpected 3 losses in a row following defeats to Oregon, and a formerly winless UCLA team.

Franklin garnered the reputation for running a good program that could not win the "big one." The problem with the UCLA and Northwestern losses was he was now losing the "small ones."

Penn State Fires Franklin -Following the Oregon loss, Franklin's record vs top 10 teams was an anemic 4-21. His .160 winning percentage vs top 10 teams was the third worse by a coach with a minimum of 25 games at a single school since such records became available in 1936. His record is 1-18 vs Big ten teams ranked in the top 10. A lot of those losses were to Michigan and Ohio State.

Things look tougher for Penn State in the near future with games at Iowa and top ranked Ohio State and a home game vs third ranked Indiana. Yikes! They could lose a lot more games before this season is over. For the latest college football talk tune in to Craig Shemon and Company every afternoon from 2-6 on ESPN Southwest Florida.