The Penn State Nittany Lions fired head coach James Franklin this past Sunday after the program’s third consecutive loss. Franklin was fired after a loss to Northwestern, following losses to UCLA and Oregon.

Three straight losses are enough to make any coach’s seat warm in this current era of college football, but it was still a surprise to see Franklin get the boot before the middle of October.

After all, Franklin led Penn State to the College Football Playoff semifinals last season — and he’s one of the winningest coaches in the sport over the last three-plus seasons.

New report confirms suspicion about the odd timing of Penn State’s decision to fire James Franklin

According to a new report from On3’s Chris Low and Pete Nakos, Penn State’s “money people” had made up their minds before the loss to Northwestern that Franklin needed to go.

The “money people” were simply waiting on an “opening” — which the loss to Northwestern provided — to fire Franklin.

“There were donors and money people at the school that had made up their minds that he wasn’t going to be able to get the program over that final hurdle, winning a national championship,” said a source to On3. “They were waiting for an opening because they knew you couldn’t fire a coach who was in the semifinal of the playoff just the year before….They got that opening after the Northwestern loss, especially after losing the week before against UCLA, where it looked like he had lost his team.”

The feeling over the last few days has been that Penn State fired Franklin this early in the season to avoid a scenario where the Nittany Lions turn things around in the second half and finish the year on a strong note (which would’ve made it tougher to fire Franklin). Firing Franklin after the program suffered its third straight loss provided Penn State’s “money people” with an opportunity to avoid that scenario.

This report from On3 seems to confirm that theory.

Time will tell if it was the right decision. Franklin is one of the most accomplished coaches in the sport, but he also consistently failed to win “the big one”.

There’s no guarantee, however, that the next coach will fare any better. In fact, it’s possible he could fare worse. You just never know in this sport.

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