Big Ten Coach Says James Franklin's Career Will Be 'Judged' by PSU's 2025 CFB Season

One unnamed Big Ten coach believes that the legacy of Penn State head coach James Franklin's entire coaching career could be decided by the 2025 season, per Athlon Sports.

“This is the season James Franklin’s entire coaching career could be judged by. If they can’t change their big-game problems with this group, it’s not happening.”

Franklin has led Penn State to a 101-42 record (64-33 Big Ten) since 2014. The Nittany Lions have finished top nine in the final Associated Press and Coaches poll in five of PSU's seasons but have never competed for the national championship.

The Nittany Lions didn't qualify for the College Football Playoff over Franklin's first 10 years in the four-team era, but they made it as a No. 6 seed this past season (of note, PSU would have qualified as a No. 4 seed in 2024 under the old CFP rules).

Penn State rolled through the first two rounds this past season, beating SMU 38-10 and Boise State 31-14. However, the Nittany Lions then fell 27-24 to Notre Dame in the semifinal.

The 2025 PSU team looks great, good enough on paper to perhaps win the national title.

For starters, PSU returns important talents from this past season, including quarterback Drew Allar, running back Nick Singleton and defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton.

However, Penn State also excelled in the transfer portal, specifically at wideout, adding Syracuse's Trebor Pena and USC's Kyron Hudson, among other players.

PSU leads the post-spring Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings from ESPN's Mark Schlabach. Will Backus of CBS Sports has PSU third, behind defending national champion Ohio State and Texas at one and two.

Franklin has led PSU to consistent success over the years, but he has a reputation of falling short in big games, particularly against Ohio State and Michigan.

This team is arguably Franklin's best yet, hence the Big Ten coach's remarks. Some other quotes from the Penn State profile are below.

“This is the best roster in [James] Franklin’s time there, and they’re probably a favorite to win the league entering the season," a Big Ten coach noted.

Another quote gave credit to the backfield of Allar, Singleton and running back Keytron Allen.

“They’re national title contenders because of the backfield. It would be hard to find a better overall group than [Drew] Allar and the two backs.”

Penn State opens the season on Aug. 30 at home against Nevada.