Kirk Herbstreit suggests James Franklin could transition to TV work: ‘He’d be a natural’
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Kirk Herbstreit has a recommendation for James Franklin after the Penn State head coach was fired on Sunday.
“He could do TV,” Herbstreit said on his “Nonstop” YouTube show he co-hosts with ESPN colleague Joey Galloway. “He’d be a natural to do TV if he decides to go that route.”
Just over 9 months ago, the Nittany Lions were in the College Football Playoff semifinal and two wins away from the program’s first national championship since 1986. After a loss to Oregon, followed by defeats against UCLA and Northwestern, Franklin was handed his walking papers despite a 104-45 record. That said, he was 15-30 against teams in the Top 25 and 4-21 against Top 10 opponents.
Herbstreit felt that Franklin got a bit of a raw deal.
“For you to be willing to let a coach go that’s done so much good off of a couple weeks, it just makes me wonder, in this new era of NIL and transfer portal and expectations … is this our new norm?” Herbstreit asked rhetorically.
The veteran ESPN college football analyst added that if Franklin would have “plenty of opportunities” if he were to seek a return to the sidelines at some point down the road.
“I loved him at Penn State. I thought it was a good fit,” Herbstreit said. “He did a lot of incredible things there.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
