Penn State, James Franklin respond to recent Texas A&M rumors

On Thursday, rumors surfaced that Penn State was preparing for Texas A&M to make a run at coach James Franklin if Kevin Sumlin is fired at the end of the season.

After coming over from Vanderbilt, Franklin has turned the Nittany Lions into a national powerhouse once again and has them looking like one of the best teams in the country.

Therefore, Penn State isn’t going to let its talented coach walk away without a fight, releasing a statement on Friday saying the school is still committed to Franklin (via ESPN.com):

“Nothing has changed from the commitment that we made to Coach Franklin and the commitment James made to Penn State just before this season started,” the Penn State athletic department said in a statement Friday.

Franklin also commented on the rumors on Twitter, saying he thinks the A&M rumors are just a way for teams to negatively recruit against Penn State:

Recruiting is a crazy business, people will do anything to create drama
1. From PA
2. #3 Ranked Team
3. #3 Ranked recruiting Class#WeAre

— James Franklin (@coachjfranklin) October 13, 2017

It sounds like Franklin is happy with the Nittany Lions, and why wouldn’t he be? Penn State is the No. 3 team in the AP Poll and looks like one of the favorites to win the Big Ten title.

Texas A&M has a big checkbook, but Franklin isn’t exactly dealing with a mid-major at Penn State, either.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.