Former Penn State Nittany Lions football coach James Franklin is one of the hottest candidates on the unemployment line after receiving his pink slip last week in State College, PA. Franklin got lip service on ESPN's College GameDay from Nick Saban on Saturday, who claimed it was "unfair as hell" that he was fired from PSU. Overnight, Franklin's value has been rebuilt after his Nittany Lions essentially quit on him against the UCLA Bruins and Northwestern Wildcats.
Bama Hammer's Ronald Evans believes Franklin's value is too high to even consider the Auburn Tigers' job if the athletic department fires Hugh Freeze. Evans believes the Arkansas Razorbacks and Florida Gators jobs, both available after the former fired Sam Pittman weeks ago and the latter let go of Billy Napier on Sunday, are more likely to be considered.
"Franklin would love a return to the SEC, but is likely too smart to choose Auburn. Florida or Arkansas make more sense for Franklin," Evans wrote.
Mike Farrell Sports' Mike Huesmann believes Franklin will be at or near the top of Auburn's wish list in the event the Oxford, Mississippi, native doesn't return to the Plains.
"Auburn (3-3, 0-3 SEC) can’t win close games against decent teams, can’t throw the ball and are collapsing in the second half of games. They got robbed on a call near the goal line against No. 9 Georgia (5-1, 3-1), but they had over a half to get it right and wilted. In year three 'almost' doesn’t cut it for Freeze," Huesmann wrote.
"He needs to win now and produce results. That isn’t happening yet. Freeze has six games to win three and make a bowl game. If he does that he’s safe. If not, I think he’s gone and Franklin would be near the top of the wish list."
Hopefully, AU is at or near the top of Franklin's list. That's no guarantee, given the way Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin's exits have gone.
Given how cryptic John Cohen has been about Freeze's job security, it's not clear if the head coach's exit will be just as ugly as his predecessors'.