Penn State football was once a source of immense pride. In 129 years the Nittany Lions have achieved significant success on the gridiron.  The squad has won two consensus national championships, three Big Ten conference championships, 28 bowl games, and has achieved an 856-382 (.685%) overall record.

Since James Franklin's arrival in 2014, Penn State football has been in a state of disarray. In his first two years Franklin went 14-12.  He owns the lowest winning percentage of a Penn State coach in 117 years.  He's 0-5 against ranked opponents, has gone 6-10 against Big Ten opponents, hasn't beaten Northwestern, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State, secured Penn State's first loss against Temple in 74 years, and has given up record breaking point totals to Pittsburgh and Michigan.  His time at Penn State is no different than his experience at Vanderbilt.  Overall, he's 0-18 against ranked opponents.  He's got a history of making bad decisions and being unable to win big games.  You also might recall that he barely beat Army.  For this track record, Penn State is paying James Franklin more than $4 million per year.  In fact, in 2015 he was paid more than 13 NFL coaches. You can review a history of James Franklin's Penn State failures here. 

The Penn State community is quick to lay the blame for Franklin's failures on sanctions.  Sanctions are only part of the story.  Sanctions don't impact execution on the field, decision-making on the sidelines, sloppy penalties, and misguided play calling.  Sanctions also shouldn't impact the stability of coaching staff.  In two years, James Franklin has had two offensive coordinators, two defensive coordinators, and two offensive line coaches, among other changes.  In short, his assistants are voting with their feet.

Now is the time to act! We must make our voices heard to encourage the Penn State Administration and Board of Trustees to move on.  With each avoidable loss and bad-decision Penn State's reputation slips and the impacts of sanctions are exacerbated.  Our recruiting is already beginning to suffer.  Our 2016 recruiting class was 4th in the Big Ten trailing Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State.  The more losses we accrue, the more bad plays we call, the more recruits will see that other programs offer more promise and better experience in preparation for the NFL.  Some say we should give Franklin five years or more. If Penn State waits this long given his current performance, it will in effect be signing its own "Death Penalty."  It's time to #FireFranklin and replace him with a more capable coach that can better guide Penn State out of its post-sanctions era. We need a coach with a proven ability to lead, overcome adversity, and to maximize talent and performance through strategic implementation of effective coaching strategies.