When Penn State decided to fire former football coach James Franklin, it was met with approval from the fanbase. They wanted Franklin gone before he was fired, and just 10 months removed from the College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Notre Dame.
Generally, when a school fires a coach, the fanbase will move on and embrace the new hire. That really hasn't been the case with Franklin. In mid-November, he was hired in Blacksburg to replace his former Penn State defensive coordinator, Brent Pry, as head coach at Virginia Tech.
Since arriving in Blacksburg, he has hit the ground running, rebuilding the Hokies program. He has been embraced by Virginia Tech fans, while continuing to be followed and having every single move watched and commented on by Penn State fans. Franklin remains to live rent-free in the heads of all Nittany Lions fans.
Anyway, instead of embracing new coach Matt Campbell, they continue to obsess over Franklin. Penn State fans have shown themselves to be a fragile fanbase, and that might become more evident after CBS Sports released its Top 25 coaching rankings for the 2026 season.
Penn State fans nightmare comes true in CBS Sports Top 25 college football coaching rankings for 2026
CBS Sports ranked the Power 4 conference head coaches for the upcoming season. On Tuesday, they released their No.'s 68-26, and Franklin was nowhere to be found on it. Neither was Campbell. Both understandable. On Wednesday, they released their Top 25, and it is a ranking that will strike a major nerve with Nittany Lions fans. Fornelli ranked Franklin 13th and Campbell 16th.
"How many Penn State fans are fuming that the coach they fired is ranked three spots higher than the coach they hired to replace him? Probably a few. Things clearly did not go as planned for Franklin at Penn State last season. It's why he was fired, and it's why he's no longer in our top 10 after falling six spots in these rankings. Still, while Big Game James might've been given that moniker sarcastically, there are few coaches in the sport with the overall success Franklin has achieved in his career. Nobody will be surprised if Virginia Tech returns to the top of the ACC soon,'' Fornelli wrote.
Now, Penn State fans will obsess over this, but say it doesn't bother them. Kind of like when they lost a recruiting battle to Franklin for four-star quarterback Peter Bourque. They will say that Campbell didn't want Bourque and is happy with three-star Will Wood.
Virginia Tech fans will never obsess over a former coach like Penn State has, but truth be told, both programs are better off with their new coaches. Franklin's time in State College was over, and he got a fresh start at Virginia Tech. Campbell might end up winning more games this season than Franklin, and if he doesn't, considering the difficulty of each schedule, well then, it should concern Penn State fans. Regardless, Fornelli's ranking will strike a nerve with Penn State fans who will obsess over the ranking until the season begins. And then likely long after that.
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