James Franklin could make history at Penn State

No black coach has ever won a national championship in college football. Let’s stop for a moment: universities that make the most of Black sweat on the sector deny equal opportunities to Black minds on the sidelines. But because the expanded College Football Playoff accelerates the top of this era of discrimination, Penn State coach James Franklin is a number one contender to attain one among the newest “firsts” in sports.

On Saturday, the third-seeded Franklin Nittany Lions will face the No. 1 Oregon Ducks for the Big Ten championship. In college football’s most unpredictable season, it’s an unexpected likelihood at redemption for Franklin, who was booed off the sector Nov. 2 after Penn State lost 20-13 at home to Ohio State. Before the playoffs had 12 teams this yr, such a loss would have eliminated Penn State from the championship.

“But college football has changed,” Franklin said after the devastating loss. “We have a chance to make progress to right some of the mistakes we made today.”

When the chance arises on Saturday, Franklin could have to take care of loads more harm than what happened against Ohio State.

Franklin, 52, is on the short list of black coaches at schools that may recurrently compete for a national title. Next up is Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman at 11-1, which ranks just behind Penn State and has bounced back well from a shocking loss to Northern Illinois in week two. Another is Michigan’s Sherrone Moore, who put Penn State in the highest spot within the Big Ten by beating Ohio State on Nov. 30. The only other Black coach with a visual path to breaking the barrier is Deion Sanders in Colorado or wherever his next stop could also be.

Like any smart coach, Franklin is not fascinated by talking a few hypothetical championship. Earlier this season, as I visited various campuses and interviewed Black coaches, Franklin politely declined my request for an interview. His response was no different than what I heard from Moore and Freeman – they concentrate on a pressure cooker who plays every week in the highest division of school football.

“All we have to do is focus on the Maryland game this week,” Franklin said before Penn State’s final game of the regular season. “And if we don’t focus on that, then the many other things that everyone wants to talk about, then they become questionable. These things become a challenge. These things become different.”

Things like making a story is usually a distraction. Especially for a coach who – because the light-skinned, bald son of a black father and white mother – many individuals don’t robotically discover as black.

But Franklin is indeed a strong-willed brother Black family tree AND two daughters together with his black wife. His father, James Oliver Franklin, was serving within the Air Force when he met Jocelyn Franklin in her native England. They fled to Ireland, moved to Pennsylvania and shortly separated. Oliver essentially disappeared from her son’s life, but Jocelyn Franklin remained in close contact with the black side of the family, including aunts with the charming names LaWanda, Romaine and Melbadene.

“I think my experience is one of my greatest assets as a professional because it has helped me relate to and empathize with people in different circumstances in quite a unique way” – Franklin he said Players’ Tribune in 2017.

After playing quarterback at Division II East Stroudsburg, Franklin began his coaching profession deep throughout the college football landscape before getting his big break in 2000 when he became the receivers coach at Maryland. In 2005, he was the receivers coach for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers after which served as offensive coordinator at Kansas State and Maryland. In 2011, he became the top coach of Vanderbilt, where in 2014, three successful seasons earned him a job at Penn State.

Penn State still hasn’t resolved the sexual abuse scandal that hit boys during legendary coach Joe Paterno’s tenure. Franklin managed to steer a proud program, winner of two national championships, out of this tainted era. However, he had difficulty breaking into the elite college football league dominated by a handful of faculties.

A house loss to Ohio State this season – in front of 111,030 fans, the biggest crowd in Beaver Stadium history – dropped his record against the Buckeyes to 1-10. Penn State scored first with 6:43 left in the sport, but was filled with three straight runs up the center after which did not even get a shot to Tyler Warren, one among college football’s best players. Penn State’s defense could have given them one other likelihood to tie or win the sport, but Ohio State began from its own 1-yard line and finished the ultimate 5:13 of the sport with 11 consecutive breathtaking runs.

The criticism hit How bone cracking gear. “James within the mid-game” has turn out to be a fact again. The ugly numbers rolled in: Franklin is 1-13 against top-five opponents at Penn State. He is 3-18 against top-10 teams and 13-27 against top-25 teams.

What higher solution to reverse this narrative than Saturday’s game against No. 1 Oregon. Only then could Franklin take into consideration making history.