James Franklin felt Penn State owed him more, leveraging their delay to snatch recruits. He wanted to make them pay for his abrupt dismissal.
James Franklin had a case to be upset with the way things ended at Penn State.
Franklin led the Nittany Lions to an appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinal in January of 2025. PSU lost to Notre Dame by just three points in that contest for the right to make the national championship.
Months later, PSU fired Franklin after a 3-3 start to the season. There were high expectations for the team when Penn State entered the season with the No. 2 preseason ranking.
Still, the Nittany Lions could have been patient with a coach that brought the team 104 wins and a Big Ten championship in 2016.
During an interview with USA Today, Franklin suggested he didn't like the idea that his new contract with Virginia Tech would offset $40 million of his $49 million buyout with the Nittany Lions.
"You go through that deal, and you're thinking, I don't want to let them off the hook financially," Franklin said. "That's something you're struggling with. But it wasn't about me penalizing Penn State.
"At that point, it was about what do I need to do for my family and for myself to be happy and move on?"
Franklin moved on a little faster than Penn State, which waited until December to hire Matt Campbell away from Iowa State. Franklin was able to use PSU's elongated coaching search against the Nittany Lions, taking high school recruits for 2026.
Earlier this month, Franklin told Andy Staples of On3 that he had a chip on his shoulder because of the way things ended at Penn State.
"Well, yeah, I got a huge chip on my shoulder," Franklin said. "Kind of unusual situation. Again, six games earlier, we're playing for national championship.
"Now, obviously some things happen that were in my control, and I take total responsibility for that. But yeah, I got a big chip on my shoulder, extremely motivated."
Franklin's replacement at Penn State could wind up being better than Franklin.
Campbell always got the best out of his teams at Iowa State, a program that wasn't known for being anything but a basement dweller in the Big 12 before he arrived in Ames.