Coming off the most successful season of his tenure in Happy Valley, where does Penn State head coach James Franklin among his peers in the profession going into 2025? Franklin continues to be a coach who inspires debate about his place in the college football world, and there are worthy arguments to be made both in his favor and against him. How do you balance the pros and cons? That is for you to decide. And where does Franklin rank in the college football coaching hierarchy? Everyone has an opinion on that as well.
Ari Wasserman of On3 took his crack at ranking the top 25 coaches in 2025, and Franklin’s ranking seems to be lagging. Wasserman ranked Penn State at no. 15 in his coach ranking, which is quite an interesting ranking given all of the success Franklin has had over the past decade.
“The truth is, Penn State has consistently won 10 games under his leadership and always is a very good team,” Ari Wasserman of On3 said in his ranking. “The bad news, though, is that the Nittany Lions routinely lose all of their biggest games, which calls into question: Is this Penn S tate’s ceiling or is Franklin the problem?”
Some of the coaches ranked ahead of Franklin make sense. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day are among those in front of Franklin, and all three have won at least one national title. Two others ahead of Franklin are coaches who defeated Penn State last season; Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman. It makes sense those coaches would be ahead of Franklin.
Other names ahead of Franklin raise some eyebrows, however.
Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham is riding the momentum from a big season in 2024. So is Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, although he has an established track record of success everywhere he has been. Josh Heupel of Tennessee and Mario Cristobal of Miami haven’t come close to the level of sustained success experienced by Franklin, one might argue. Utah’s Kyle Whittingham has, although his best days are getting farther in the rearview mirror it seems.
Deion Sanders of Colorado is also one of the coaches ranked ahead of Franklin. Sanders has certainly put the Buffs back on the map and he has a Heisman Trophy winner on his watch in Boulder with Travis Hunter. But the success on the field and in the win column pales in comparison to what Franklin has accomplished.
Wasserman acknowledges Penn State is coming off a run to the College Football Playoff semifinal this past season, not to mention playing for a Big Ten championship. He also recognizes how Penn State is looking to be stocked with a roster returning many key players in 2025.
“Now is the time for Franklin to break through and get Penn State to the mountaintop,” Wasserman says. “It has to happen eventually, right?”
Time will tell what the future holds in store for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions should be among the top-ranked teams in the preseason polls after the results of the 2024 season and the roster coming back. The schedule is also a decent one that will see a stiff challenge on the road at Ohio State and a home game against Oregon but should see Penn State as a favorite in every other game going in. ESPN has already projected Penn State to be the winner of next season’s College Football Playoff national championship. Franklin is hoping to be college football’s next first-time national championship winner.
Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, BlueSky, and Threads.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
