No one was happier that ‘selfish’ James Franklin got fired than Todd McShay

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

NFL and college football analyst Todd McShay had no love lost for Penn State head coach James Franklin when the powers at Happy Valley fired him amid a nightmare season.

“I’m thrilled Penn State made the decision they did,” McShay, the former ESPN talent that now works at The Ringer, said while speaking to Outkick’s Dan Dakich. “Image, selfishness, agenda: eventually that kind of leadership rears its ugly head. I think James Franklin got away with it entirely too long.”

McShay added that “unfortunately, with some coaches it’s all about them.”

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The betting favorite to be the next Penn State coach is former Panthers coach Matt Rhule, who’s currently Nebraska’s head coach, but that’s not something that McShay preferred.

“I wouldn’t be a huge proponent of Matt Rhule given his history at Penn State,” McShay said, while later adding that Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline is a good pick to take over.

Rhule was a walk-on at Penn State and wound up playing linebacker for three seasons at the school, and he briefly was a volunteer assistant coach for the Nittany Lions 1998 under Joe Paterno.

The team bought out Franklin for $49 million, which caused a major campus uproar.

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Franklin, 53, had a 104-45 record with Penn State, but the 2025 season was bordering on the lines of embarrassment after the Nittany Lions lost three straight, including back-to-back defeats to UCLA and Northwestern.

Star quarterback Drew Allar, whom many speculated could be a top quarterback selected in the NFL draft come April, was lost for the season due to injury in what has been a lost year for Penn State.