Call it the James Franklin question.
And comparison.
Penn State fired him last Sunday.
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Even though he took the Nittany Lions to within a game — actually, just a bad pass at the end of the semifinals against Notre Dame — of playing Ohio State in the College Football Playoffs National Championship Game last season, just nine months ago.
#NittanyNation is unmatched. pic.twitter.com/QGChJIegel
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) September 27, 2025
Even though he was 104-45 overall.
Even though he won a Big Ten title.
Huh. That all sounds pretty good. So, why, then, did he get canned?
Because at Penn State, they’re not interested in “pretty good.” They’re not interested even in “very good.” They are interested only in being THE BEST. Anything else is a letdown. They were convinced that with Franklin, who by most measuring sticks is an outstanding head coach, could never — would never — take the Nittany Lions to THE BEST level.
The school feels it owes its fan base every attempt possible to achieve that distinction.
Meanwhile, the Browns, who used to try everything to be the best, are now apparently more than comfortable with settling for the other end of the spectrum. This is why Kevin Stefanski is still the head coach. At Penn State, a coach like him would have been fired years ago.
Browns fans deserve to be delivered the same standard of excellence that Penn State fans get.
Steve King
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