What Penn State football coach James Franklin said about getting booed after Michigan loss

For the second time in his decade-long Penn State football career James Franklin was booed lustily off the Beaver Stadium field.

The first was at halftime against Minnesota in 2016 — his team on the edge of a losing record; fans wondering if he was the right hire to rebuild the program. The "Fire Franklin" jeers resonated — even after his Lions rallied to win that day, then the Big Ten Championship a couple of months later.

The second happened this past Saturday. After the latest defeat to Michigan, Nittany Lions playoff hopes vanquished, the boos came hard again — along with objects thrown onto the field and caustic comments directed at him, his offensive coordinator and his sad record against top competition.

This was different. This was about, "Are you the right coach to get us to where we want to be, think we should be?"

Franklin certainly heard it all. He even had to pull away one of his players, with a fatherly arm pull, who began to fire back at those fans above. Less than 24 hours later he fired OC Mike Yurcich.

Franklin said his confidence is not shaken, when asked about this scene during his now-weekly Monday press conference. He understands, he talked as if resolute.

"I’m much more, is the word 'calloused?' at this stage of my career, thicker-skinned. ... I don’t really get into those type of things. I control the things I can control and not those other things."

And yet the fans' hyper-emotional reaction to the loss delves into a bigger issue. Franklin is now 1-7 against his two main competitors the past four seasons, Michigan and Ohio State. The lone victory came in an empty Michigan Stadium during the COVID-2020 season.

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Even more, the Lions averaged 43.8 points per game in eight wins this fall over the likes of Delaware, Massachusetts, Northwestern and Maryland this year. They scored only a combined 27 against Ohio State and Michigan.

Fans' belief and hopes that Penn State can play equal to those two Big Ten programs — two of the best in the nation — has been derailed. It simply came to a head in the booing and jeering Saturday afternoon.

Franklin openly acknowledged that Monday but responded in measured, company-line terms:

“At the end of the day we need to play well and we need to play well against our toughest opponents. That’s the reality of it. We embrace that, that’s why you come to a place like Penn State as a coach, that’s why you come to a place like Penn State as a player. And we understand what comes with that, the positives and the challenges."

When another question drilled down on fans losing hope, he countered with his own reason for optimism. As preached before, Franklin spoke of his growing, like-minded working relationship with Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft and university president Neeli Bendapudi.

“Me saying something here (about fan reassurance) is one thing. At the end of the day, it’s about actions and its about production," Franklin said. "It’s about playing well. We have lost to two of the best teams in college football who also happen to be in the same side of our conference. We understand that, we recognize that, we get it. So me sitting here saying things is fine, but at the end of the day it’s about actions.

"I also believe we’re in better position now than ever before based on the (university football-support) alignment we have for the first time. That is probably the reason I am as hopeful and as excited as I’ve ever been ... But it's not like these people get in these positions and six months later they snap their fingers and things are fixed or moving. It takes time."

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football coach James Franklin booed after Michigan loss