Nick Saban, ex-Alabama coach but still somehow patron saint of college football, had some things to say during yesterday's edition of College GameDay about the "ugliness" faced by his former coaching peer, James Franklin. Saint Nick wants the world to know that it was "unfair as hell" for Penn State to fire Franklin in the middle of what's been a disastrous season for the Nittany Lions. Saban got these feelings off his chest when Franklin joined the GameDay crew for the softest of softball interviews. Saban and his cohosts made sure to list some of Franklin's accomplishments during his 12 seasons at Penn State—wining the Rose bowl and Fiesta bowl, making the playoff final four, getting a No. 1 ranking coming into this season (it was actually number two)–while quickly glossing over the fact that Franklin went 4-21 against AP top 10 opponents. How could Penn State dump a man simply for not winning when it matters most and being generally unpleasant?
The entire interview was an absurd attempt to reverse any reputational damage this season might have brought Franklin. The whole panel talked to Franklin, who will be living fat off his buyout for the next few years, as if he had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. For his part, Franklin made the case that he had done everything that was asked of him at Penn State, and that things just went a little awry this season. That humiliating loss to a winless UCLA team was just a little whoopsie daisy, if you will. Franklin was also quick to assure his next employer (preferably a P5 school, fingers crossed) that he will bring them the national championship Penn State definitely would've gotten from him eventually.
This whole thing, the embarrassingly vigorous defending of Franklin, is in line with how the coaching fraternity has been adjusting to the changing environment of college football. More than ever before, people like Franklin and Saban are insisting that the expectations being put on coaches at powerhouse schools are too high, and that no mere mortal with an $85 million contract can be expected to deliver all the time. According to them, we are on the cusp of losing our grip on what this sport is supposed to be about: developing young men through the game of sport. An eagle cries in the distance.
Let's ignore, for a second, that of Franklin's achievements listed by Saban, none of them were "national champion" or even "national runner-up." Let's ignore James Franklin being one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport, and having a $49 million buyout. Let's also ignore that Penn State was the only Big 10 power returning an allegedly playoff-caliber quarterback in Drew Allar. Let's even ignore the fact that the Nittany Lions routinely played tight in high-pressure situations, which is usually an indictment of the coaching staff. Let's ignore all of that and say that the real problem lies with this newfound ability to build rosters out in the open using booster money, and that Penn State spending millions on this year's team put unfair expectations on the coach to deliver results quickly. Even in a scenario where that's all true, to paraphrase a wise 1960s philosopher of marketing: that's what the money they pay these coaches is for.
Back in 2014, Nick Saban struck one of the biggest deals in college football, netting roughly $7 million a year over an eight-year contract. Coaches' salaries were already moving up and up at this time, but Saban's (along with Jim Harbaugh's at Michigan) shot towards the moon and set a new standard at highly touted programs. Ten years later, $7 million a year is considered TCU money. It's what P.J. Fleck makes at freakin' Minnesota. Kirby Smart makes over $13 million a year, Ryan Day makes just under that. And except for Harbaugh, none of these coaches are offering to give any of it back. Franklin's $49 million buyout will be the second-highest paid by a school in history, only behind the $76 million Texas A&M ate to get rid of Jimbo Fisher. And guess what? Texas A&M is pretty happy to have done it.
So pardon me if I refuse to cry for the fired coach. Excuse me that they came for the coaches and I said nothing, for I am not a coach. It seems to me all this pining for a time in college sports when it was all about "establishing a winning culture" that "develops young men" ignores how the inflation of coaches' salaries played the biggest role in speeding along this new era where money rules everything. Whether that's good or bad isn't for me to say, but it does mean that people like Franklin and Saban are in no position to complain. Things change when the money and the stakes are higher.
So yes, coaching is the hardest it has ever been. Franklin will probably not be the last highly paid coach not living up to stratospheric expectations to be fired this year. It's not looking good for Brian Kelly at LSU, Bill Belichick at UNC, Dabo Swinney at Clemson, Mike Norvell at FSU, or even Mario Cristobal at Miami, who once again shat the bed in a conference matchup they were expected to win. And would you look at that: Florida just put Billy Napier out on his ass. Programs will continue to churn coaches, and it will be because boosters who want results are spending a lot of money on these rosters. If you're already uneasy about that, just wait until the private equity money starts rolling in. But you do not, under any circumstances, have to cry for these coaches. They started this arms race themselves.
