Nick Saban gets fired at Penn State for sacking James Franklin in a viral College GameDay interview in Athens

Nick Saban had James Franklin's back during a viral ESPN CollegeDay interview in Athens. The legendary coach expressed his dismay at the Nittany Lions' decision to fire Franklin after six games into the 2025 college football season.

Saban said:

“It's so unfair that you go to the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, you go to the Final Four. You go out, being the No. 1 seed this year — an expectation that you created with what you accomplished at Penn State, and for these people not to show enough appreciation for that and gratitude for all the hard work that you've done, I say it's unfair.”

Saban took the opportunity to list Franklin's accomplishments at Penn State and how those were overlooked after a mixed start to the current campaign. Franklin was shown the door after his team was defeated by Northwestern in its sixth game.

He left the Nittany Lions with a 104–45 record, a Big Ten Championship and a Big Ten East title. The Nittany Lions are looking for a replacement.

James Franklin is confident of winning a national championship in his next job

James Franklin talked about his future plans during his appearance on College GameDay. The veteran head coach said he thought he would win a national championship at Penn State, but now he's considering doing so with another program.

Franklin said:

“I thought we were going to win a national championship there, we were close. That goal hasn't changed. Now we're just going to win a national championship somewhere else.”

Franklin lost his job after losing three games (all to conference opponents) during the current season. Then Penn State decided to move in a new direction. The 2016 Woody Hayes Trophy winner is open to training again, but he'll have to work out a few things first. He said,

“To be honest with you, the first thing is I had to take a deep breath. I have to make sure the people around me are in a good place.”

There will likely be some top-tier vacancies at the end of the season. James Franklin he will be a priority signing during this period, and will have the opportunity to build his next team through the transfer portal and secondary path.

For now, though, the former Penn State Nittany Lions head coach will likely recharge and make the occasional television appearance.