In his first team meeting with Virginia Tech, it’s safe to say that former Penn State head coach James Franklin didn’t pull any punches when it came to his former team.
Franklin was fired by the Nittany Lions in the middle of October after losing two straight games to unranked UCLA and Northwestern squads after starting 3-0 and being ranked the preseason No. 2 team in the country. This came a year after they had made it all the way to the CFP semifinals. Now, what with the fallout with the Nittany Lions and his ensuing hire, he decided to take a parting shot at the program.
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In his first team meeting with his players at Tech, he highlighted a potential reason for those two pivotal losses that may stun Penn State fans and staff alike. “I’m a players’ coach,” he began. “That’s all I care about. When things changed at Penn State, the reason I struggled is because I care about the players.”
While on the surface, those words could be motivational in nature, it has heavy implications for what that means the rest of the staff at Penn State thought of the players. It sheds a bad light on the program while only vaguely addressing the deeper issues in the team.
With no specifics to explain Franklin’s words, it’s tough to say if he truly was critical of the squad. Still, it’s interesting to see how flippant the comment seems.
I guess if he continues his winning ways in Blacksburg, no one will care much about what he says.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Franklin critical of Penn State in first team meeting with Virginia Tech
