The lasting image of James Franklin as Penn State ’s head coach was a man coming to grips with the inevitable.

After Saturday’s defeat to Northwestern, the Lions’ third straight in a season that started with so much hope, Franklin walked through the iron gates of the Beaver Stadium south tunnel and looked up at a student section booing him.

Franklin seemed to take it all in before proceeding through a throng of fans chanting for him to be fired. Franklin hugged his family, addressed a locker room at a loss and sat at the media room dais for the final time. Franklin was unable to answer a straight-forward question if he wanted to remain at Penn State — or if it would be in everyone’s best interests.

Franklin deflected his response to the hurting players in the locker room and the nee

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