Former Penn State coach James Franklin spoke publicly Saturday for the first time since his firing on ESPN’s “College GameDay” set in Athens, Ga.

Franklin said that he was “in shock” after athletic director Pat Kraft informed him of his dismissal 15 minutes before a scheduled team meeting last Sunday.

“The AD walked in and said, ‘We’re going to make a change, I’m sorry,'” Franklin said. “I was in shock, obviously. Really took the next 15 minutes to let my kids know, so they wouldn’t find out on the internet, and then walked down and had a super emotional meeting with the team to tell them I was leaving. It really, that was it, it was that quick.”

Penn State made the abrupt change after the Nittany Lions, ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, lost three consecutive games to Oregon, UCLA an

See Full Page