James Franklin has broken his silence after getting fired by the Penn State Nittany Lions. The experienced head appeared on the Week 8 edition of ESPN College GameDay and said,"Fair is not for me to decide. A decision that was made that was hard for me to comprehend at the time."Franklin was noncommittal regarding whether he was treated fairly by Penn State after the program fired him on Sunday. He had spent over 11 seasons with the team and compiled a 104–45 record.James Franklin's firing occurred after the team's Week 7 loss to Northwestern. The management decided to go in a new direction, and now owes Franklin roughly $50 million in buyout costs.Matt Rhule tipped to replace James Franklin at Penn StatePenn State is looking for a new head coach for the first time in years. So, the vacancy is arguably the hottest in all of college football due to the program's status and team strength.One big name that's been linked to the vacant head coach role is current Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule. College football analyst David Pollack believes that hiring Rhule will make perfect sense for the Nittany Lions.While speaking on Monday's episode of the 'See Ball Get Ball podcast', Pollack said,"Matt Rhule is the first name that comes to mind because it is his alma mater. He has worked for the AD now, that’s at Penn State, Pat Kraft. He was at Temple with him.Pollack continued,"He has also been in the Big Ten at Nebraska, which is a little bit different than, obviously, Nebraska is not the big name in the Big Ten."Pollack concluded, stating,"You have to develop. You have to recruit. He worked with the Baylor Bears, not the big name in the Big 12. You have to recruit. You have to be a little bit different. You have to be about development. You have to be able to take players that are good players and make them great players, like Cignetti has done. He has absolutely done that. So I think he would make perfect sense.”Rhule has guided the Nebraska Cornhuskers to a 5-2 record in the 2025 campaign. It remains to be seen whether he'd be swayed to replace James Franklin on the Penn State hot seat for the rest of the campaign.