"Franklin deserved to go out a different way": Hall of Famer minces no words about James Franklin's firing after a close game against Northwestern

College football Hall of Famer Aaron Taylor expressed his thoughts on the firing of Penn State coach James Franklin, saying his exit was a long time coming, but he felt the move could've been performed more appropriately.

Taylor, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2021, opened up on Penn State's shocking removal of its long-time coach in Tuesday's episode of Inside College Football.

"James Franklin was let go after 104 wins, tied for second all time," the analyst said. "It caught me by surprise and it felt like Franklin deserved to go out a different way."

Taylor felt Franklin's inability to win against top competition forced the school's athletic director, Pat Kraft, to implement the coaching change.

"Penn State just lit the match for what should be a powder keg of an absolute coaching carousel carnage like we've never seen," he said. "So the question becomes who replaces him at Penn State?"

Interim coach Terry Smith will call the plays for the Nittany Lions in the remainder of the season. He could be retained if Penn State performs well under his tutelage.

But the Nittany Lions could opt for a new coach next season. There are prominent coaching figures linked to the vacancy, including Nebraska's Matt Rhule, Duke's Manny Diaz, Georgia Tech's Brent Key and Syracuse's Fran Brown.

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Penn State interim coach Terry Smith addresses the effect of James Franklin's firing

Penn State interim coach Terry Smith spoke about the effects of James Franklin's firing in a press conference on Wednesday. Smith said the players were disappointed by what had transpired after the loss to Northwestern.

"Obviously, this is a challenging week," Smith said. "We as adults, we have to adjust quicker. We're just taking the time to mentor these guys, and spend some quality time with to get them interested and motivated back out here."

The interim coach, however, delivered a positive note going into Penn State's game against Iowa on Oct. 18. He felt the players were progressing brilliantly despite the emotions about Franklin's removal from his post.

"Each day is getting better. Sunday was really traumatizing to them. Monday, they called down a little bit but had some anger in them," Smith said. "Yesterday was show up for practice coach, and give you some effort. Today was, 'Hey, we'll run a little harder.' I think we're headed in the right direction."

Penn State (3-3, 0-3 in Big Ten) aims to snap its three-game losing streak against Iowa (4-2, 2-1 in Big Ten) and a win could boost its morale going into the remaining games of the season.