James Franklin during the 2014 Compass Bowl at Legion Field. Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
It’s difficult to get a good read on what is happening with Vanderbilt Commodores head coach James Franklin, because he is involved in so many rumors. He is reportedly the top candidate for the Penn State Nittany Lions head coaching vacancy, and there are rumors that he will be hired by Penn State shortly. However, there are also reports out there stating that Franklin is still keeping his options open and isn’t as inclined to leave Vanderbilt as once thought; it’s a sticky situation with an awful lot of rumors, but I think it’s safe to say that Franklin is still keeping his options open.
PSU is definitely coming hard at Franklin, though, and he is indeed the top candidate for the job in Happy Valley. According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, that hasn’t stopped the two NFL teams that previously scheduled interviews with him- the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins- from showing interest. Rapoport reports that the Browns are still trying to interview Franklin, and he was also told by a source that the Redskins are still planning on interviewing Franklin tomorrow.
The Redskins are looking at a variety of candidates, and the Browns are extremely interested in Josh McDaniels and college coaches. Franklin seems to be someone relatively high on both of their lists, so it will be interesting to see how things go. I would be surprised if Franklin took the Penn State job before interviewing with those two NFL teams, and he could very well make the jump to the NFL if the interviews go well enough.