Even more than a results-oriented business, coaching has ever-increasingly become a “What have you done for me lately?” business.
What James Franklin did lately at Penn State, losing to UCLA and Northwestern to extinguish any hopes of a Big Ten or national title, prompted his firing despite a conference-record $49 million buyout. That's the realm that Franklin and Ohio State coach Ryan Day both walk in.
"That's the world we live in," Day said. "It's something that, I think, for all of us, we need to make sure we focus on what matters to us and what's at hand. I said it before, whether it's the negative things or the positive things or things like that, those are all kind of noise out there. ... There's a lot that comes at you, whether you're a player or as a coach, our ability to focus and concentrate on what's important is what's critical, so that's what we got to do."
Many Buckeye fans were calling for Day himself to be fired a mere 11 months ago after a fourth consecutive loss to Michigan. If Ohio State laid an egg and lost to Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoffs, who knows where things would stand right now? It was a similarly senior-laden team to what Franklin had with the Nittany Lions this year. They, too, were preseason favorites for a national title, with a head coach seen as one who couldn't get over the hump.
Now, Franklin will never get the chance to reach that mountaintop. At least not at Penn State. Despite six 10-win seasons in eight full campaigns predating 2025, the coach was sacked primarily for his 4-21 record against AP top-10 opponents.
“James, anytime you are somewhere for as long as he has – he did a lot of great things,” Day said. “And we had a lot of great games against each other. So yeah, you take a chance to reflect on it all. But he's gonna land on his feet. He's a really good coach. But then you got to get back to work.”
But as Day said, after that brief moment to reflect, it was back to focusing on what's best for his program. That includes looking at potential flip targets on the recruiting trail, including those for Penn State's now in-limbo program.
"All over it," Day said. "We have a bye week next week, it'll be a busy week in recruiting. It's starting to get down to that point. I think we're gonna have a real busy next couple months. But we're evaluating really heavy right now this class, and how things are going. The majority of their seasons are on film now, so it gives us a great chance to identify who we feel like is playing at a high level and who we want to target. Certainly we have our commits, and they're doing great. But there's also a bunch of pieces to the puzzle that we're working toward to get onto the team."
Ohio State plays Penn State and interim head coach Terry Smith in the Shoe on Nov. 1.
