Penn State fired long-time head coach James Franklin over the weekend, and the Pitt Panthers head coach offered a comment.
PITTSBURGH – Pitt Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi has never been shy with his opinions when it comes to Penn State and former head coach James Franklin.
With a long history between the two programs—and between Narduzzi and Franklin—questions naturally arose when Penn State announced Franklin’s firing over the weekend, which reportedly included a buyout of around $50 million.
“James Franklin’s a great coach, and it’s a business we’re in,” Narduzzi said during his weekly press conference. “I say business, it’s business, and places gotta do what they gotta do. I’m not concerned about that, we don’t play ‘em, and James will be okay. Got a lot of respect for him, and it’s a shame because he’s a great coach. We all know that, he’s won a lot of games, he was in the playoffs a year ago, and then he’s looking like he is. I’m more focused on Fran Brown and the Syracuse Orange and the challenge we have this weekend going up there in a dome.”
During the overlap of Narduzzi and Franklin’s tenures, Pitt and Penn State faced off four times, with Franklin’s teams winning three of the four matchups.
Pitt’s 42-39 victory in 2016 marked the first meeting between the programs in 16 years and proved costly for the Nittany Lions, who narrowly missed out on the College Football Playoff that season. Penn State then responded by winning the next three games: 33-14 in 2017, 51-6 in 2018, and 17-10 in 2019.
The two programs haven’t faced each other since 2019, and there are currently no plans to resume the series. Narduzzi has expressed interest in continuing matchups—both against Penn State and West Virginia—but a return doesn’t seem likely.
Over the years, Narduzzi and Franklin have exchanged barbs, often during local radio shows or in media interviews. However, Narduzzi chose not to take a shot at Franklin during his latest press conference.
Franklin, who took over at Penn State 11 months before Narduzzi arrived at Pitt, finished his tenure with a 104-45 overall record, including 63-36 in Big Ten play. With Franklin gone, Narduzzi is now the longest-tenured Division I coach in Pennsylvania.
Franklin’s dismissal is part of a recent trend of early-to-mid-season coaching changes across college football, with programs like UAB, Oregon State, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, UCLA, and Virginia Tech also making moves. Narduzzi, however, isn’t focused on that trend.
“I’m just worried about winning football games here, so it doesn’t happen to me,” he said. “My job is to take care of my job, stay in my lane.”
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