Maybe Penn State Should Hold Off Before Hiring James Franklin (if they indeed are)

The Penn State coaching search has taken an interesting turn. Up until I saw the online petition from a Penn State professor asking the university not to hire him I thought hiring Vanderbilt's James Franklin was a brilliant move. When it comes to the X's and O's of the game I still do. The man is a master recruiter and he has proven his worth the last three years for the Commodores.

But it might not be the smartest PR move.

@JeffDLowe/Twitter

These petitions on Change.org are for the most part pretty silly, and the one that has sparked off some discussion on Franklin is no different. However, there is one point in it that should make Penn State officials pause.

The first sentence says it all:

We at Penn State do not want a football coach who has allegedly covered up his players' gang rape of another student at Vanderbilt....

From what I can remember about the rape case involving four of his players when the scandal broke he immediately suspended the players involved and eventually kicked them of the team. You can't ask for a coach to do much more than that--besides cooperating with authorities of course and there is no reason to believe he hasn't.

It is important to note that it says 'alleged cover up;' not that he did. However, if he did--and it comes out during the trial that has yet to happen-- that could be disastrous for the program

Unless this person knows something that no one else does there is no reason to believe that Franklin has done anything wrong. Does the school really want to pass up on a great coach because of unfounded allegations (USC did)?

I suppose we will find out Saturday afternoon when the school makes its 'big announcement.'

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