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Penn State football coach James Franklin sees notable jump in newest coaching rankings

Penn State football and its head coach are on the rise this spring.

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Penn State football coach James Franklin
© Jake Crandall / Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

This time last year, the Penn State football program, led by James Franklin, was coming off of a disappointing and messy 7-6 finish, marking the second consecutive season in which Penn State finished around .500. However, in the past year, the Lions managed to turn everything around and re-establish themselves as a premier program in college football.

They finished with an impressive 11-2 overall record and secured a spot in the top 10 rankings following their Rose Bowl victory over Utah. As a result of this remarkable success, Penn State coach James Franklin has experienced a significant rise in the newest Power 5 college football coaching rankings, which are annually released by CBS Sports.

Penn State football coach James Franklin sees notable jump in 2023 coaching rankings

Last year, James Franklin was ranked as the No. 15 coach in college football (P5) after leading his program to an 11-11 record from 2020 to 2021. While some of that failure can be attributed to the pandemic, injuries, and other factors, Franklin ultimately shoulders the responsibility as the head coach and will be held accountable for his program’s shortcomings.

Conversely, in 2022, Penn State football made a triumphant return to its winning ways. For the fourth time in the past six full seasons, the Nittany Lions secured 11 victories and finished in the top 10. Moreover, they captured their third New Year’s Six bowl win since 2017, and it marked James Franklin’s second Rose Bowl appearance, with the first occurring in 2016-17 when the Nittany Lions clinched the Big Ten Championship.

As a result of this remarkable turnaround for Penn State football, James Franklin received a significant boost in the newest college football preseason coaching rankings.

According to CBS Sports, Franklin is now ranked No. 10. In just one season, the esteemed head coach of the Nittany Lions has gone from barely making the top 15 to breaking into the top 10. If he can continue to build on this success in the upcoming fall season, there is a good chance that James Franklin will ascend even further in next spring’s rankings.



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Chris, a Penn State University student, founded Basic Blues Nation in 2022. He remains a co-owner of the website today. Throughout a six-year writing career, Chris has been a beat writer, a staff writer, an Editor-In Chief, and more, serving as a member of the credentialed media for a number of Big Ten schools. He has covered everything from non-revenue sports to CFP National Championship matchups, as well as some professional and high school sports.

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