"Poor James Franklin": Josh Pate plays devil's advocate to defend Penn State HC against unfair expectations 

Expectations are high for James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2025 season. Penn State is coming off a 13-3 season and a trip to the College Football Playoff Semifinals.

However, not everyone is completely sold on the Nittany Lions. College football analyst Josh Pate believes that there may be more pressure on Penn State and coach James Franklin than there should be (10:15):

“That nucleus, I wouldn’t say is good enough to be expected to be right there competing for a national championship this upcoming year.

"Competitive, okay, but let me give you the devil’s advocate perspective since all of you are trying to heap this unfair pressure on James Franklin. Poor James Franklin. Let’s feel sorry for him, someone’s got to feel sorry for him."

Franklin has been a target across college football because of the Nittany Lions' inability to win the “big games”. Since he took over in Happy Valley, Penn State holds a 4-20 record against AP poll top 10 teams.

Pate believes that even though they made the CFP semifinals, there's little reason to believe that Penn State can break through this year, even with talented players like Drew Allar, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen staying for one more season.

“Was the caliber of this Penn State team in 2024 that different? Because by my estimation, they still lost the big games. They lost to Ohio State. Ohio State melted down against Michigan, which allowed Penn State to backdoor their way into Indianapolis. … They end up being competitive against Oregon but they lose to them too, so they had a couple of shots against the big boys, they lost.

“They go to the playoff, get the most favorable draw that any team’s probably ever going to get in the playoff, so they beat Boise, of course they should have; they beat SMU before that, of course they should have. Then they ran into Notre Dame and lost to Notre Dame,” Pate said.

While the Nittany Lions remain stacked, they lost two players at the top of their position group to the NFL Draft. Edge rusher Abdul Carter and tight end Tyler Warren were important in the school’s run to the CFP semifinals.

Penn State hired former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to take that position in Happy Valley. James Franklin and the Nittany Lions will have an interesting season.

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James Franklin’s new DC, Jim Knowles, addresses team

James Franklin finally got Jim Knowles to go home, as the former Ohio State defensive coordinator will be going back to his home state of Pennsylvania.

In his introduction to the team, Knowles shared some words, remembering when he was growing up as a Penn State fan.

"We had like three channels on TV and you got up Sunday morning and you watched the Penn State highlights … Penn State was everything. It was everything. That’s what we aspired to be,” Knowles said.

Knowles is coming off turning Ohio State into the best defensive team in the nation en route a national championship in 2024. The Buckeyes led the nation in points allowed per game and total defense.

The unit also stepped up in the CFP, dominating against Tennessee and Oregon in the first two rounds and shutting down Texas and Notre Dame in key moments to capture the title.