Paul Finebaum Pushes Back on Elite College Football Coach Being on the Hot Seat

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jaron Spor | Last updated Jun 26, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The 2025 college football season is quickly approaching, and teams are finalizing their preparations.

Aside from the Ohio State Buckeyes, every team is looking to improve upon last season and compete for a national championship. This includes Ohio State's Big Ten rival, the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The Nittany Lions had a strong season, finishing with a record of 13-3. However, they lost in the College Football Playoff semifinals to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 27-24, on a field goal in the final seconds of the game.

On "The Paul Finebaum Show," SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum addressed a caller's suggestion that head coach James Franklin should be on the hot seat. Finebaum disagreed with that assessment.

"James Franklin is not going to get fired," Finebaum said. "He came within a game of going to the national championship last year. Penn State standards are high; they're not as high as Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, places like that."

Finebaum has made his opinion on Franklin clear in the past. He recently stated that he believes Franklin has made very little of his opportunities, particularly last year when he felt Penn State was the better team against Notre Dame.

However, Finebaum does not think Franklin is on the hot seat just yet. One factor working in Franklin's favor is that Penn State returns many key players, including quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, and defensive linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant. Overall, the team returns 63% of its production, which ranks 33rd in the nation.

Last season, Allar threw for 3,327 yards, with 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions, achieving a completion rate of 66.5%. It was his best season as a starter. Additionally, Allen and Singleton both rushed for over 1,000 yards, combining for a total of 20 rushing touchdowns.

While most of Penn State's returning talent is on offense, retaining 72% of its output, which ranks 14th nationally, the team will need to overcome the loss of defensive standout Abdul Carter. Carter recorded 12 sacks and a nation-best 24 tackles for loss last season and was selected with the No. 3 overall pick by the New York Giants in the 2025 NFL draft.

The Nittany Lions will kick off the season against the Nevada Wolf Pack on Aug. 30 at 3:30 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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