One more accolade for Coach Franklin, and it probably won’t be the last.
Sporting News named Penn State’s James Franklin as their pick for Coach of the Year, adding to the growing list of accolades for the Nittany Lions head coach.
Franklin been named Big Ten Coach of the Year and David McClain Coach of the Year (as honored by Big Ten media). The last Penn State coach to earn Sporting News Coach of the Year honors was Joe Paterno in 2005, also the last time that Penn State won the Big Ten conference title.
Franklin is also a finalist for the 2016 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award as presented by the Football Writers Association of America.
In his third year, Franklin has guided the Lions to a nine game winning streak, an 11-2 record, the Big Ten East title (their second divisional title), their first Big Ten Conference championship since 2008, a College Football Playoff ranking of No. 5 (the highest ranking since 2009) and a spot in the January 2 Rose Bowl against USC.
Not too shabby.
Congratulations, Coach!