James Franklin earned high praise Wednesday, being named college football’s Coach of the Year by Sporting News.

Congratulations to @coachjfranklin, honored with @sn_ncaaf‘s Coach of the Year recognition! #WeAre https://t.co/fwfHoyNXNG pic.twitter.com/iOvCOp0d2H

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) December 7, 2016

Following back-to-back 7-6 seasons to start his Penn State tenure, Franklin and the Nittany Lions took the nation by storm in 2016. Despite going 2-2 in September with losses to Pitt and Michigan, No. 5 Penn State (11-2, 9-1 Big Ten) put together perhaps the greatest turnaround in program history this fall, winning nine straight to capture the Big Ten Championship.

Franklin beat out Washington’s Chris Petersen and Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre, each of whom delivered spectacular seasons of their own, for Sporting News’ top coaching honor.

For the fourth time, the Nittany Lions are heading to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, where they’ll face a familiar foe in No. 9 USC on January 2, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.