James Franklin Politely Asks Kentucky Fans To Leave Him Alone On Twitter
Opposing fanbases generally don’t love James Franklin.
He has a tendency to speak his mind — although often cloaked in ambiguity — which can sometimes lead fans to assume the worst. Kentucky’s fanbase is commonly known as Big Blue Nation, and it probably assumed the worst when James Franklin hit “send” on one of his signature tweets a few days ago.
Kentucky fans were all over his mentions, tweeting back in support of their Wildcats. Even the Kentucky media tried to figure out exactly what Franklin meant with this seemingly cryptic tweet.
Of course, Penn State fans are used to this — Franklin uses this Twitter tactic all the time dating back to 2016 when the Nittany Lions made their surprise run to the Rose Bowl. Though there have been some slight tweaks to his formula over the years, he’s always been completely focused on his opponent, his opponent, his opponent.
“I put a tweet out that says, ‘Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky,’ and I do that every week,” Franklin explained on Monday morning. “I think sometimes when you play a new opponent, they don’t really understand that.”
Franklin specifically took time at the end of the press conference to hammer home this point while seated next to Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops.
“I don’t think, Coach, that Big Blue Nation liked that very much,” Franklin said to Stoops. “They went hard on Twitter, and there was a lot of misinterpretation about what that was about. That’s really a message to our team and our fanbase that we’re locked and loaded and completely focused on our next opponent. So if you could ask the Big Blue Nation to kind of leave me alone on Twitter…”
“Absolutely not,” Stoops responded to plenty of laughter from the attending media. “They need to be hostile.”
Franklin and Stoops were in jovial moods in front of the media, but they will surely feel much more competitive against one another at Camping World Stadium on New Year’s Day. You can watch the game at 1 p.m. on ABC.
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