Whatever you say, coach.

Former Penn State football head coach James Franklin said the school fired him without giving him a chance to fix Penn State’s challenges in 2025, per The Athletic’s Ralph Russo.

“Well, it’s unheard of because people have had challenges and had a chance to fix it,” Franklin said in Russo’s story. “What makes it what you described is we didn’t get a chance to fix it.”

Franklin was fired after the Nittany Lions dropped their first Big Ten contests of 2025, all by a single possession. Penn State played in the national semifinal the season before, but Penn State administration and fans felt that Franklin had reached his ceiling with the program.

“You can learn things over the years, you get around really good people, so you’re constantly learning and growing and evolving,” Franklin said. “But it’s hard to say that you need to totally reinvent yourself when six games earlier you’re playing to be in the national championship, right?”

Franklin came out of the gates in the week following his firing by going on ESPN’s College GameDay and affirming his desire to continue coaching as soon as possible. Virginia Tech officials immediately began recruiting Franklin, believing his experience leading a big-time program would translate well to the ACC.

Former Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster told Franklin that he hopes it’ll be his last job, ending with a statue alongside Hokie legend Frank Beamer.

Other Virginia Tech administrators, like outgoing athletic director Whit Babcock, share the same idea.

“There’s always pressure, and he’s always got to win, and one day, maybe here, hopefully, it’s if you don’t win the national championship, it’s a disappointment,” Babcock said. “But I think this will enable him to coach more freely, with less pressure, more aggressively, and maybe find that special spark. I know he had an immense amount of pressure on him up there on Ohio State, Michigan and winning the national championship.”

In Russo’s report, Franklin said he regrets staying so long at Penn State. He also said he didn’t feel like everyone was working on the same wavelength near the end of his tenure, which is why 2025 didn’t exactly go to plan.

“I say that because of how it ended,” Franklin said. “I didn’t feel like that at the time because when all these opportunities came I turned them down because we were so close.”

Nevertheless, Franklin and Virginia Tech seem excited about the new direction they’re heading in. Time will only tell who made the biggest mistakes between Franklin and Penn State.