Is this the beginning of the end of the James Franklin era?

It is starting to feel that way to me.

This, from statecollege.com:

The backup quarterback who has been with the program for two-and-a-half years is not ready to play. (emphasis in original)

As they say: That’s it. That’s the Tweet.

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Penn Staters are loyal traditionalists who thoroughly love their university like few other places, who see themselves as Penn Staters for life who will do anything for other Penn Staters. Through thick and thin.

So, when Franklin does not go all in and does not say he’s not going anywhere when his name is – continuously — linked to other schools, he is not perceived as a legit Penn Stater himself. In this case, perception matters. (emphasis added; Franklin has not been Shermanesque and that does matter. A lot. If in some hideous alternative universe I were a Penn Stater I would be so fucking pissed I'd want to fire the guy for not being Shermanesque.)
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Going 1-0…except after Iowa.

It’s a good strategy and mindset, for sure, and one that Franklin and his players adhere to. That is to be respected.

Only thing, in the days after the Iowa loss, Franklin was still thinking about the 0-1. Very uncharacteristic. (Franklin typically tweets after a game the next game as a focus. So after Iowa it would typically be "Illinois, Illinois, Illinois." And after Illinois, "Ohio State, Ohio State, Ohio State." I don't think he did after either.)

Ninety-four hours after the final whistle in Kinnick Stadium, Franklin was still adjudicating the defeat and Kirk Ferentz’s many ridiculous statements. Franklin took a lot of time and energy and passion to write and deliver a 4-minute and 16-second rant that looked backward, not forward.

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Losses can linger. Franklin takes defeat hard. Very hard. There’s no doubting the coach cares. Maybe too much.

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Losses gnaw at Franklin, despite the 1-0 Mentality. And you have to think his staff, coaches and players sense that. (That is the third time this writer has written the same thing. I have read also that Franklin's press conference after Illinoise was unlike any of his others. He didn't make an opening statement, he just took questions.)

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He...mentioned the expectations of the program and how tough it is getting into the College Football Playoff. I saw it as a nuanced way of indicating that one loss — that is not to Ohio State – can kill a Penn State season when you have CFP aspirations...

This is where he provides a reveal of where his mind and heart might also be at. A loss to Iowa can be a deal-breaker of an entire season when you have playoff hopes and Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State – all playing great, if not elite football — are still on deck. ...

“I think it’s also magnified,” Franklin added. “I think the philosophy is magnified a little bit, because depending on what type of school you’re at or where you’re at, what the expectation is. And I think that the College Football Playoff has changed that probably more than ever. Depending on what type of school you’re at and where you’re at...And I think it’s made it more challenging..."

(As the writer does, Franklin also repeats the same thing. Repetition emphasizes a point. Twice in one talking paragraph Franklin mentions "what type of school you're at"; twice, he says "where you're at". I have written this before (so I am repeating for emphasis). James Franklin has seemed to have "his head turned", as Limey soccer writers say, since the first round of to-USC speculation. "What the expectations are"--The expectations, the CFP, would be the same at LSU or USC but significantly easier to meet at SC, and, imo, harder to meet at LSU. "Where you're at"--Franklin does not seem to be all "at" PSU. He seems to be partially "at" USC or LSU. Last year was a COVID year, a bad year for PSU football and, Franklin didn't have to say this, but he did, I don't know what it means except facially, he said that he had done a poor job coaching because his family had not been in State College.)

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Two blown saves in eight days may have been one too many for Penn State fans.

Franklin is truly not appreciated. That’s very possibly true. And he may also think so.