James Franklin joins Big Ten coaches fighting for his players right to play

James Franklin has gone to bat for his Penn State football players Monday.

James Franklin let it be known he would do anything for his Penn State football players.

With the Big Ten reportedly canceling its 2020 college football season, the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions tweeted out how he feels about the situation on Monday afternoon.

"I love our players & believe it is my responsibility to help them chase their dreams, both collectively & individually. I am willing to fight WITH them & for our program!"

He is the latest Big Ten head football coach willing to go to bat for his players’ right to play and his staff’s right to coach them. Surely, he will not be the last to speak his mind about the subject.

How many more Big Ten head coaches will join James Franklin and others?

Thus far, we’ve had Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines issue out a statement, Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes send out a tweet in support of his players and Scott Frost of the Nebraska Cornhuskers debating the possibility of going rogue and playing no matter what the Big Ten says it can and can’t do this season. The college football season hangs in the balances today.

Like Day and Harbaugh, Franklin coaches at one of the 12 Big Ten universities whose presidents reportedly voted against having a season. The only two to vote in favor of us having a 2020 Big Ten football season were the University of Iowa and Frost’s alma mater in the University of Nebraska. It takes courage for someone like Franklin to stick his neck out for his players like this.

If we can’t have college football, then we can’t have college football. However, the Big Ten is giving off the shameful impression that it hasn’t exhausted every last stinking resource to keep a college football season alive. New Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren is under so much fire right now, while his counterpart Greg Sankey over in the SEC is still willing to try to make a season happen.

The shame in it all is Penn State would have had one of the better teams in the Big Ten this year. Outside of division rival Ohio State, Franklin’s team had as good of shot as any team in the Big Ten to win a conference championship and reach the College Football Playoff. This could have been the first time Penn State ever got to the current four-team postseason format in school history.

Franklin has his players back no matter what and Penn State should feel lucky to have him.

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