A recent post from The Big Ten Huddle on X caused much debate in college football communities. It compared Penn State HC James Franklin and Texas HC Steve Sarkisian statistically, reigniting debates about coaching respect and perception.
The graphic laid out their records: Sarkisian with a 61.8% win percentage, seven top-10 wins, two playoff wins, and one conference championship; Franklin with a 68.7% win percentage, four top-10 wins, two playoff wins, and one conference title. Despite Franklin’s edge in overall winning, the question posed was straightforward.
James Franklin Disrespect Reignites Coaching Debate Against Steve Sarkisian
The comparison between Franklin and Sarkisian isn’t new, but this latest post brought the conversation back into focus. Franklin, who has been at the helm of Penn State since 2014, has a career record of 88-39 at the school as of the end of the 2024 season, according to Penn State’s official athletics records.
Why does everyone act like Steve Sarkisian is just clearly a better head coach than James Franklin? pic.twitter.com/FdudCOF6L9
— The Big Ten Huddle 🎙️ (@TheBigTenHuddle) May 20, 2025
His 68.7% win percentage reflects his consistent ability to deliver winning seasons, including an 11-2 finish in 2019, which saw the Nittany Lions ranked ninth in both the AP and Coaches Polls after a 53-39 Cotton Bowl victory over Memphis.
Franklin also led Penn State to a Big Ten Championship in 2016. They won eight straight games after a 2-2 start, capped by a 38-31 win over Wisconsin in the title game.
On the other hand, Sarkisian has been with Texas since 2021 and has a career head coaching record of 71-44 across his stints at Washington, USC, and now Texas, as per Texas Athletics. His 61.8% win percentage is solid but lags behind Franklin’s. However, Sarkisian’s recent success has shifted the narrative around him.
In 2023, he led Texas to a 12-2 record, a Big 12 Championship, and a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance, where they fell 37-31 to Washington.
That season marked Texas’s first Big 12 title since 2009 and elevated Sarkisian’s stock, with some even mentioning him as a potential replacement for Nick Saban at Alabama before Kalen DeBoer got the job.
The graphic from The Big Ten Huddle highlighted other key metrics. According to On3’s historical data, Sarkisian’s teams have averaged 20.4 in recruiting class rankings, slightly behind Franklin’s 16.3.
Both coaches have produced NFL talent at a similar clip, with Franklin averaging 4.2 draft picks per year and Sarkisian at 4.7. Yet, despite these comparable numbers, the perception of their coaching ability seems to differ widely in the college football world.
Recruiting Success Doesn’t Translate to Universal Respect for James Franklin
One of Franklin’s biggest strengths has been his ability to recruit at an elite level. Penn State’s average recruiting class rank of 16.3 over the past decade has consistently placed it among the top programs in the country.
Just this month, on May 2, Penn State picked up a commitment from four-star linebacker Terry Wiggins, bolstering their 2026 class, as Will Moxon of CSN reported. Franklin’s staff secured in-state quarterback Peyton Falzone in April, adding another high-ceiling talent to the roster.
However, Franklin’s recruiting success and consistent winning haven’t shielded him from criticism. Much of the narrative around him centers on his inability to consistently beat top-tier programs like Ohio State.
Penn State has lost to the Buckeyes in seven of the last eight meetings, with their lone win in that stretch coming in 2016. This has led some to label Franklin “overrated,” a sentiment that persisted despite his 88 wins at Penn State, the most active Big Ten coach except Ohio State’s Ryan Day.
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Sarkisian, meanwhile, has faced less scrutiny for similar shortcomings. According to the AP Poll rankings cited by the X post, while he has seven top-10 wins compared to Franklin’s four, Sarkisian’s losses to teams like Oklahoma (34-30 in 2023) haven’t drawn the same level of criticism. Part of this may stem from the different expectations of their programs.
With its massive resources and history, Texas is often judged against the backdrop of previous coaches like Tom Herman, who went 32-18 in four seasons. Franklin, however, is constantly measured against Ohio State, a program that has averaged top-five recruiting classes for the past decade.
Whether 2025 will be the year he changes the conversation remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: James Franklin isn’t going anywhere, and neither is the debate about his place among the sport’s elite coaches.
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