James Franklin is one of the most polarizing figures up in State College. In fact, across the entirety of the College Football realm. He has his skeptics, and he has his proponents. One thing is unequivocal. His time as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions has been a net positive for the program. Coach Franklin’s traversal through life, alongside his family, has led him to this juncture.

In some ways, James Franklin has been a victim of his own success. He took over the helm at Penn State in 2014, after a successful first foray into head coaching with Vanderbilt. By 2016, he’d already won the Big 10 conference championship for PSU. The team has consistently been among the AP Poll and CFP committee’s rankings throughout his tenure. Yet, his perceived shortcomings in delivering the big one, or in the big moments, have marred his time in Happy Valley. At least so far.

This season, Franklin is two wins away from the school’s first national championship since the 1986 season, but for that, he has to pull off something that has eluded him during most of his career: beat a top-5 team. He is 1-14 at Penn State against AP top-5 teams, with the only win coming in 2016 against No. 2 Ohio State. Delving into his background offers a lot of perspective about the man as well as the coach.

How did a unique ethnic background help James Franklin in his profession?

James Geoffrey Franklin was born on February 2, 1972. His father, James Oliver, is of African-American descent. His mother, Jocelyn “Josie” Franklin, is British and Caucasian. The two met across the Atlantic in Manchester, England, at an Air Force Base. They fell in love beyond all prejudice and eloped to Ireland. Eventually, the two moved to Pittsburgh. They first bore James’ older sister, Debbie, who’s 5 years older to James. Being biracial through the 70s naturally and begrudgingly came with its challenges. James Franklin has spoken about how his experience growing up helped develop his coaching acumen.

“It’s given me a really unique perspective. I can relate with and be comfortable in so many different settings because of the way I was raised,” said Franklin, implying how he construes his mixed ethnicity as an edge in recruitment and player management. James Franklin went through his parents getting divorced at a young age and was raised by his mother. Born in the suburbs of Langhorne in Pennsylvania itself, Franklin was somewhat destined to come to Penn State. His mother’s side of the family went through serious peril over in England.

“My mom’s from England, so that makes my family in a lot of ways small because basically the side I grew up with was just my dad’s side of the family,” Franklin said. Tragically, distance wasn’t the only barrier. His mom, Josie, dealt with losing two brothers at a young age. One died of polio in an era when there wasn’t enough medical advancement.

Her other sibling died in an accident after being hit by a bus off the curb. In a life that eventually culminated in divorce, it’s conspicuous where James Franklin gets his mettle from. Josie died in 2007, and James Oliver passed 10 years prior to that. As of writing this, James Franklin is one step away from becoming the first-ever African-American coach to win the National Championship.

James Franklin is paving the way for a change in the coaching realm

Racial parity is often hard to come by in this world in every walk of life. College Football is a microcosm of the same problems. While the players taking to the gridiron include a fair amount of black representatives, the same is not true over on the sidelines. Out of 134 programs in the FBS, only 16 had black HCs in charge by the end of the 2024 season.

Rather morbidly, this is actually a 2x increase from not too long ago. James Franklin is a pioneer in more ways than one. His opportunity to make history and permeate hope into the African-American populace is not lost on him as he seeks to make the Natty. Ahead of his tryst with making said history, James Franklin reminisced over something that inspired him at an early stage.

“It makes me think of when Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith played in Super Bowl XLI in 2007. That was the first Super Bowl featuring a Black head coach at all, let alone two…Obviously, Dungy became the first Black coach to win a Super Bowl, which was significant. I remember thinking as a coach how significant that was in the profession and how significant it was for young coaches coming up in the profession to see those guys in that role. ,” he said.

Whether he’s able to achieve this feat is aside. Franklin and his journey demand its due respect. For every qualm, whether rational or not. It’s important to have perspective of what he’s lived through and stands for. James Franklin has broken through conventional glass ceilings all throughout. He’ll continue doing so as his career progresses.