Take Two: Could James Franklin really leave for Texas A&M?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

TAKE TWO: Is Florida's Jim McElwain already on the hot seat?

Coaching rumors abound this time of year and one of the more interesting - or unbelievable - ones to surface in recent days is that Texas A&M will make a run at Penn State’s James Franklin, first reported by Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports.

Here’s how the story goes: If the Aggies part with Kevin Sumlin, who has not received ringing endorsements from at least one Texas A&M regent, then Franklin would be a top target.

It’s important to note that Franklin this summer signed a three-year extension through the 2022 season and has taken to social media to dismiss any rumors of his departure from Happy Valley.

Plus, the question needs to be asked: Why would Franklin leave? He has Penn State back from near-crippling sanctions in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and Texas A&M is hardly an SEC championship contender.

That could be the motivation, though, to return to the SEC (Franklin previously coached at Vanderbilt) and maybe to dethrone the kings of college football - Nick Saban and his Alabama machine.

Could Franklin possibly be leaving Penn State for another rebuilding job at Texas A&M? Or is this just more Jon Gruden-to-Tennessee level coaching hype floated by an agent or someone else trying to stir up a story?

“I don’t want to give the impression that Franklin is beyond being enticed away from Penn State under the perfect set of circumstances, but this specific instance flatly does not add up. And really, I’d go straight to Franklin’s response for the most likely reasons why. Without referencing it specifically, Franklin tweeted that 'Recruiting is a crazy business, people will do anything to create drama,' before listing out that he’s from Pennsylvania and has both the No. 3-ranked team, and recruiting class, in the country. Once the weekend was done, that changed to the No. 2-ranked team in the country.

“If I could pick one word to best describe Franklin, it would be savvy. He surveys the landscape and goes to extreme lengths to learn everything he can before making his decisions. And the reality, especially coming off his announced contract extension this summer, is that Penn State has become a place where he is now truly of the influence he seeks. The university has committed the resources he wants in order to win, recruiting quickly shed some of its recent challenges and has hit a steady groove of success, and maybe most important, he understands the cyclical nature of prestige conferences and landing spots. Building up Penn State from a still-unsteady place has been an immense challenge, and one that in many ways he still has not come close to conquering to the level of sustained success he’d like to create.

“Does that mean circumstances can’t change at some point in the future? Of course not. But Franklin is invigorated by his current challenges and the opportunity he believes exists at Penn State to create a prestige program of his own.”

“Texas A&M might pursue Franklin, but that was planted by an agent. A lot of the coaching rumors you see are certainly planted rumors to get their guys better contracts. I don’t think he has interest in leaving. I don’t know why he would leave Penn State for A&M.

“People say he could take on the challenge of the SEC West and he could be the guy that brings down Saban, but it’s really high-risk, low-reward at this point, especially if Penn State continues to pay him, which it will.”