The James Franklin story in Happy Valley ended poorly last year after the Lions suffered three consecutive losses. Since then, both parties have moved on, with Franklin landing at Virginia Tech and Penn State hiring Matt Campbell. However, the former Lions head coach is still not over how he was let go by the program. ESPN further stoked the fire with a prediction for the 2026 season, and the son of Penn State legend Joe Paterno didn’t like it.

On May 21, ESPN published a piece about top storylines and predictions 100 days before Week 0 of the 2026 season. In the 10 wild predictions for the upcoming season, the No. 7 was allotted to James Franklin and his revenge on Penn State. “Although it’s probably too outlandish to predict Franklin gets Virginia Tech into the playoff, winning nine isn’t that far out of the question — which could mean Franklin wins more games in 2026 than his former team does at Penn State,” the ESPN piece read.

Scott Paterno, the son of the head coach who led the Lions for 45 years, took to X to call out the prediction. At the same time, he also took a jab at the former Penn State head coach. “Well, he [James Franklin] did run from a game against JMU, and hung on to games against ODU and VMI,” Scott wrote on X. “What will prevent him from eclipsing PSU’s record is the non-con chaff he schedule here for himself.”

An X user pointed out that he shouldn’t be calling out Virginia Tech for dropping James Madison from its schedule, given that Penn State is playing Marshall, Temple, and Buffalo in its non-conference slate. Rather than accept the point, Scott Paterno doubled down, saying that Franklin made the Nittany Lions’ 2026 schedule when he was the head coach at Happy Valley.

Virginia Tech fans pushed back, accusing Paterno of hypocrisy. Paterno doubled down, insisting Franklin had built the 2026 slate. When one user asked him to ‘get over’ his former head coach, Paterno dropped the hammer.

“We don’t miss him. The story I comment on was how “he had a chip on his shoulder” and wanted to “Get revenge.” In other words, your coach can’t get over being dumped,” Scott Paterno wrote. And he wasn’t done. He ended his point saying, “Call me in a couple years.”

On his part, James Franklin hasn’t exactly criticized his former program or the fans. His only issue was with the sudden nature of his firing at Happy Valley.

James Franklin couldn’t watch Penn State after being fired

The college football world wasn’t exactly surprised by Franklin’s firing. Ahead of the 2026 season, the former Lions head coach made moves to his coaching staff, signaling that he is looking to go big. The preseason rankings had his team No. 2. That hype ultimately paved the way for his exit after he lost three consecutive games to start the season 3-3. In a conversation with Adam Breneman, Franklin admitted that he was taken aback by the suddenness of his exit.

I didn’t feel like I would be starting over. So, there’s a chip that I’m in this position. I got a chip on my shoulder that I put my family in this position. And I got a chip that I feel like all those players I created disruption in their lives that we didn’t need. And I’m not going to let it happen again ever,” Franklin said.

That also affected how he consumed college football. The 2025 season still had a lot of games left to play when he left Happy Valley. And while he watched other teams, he couldn’t get himself to have a look at Penn State games. “I couldn’t watch Penn State. I couldn’t do it. It’s just too many emotions,” Franklin said.

That chapter is in the past now, and it’s better if both parties really move on rather than having digs at each other through the media.