If there’s one team that’s consistently been on top in pre-season reviews, analyses, and rankings, it’s Penn State. James Franklin is getting his best shot at realizing a dream that Penn State fans have had for the past 39 years. He has the QB, he has the offense, and the defense needs no further introduction. The Nittany Lions stand to cause some major damage to their opponents this year and are primed to book a spot in the playoffs and further onwards. However, a former player himself doesn’t think PSU has it to win the National Championship this year.

Franklin’s 2024 team was also one of great potential. But the keyword here is ‘was.’ The offense started dwindling in production so greatly that Drew Allar could not find much ground to excel. The WR room, in particular, was the offense’s biggest problem, which became a threat after its leading receivers transferred out. But Franklin worked promptly to plug these leaks. He now has a promising WR, a great OC in Andy Kotelnicki. He himself can lend his defensive genius to the other side of the ball, along with housing another great, Jim Knowles, as his DC. Penn State has never looked better.

But Adam Breneman, who played under Franklin for two years, is downplaying the Nittany Lions’ ability to win the National title this year. He dropped a quick video of his top 5 teams ahead of the 2025 season. Instead of Penn State at No. 1, he puts Texas in that position. Breneman, in turn, has James Franklin at the 2ndas consolation. He is placed ahead of Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Clemson. The highlight of Breneman’s review of Penn State’s offseason preparations was, of course, the WR room reconstruction.

“They went all in on fixing the one thing that held them back last year, wide receiver. Three big-time wide receivers coming in from the transfer portal,” Breneman noted. The WR who had things looking up for this department was Syracuse’s Trebor Pena. He and fellow transfers Devonte Ross and Kyron Hudson account for a total of 2,446 yards from 2004. They will join in-house WRs Liam Clifford, Tyseer Denmark, and others in the WR room. “We have a lot of exciting youth in that room. So that room has really taken a step forward,” Franklin said of this new unit after the Spring game.

Breneman sees the 2025 Texas team as a “complete” unit. “This team is loaded. Arch Manning is that dude in the Longhorns are stacked at every skill position. On defense, they might have the best defensive tackle rotation in the country. They are physically explosive,” the analyst added. No one can deny the impact that Arch Manning is currently creating on Texas and CFB in general. It’s bound to bolster the Longhorns’ run up to the finals, having been to the semis twice, back-to-back. Steve Sarkisian has gone further than Franklin in the playoffs in just four years of holding the title of Texas’s HC. 

Breneman had a lot of high praise for Penn State despite putting them at No. 2. “This looks like Michigan in ’23 or Ohio State in ’24. A better and loaded roster with unfinished business,” he remarked of Franklin’s 2025 team. This means they have a national championship-winning caliber. But somewhere, Franklin loses Breneman’s faith in the team. Franklin features in fans’ good and bad books for their own reasons. Still, the former All-American has high hopes for his former coach.

James Franklin is among Breneman’s top underrated CFB head coaches

In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Breneman regarded Franklin as one of the most underrated CFB head coaches ahead of the 2025 season. The PSU coach is a quiet man, but he has a lot of good things about him to get fans to regard him as a top coach. In his 11 years as HC, Franklin has one Big 10 conference title and another appearance in the same game in 2024. He finished in double digits 6 times. But the repetitive near misses in the big games have caused fans to lose hope in him.

“Fans love to critique him, but he’s turned PSU into a perennial power,” Breneman noted. When it comes to James Franklin, it has fans with their feet in either boat. The coach produces some great teams, capable of achieving all the greatness they can in the season. And then, the Nittany Lions falter against the same old. He has a glaring record of 3-20 against the AP’s top-10 ranked teams and 1-15 against the top-5. Last year alone, Franklin’s 3 losses were to No. 1 Oregon, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Notre Dame, the rankings prior to when he faced off against them. It sure is a worrying trend.

James Franklin might not seem like it, but he sure has PSU fans at two ends when it comes to having their trust. Once again, he returns with a team that is expected to clinch the national title. However, Breneman thinks it might not quite be the case. Can Franklin do the unthinkable this year and silence critics by winning that coveted title?