James Franklin doesn't like Miami talk, has ‘hundred-percent' focus on Penn State

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Not long removed from changing jobs, it doesn’t sound like James Franklin has much interest in doing it again any time soon.

At the very least, he doesn’t want to talk about any possibility of such a thing.

Franklin’s name was mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed the recently fire Al Golden as the head football coach at Miami. CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd went as far as writing: “You keep hearing rumblings that Franklin would be interested.”

Franklin has a head-coaching gig, at Penn State, and was asked about the Miami job during his weekly press conference Tuesday.

“I don't like it. I think it causes into a distraction for our team. I think it's a distraction for Penn State. And I have no idea where it's coming from, whatsoever,” Franklin responded. “My family has sacrificed. I've worked my ass off to get to Penn State, to get here. And this is where I want to be. This is where I want to be. We’ve got a lot of work to do on the field. We’ve got a lot of work to do off the field in every aspect. But this is where I want to be. Stuff like that I guess some people could look at it as a compliment. I don't. My focus is a hundred percent on Penn State. Like I said, I've worked like crazy to get here.

“So not going to address it anymore, not going to talk about it anymore. This is where I want to be. This is where my family wants to be. This is where our staff wants to be. We've got a lot of work to do. That's really kind of the end of the discussion.”

[SHOP BIG TEN: Get your Penn State gear right here]

While there are currently multiple openings in the Big Ten — at Illinois and Maryland — this isn’t the first time a Big Ten head coach has been asked about an opening elsewhere. Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio was asked about the vacant position at South Carolina, his alma mater, after Steve Spurrier abruptly retired, and Dantonio had even less to say than Franklin did.

The speculation of departure could stem from the increasing level of competition in the Big Ten East. But the level of competition is in part being raised because of these coaches: Franklin, Dantonio, Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh.

Franklin to Miami? We’ll have to wait and see, but it certainly sounds like Franklin wants no part of this discussion.

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