James

Franklin

The Redskins asked permission to interview Franklin, but nothing came of it and no interview was ever scheduled. Schefter expects Franklin to either end up staying at Vandy or taking the Penn State opening. The Redskins were also believed to be interested in reuniting Baylor coach Art Briles with Robert Griffin III, but Briles has spurned overtures from the NFL, as well.

Franklin, formerly the head coach at Vanderbilt, drew some interest from the Redskins, Texans and Browns over the past two weeks. But he was never considered a favorite for any of the jobs, and now he’s taken himself out of the mix. Former NFL coaches with strong Penn State ties like Mike Munchak and Greg Schiano were passed over.

Franklin has been a hot name the past year or so. The soon-to-be 42-year-old has been the Commodores’ head man the past three seasons and has led them to an impressive 17-8 record over the last two years. Franklin has one year of NFL coaching experience; he coached the Packers receivers in 2005 before jetting to become Kansas State’s offensive coordinator. Franklin interviewed for the Texans’ job two weeks ago.