Nick Saban on Penn State firing James Franklin: ‘It’s unfair as hell’

Former Penn State football coach James Franklin joined ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ set Saturday morning to speak publicly for the first time since being fired Oct. 12.

ESPN’s Rece Davis opened the segment highlighting Franklin’s 104-45 record at Penn State and mentioning the Nittany Lions were in the College Football Playoff just last season.

Then Kirk Herbstreit asked Franklin if he thought Penn State’s decision to fire him after a third straight loss was fair.

“Well, fair is not for me to decide, right?’ Franklin answered. ‘That’s for other people to decide. The decision that was made, that was hard for me to comprehend at the time…’

Later in the interview, former Alabama coach Nick Saban took up for Franklin, taking issue with the school’s decision to fire Franklin.

‘You know, you made the statement it’s not like up to you to decide what’s fair or unfair… I’m going to answer it,’ Saban said. ‘It’s unfair as hell for you to go to the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, get in the final four, come out being ranked No. 1 this year, an expectation you created but what you accomplished at Penn State, and for those people not to show enough appreciation for that, and gratitude for that and all the hard work you did, I’m saying it’s unfair.’