Penn State reportedly to replace head coach James Franklin with Joe Paterno statue SportsPickle Follow Sep 10, 2016 · 2 min read

STATE COLLEGE, PA — Penn State head football coach James Franklin reportedly will meet with university officials tomorrow morning and be officially relieved of his job as head coach of the Nittany Lions football team. In his place, Penn State will install the school’s beloved statue of Joe Paterno.

“We appreciate James Franklin’s hard work at Penn State, but after a little over two seasons, we felt we weren’t where we wanted to be as a program and that is back with Joe Paterno,” said university president Eric Barron. “Joe isn’t with us anymore, but the example and motivation provided by his statue will be a great leader for this program going forward.”

The decision was met with immediate celebration by Penn State fans, students, boosters and alumni. Thousands filled the streets of State College and University Park, cheering and honking horns. A naked and gleefully screaming Franco Harris ran across the lawn in front of Old Main, receiving high-fives and butt slaps from fans along the way. And a group of alumni called Penn Staters For Erasing The History Of Joe Paterno Enabling Child Abuse also release a statement demanding that the NCAA add any wins under the Paterno statue to the dead coach’s career total of 409.

Franklin ends his tenure in State College with a mark of 15–13 and zero serial child abuse scandals, a record that Penn State clearly did not find acceptable.

The coach said that if his time at at Penn State truly is over, he will “plan to take a really long shower and just try to get everything about that place off of me.”