Ben Shumate

A report surfaced Thursday that Texas A&M is gearing up to try and lure James Franklin away from Penn State if/when they fire Kevin Sumlin.

Write it down and put it in the bank: this ain’t happening. Sumlin could very likely get fired by the end of this season, but Aggies fans are straight up delusional if they think they can lure Franklin away from Penn State.

It’s as simple as this: Texas A&M is not a better job than Penn State. Speculating on the coaching carousel every year is fun and all, but it’s easy to forget that it all comes down to whether the coach feels like they’re making a better move for their career. That involves two things: football and money.

Penn State is positioned to be a contender for a second-straight conference title, make an undefeated run to the College Football Playoff and produce a Heisman trophy winner. Those markers of success could all be applied to Texas A&M — 5 years ago. Since Johnny Football left in 2013, the Aggies have not finished in the Top 25 one time. That’s also when Sumlin signed his contract extension and when A&M fans thought they would be what Penn State is right now for the foreseeable future.

Dennis Dodd notes in his piece that A&M is fourth-best team in a weak SEC and didn’t lose to Bama by 50. Congrats, good for them. That doesn’t mean they’re getting Franklin.

The money aspect works out no better for A&M. Franklin just signed a huge three year extension over the summer. Over those 3 years, the $19.75 million extension puts him at just over 6.5 million per year. In 2016, only two coaches made more than $6.5 million: Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban.

Not only is it unlikely that Texas A&M has the money to make a better deal happen, but it would probably be foolish to do so. I’m a huge Franklin guy and he’s had success at every school he’s been at, even facing unusually tough circumstances. But I think we’re all getting a little ahead of ourselves if Franklin starts making Nick Saban money.

Honestly this is probably just some booster talking big and tough to the media. If Texas A&M is really hoping to land Franklin when Sumlin is out the door, I hope they have Plan B in mind as well.