I agree with the OP. I wanted Foley to fire Muschamp and hire Franklin. We waited a year too long for that.
However, Franklin struggled in his first couple of seasons. Much like Swinney, Peterson and many other coaches who struggled to win immediately the fans were calling for Franklin to be fired.
"Everything started out well enough. It was 10-0, the offense appeared in sync, the defense was dominant, and I was having fun. It even seemed as if the much-maligned offensive line had at least become "mediocre." I cannot pinpoint the exact moment it all went to ****, but after taking that 10-0 lead, and racking up 128 yards, Penn State's offense was shut out, and gained just 55 yards the rest of the game."
"This staff can talk all they want about the limitations of their roster, and trying to do what they can with what they have, but enough is enough."
Man, that sounds familiar.
Franklin coached Penn State to their first loss to Temple in 74 years. He had former players publically ripping his offense and saying that's why they left early.
"During and after the Temple loss, some former players called out the offensive coaching staff, and the offensive performance in general. Former offensive lineman Donovan Smith, who left for the NFL after last season, said "this is the exact reason" why he departed."
Franklin lost the Taxslayer Bowl. After 2 seasons as head coach at Penn he had accumulated a 14-12 overall record and was 6-10 in the conference. At one point this season he was 2-2 and had just been blown out by Michigan 49-10.
Trace McSorley was a freshman in 2015 and apparently Franklin decided he just wasn't ready to lead the team as a freshman. This season McSorley hit the field and changed the team. He threw for 3,360 yards with 25 TDs and 5 INTs. That idiot the fans wanted fired looked like a genius once he had a competent QB. Franklin hadn't forgotten how to coach after all.
Just saying, the narrative sounds somewhat similar. Not exactly the same, but similar.
http://www.blackshoediaries.com/201...hackenberg-franklin-john-donovan-ouch-my-eyes
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/penn-states-james-franklin-can-recruit-but-can-he-coach