The James Franklin era at Penn State is over, with the Nittany Lions firing their coach of more than a decade after three straight losses took them from one of the top-ranked teams in the country to out of the Top 25 entirely.

While it was a sudden dismissal, it was also one that had been building for some time, with Penn State regularly falling short in the biggest games under Franklin’s leadership. But that fact didn’t make the split any easier, and many of Franklin’s former players and coworkers have gone to bat for him in the past week.

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who was arguably the most successful prospect that Franklin ever coached at Penn State, opened up about what it was like to see his coach dismissed from the program.

"For me, seeing Coach Franklin get fired definitely hurts. That's the guy who gave me my shot,” Barkley said. "I know the season is not going the way we like right now, but the game before the national championship the year before, Big Ten championships. At one point, Penn State wasn't spoken about how we've been spoken about the last couple of years.

"I got nothing but respect for Coach Franklin—not just as a coach, but as a man. I don't really use the word 'father figure' because my father is in my life, but whatever term is underneath it, he definitely played a big part in my life, and him and as his family.

"He put a lot of himself into that program over there and it sucks to see him go."

While Franklin’s time at Penn State is done, it’s hard to imagine he is looking for work for very long, as he should be one of the top candidates to take over several jobs across college football should he choose to continue coaching.

For now, Franklin is set to appear on ESPN’s College GameDay this weekend, so it’s possible he’ll have more to say then.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Saquon Barkley Opens Up About James Franklin’s Dismissal From Penn State: ‘It Sucks to See Him Go’.