After three straight losses against Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern, Penn State Athletics made the decision to fire long-time football head coach, James Franklin.
Franklin had been the Nittany Lions head coach since 2014, rebuilding the program after the scandal surrounding former HC Joe Paterno. Prior to being at Penn State, Franklin was with Vanderbilt.
Many Penn State fans were calling for Franklin’s termination after the overtime loss to Oregon claiming that he can’t win a game against high ranked teams. This claim is backed up by Coach Franklin’s record.
While Franklin left Penn State with a record of 104-45, he also left with a record of 4-21 to teams who were ranked top 10 in the college football standings.
After the firing of Franklin, Penn State players and alumni took to social media to grieve this situation.
Former Penn State running back, currently playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Super Bowl champion, Saquon Barkley, shared his thoughts in an interview ahead of his game against the Minnesota Vikings.
“For me, seeing Coach Franklin get fired, it definitely hurts. That’s the guy that gave me my shot,” he said. “I’ve just got nothing but respect for Coach Franklin, not just as a coach but as a man.”
Quarterback Drew Allar, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the home loss to Northwestern took to his Instagram stories to defend Coach Franklin putting the “100” emoji over a post by “College Football Alerts” saying, “Whoever gets him [Coach Franklin] is getting one hell of a coach.”
The day the news of Coach Franklin being fired broke, five Penn State football commits decommitted from Penn State including the five-star number one running back recruit in the 2027 class, Kemon Spell.
Closer to home, Tavian Branch reopened his recruitment, leaving his commitment to Penn State up in the air as of right now.
All of the recruits who decommitted from Penn State were four and five-star recruits. This gives a big hit to the incoming class of Penn State.
For the time being, former assistant coach, Terry Smith, is currently serving as the interim head coach for the Nittany Lions. Smith coached alongside Franklin since 2014.
The Penn State alum played for the Nittany Lions from 1987-1991, later having stints in the NFL and CFL.
Future Penn State head coach candidates include Jeff Brohm, Matt Rhule, Manny Diaz and Mike Elko who are all top targets.
It is unknown where Franklin will go after this firing, but one thing is for sure, he plans to be a head coach again. In order to receive a near $50 million buyout from PSU, Franklin must become a division one coach with another program, or become a professional broadcaster.
In the Nittany Lions’ first game under Smith, Penn State traveled to Iowa, losing 24-25. They now sit with a 3-4 record in 2025, with an 0-4 record in the Big Ten Conference.
Penn State now has two games on the docket against top-two teams in the country. They face off against first-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 1, then they’re back home at Beaver Stadium to take on second-ranked Indiana.