James Franklin’s reputation as the leader of a Penn State football program that faltered in big moments caught up to him when it started to fail in the lesser moments.
Penn State fired Franklin on Sunday, one day after the Nittany Lions lost their third in a row and second straight as a 20-point favorite. The move adds to a turbulent season that began with national championship aspirations but turned disastrous with back-to-back losses to UCLA and Northwestern.
Penn State (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) entered the season ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25. After opening 3-0, Penn State lost a heartbreaker to then-No. 6 Oregon in double overtime, and unraveled from there, culminating with Saturday’s 22-21 home loss to Northwestern in which quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury.
Franklin, 53, signed a 10-year extension in November 2021. The new deal ran through the 2031 season and was worth $7.5 million per year, plus incentives and a $1 million annual life insurance loan.
He will be paid around $50 million for his buyout, barring a settlement for a different amount, as his contract was fully guaranteed. That would be the second-highest buyout paid in college football history, behind the $77 million owed to Jimbo Fisher through 2031.
Associate head coach Terry Smith will serve as interim coach the rest of the season, Penn State said.
“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin, who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” athletic director Patrick Kraft said. “He won a Big Ten championship, led us to seven New Year’s Six bowl games and a College Football Playoff appearance last year. However, we hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships.”
Last year, Penn State was a few throws away from reaching the national championship game, leading at halftime but falling to Notre Dame 26-23 in the Orange Bowl. Like so often before, the Nittany Lions came up short against a top team.
“I get that narrative, and it’s really not a narrative — it’s factual. It’s the facts,” Franklin said of his reputation of not rising to big moments after this season’s Week 5 loss to Oregon. “I try to look at the entire picture and what we’ve been able to do here. But at the end of the day, we got to find a way to win those games. I totally get it. And I take ownership. I take responsibility.”
Franklin is 4-21 against top-10 teams and 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams. His winning percentage (.160) against top-10 teams is tied for the third-worst record by a coach (minimum 25 games) at a single school since the poll era began in 1936, according to ESPN.
Before this season, Franklin hadn’t lost to an unranked team since 2021, when Penn State went nine overtimes against Illinois.
He took the field to boos from Penn State fans before Saturday’s homecoming game against Northwestern. Then Allar suffered a season-ending injury late, ending his college career. The “Fire Franklin” chants continued after the loss.
Seven games ago, Penn State was on the verge of playing for the national championship. Now it’s paying a gigantic sum to go find a different coach.
Penn State fired football head coach James Franklin following a 3-3 start to the 2025 season. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the news Sunday. On3’s Chris Low confirmed the news as well. In the middle of his 12th season at the helm, Franklin saw his tenure end after a loss to Northwestern over the weekend.
By LAUREN MEROLA and CHRIS VANNINI/The Athletic
