'Fire James Franklin' chant starts as Penn State walks to locker room after loss to Northwestern

Things are quickly going downhill for James Franklin at Penn State in the matter of a few weeks. The Nittany Lions coach appears to have lost the support of the fans after three consecutive losses.

Following a 22-21 defeat against Northwestern on Saturday, chants of “Fire Franklin” could be heard as the team made its way back to the locker room. Boos became even louder when the coach himself strolled by. You can view the moment below.

If James Franklin isn’t fired by the morning there might be riotspic.twitter.com/OykgLSvol5

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 12, 2025

Franklin was getting some criticism after suffering a 30-24 loss to Oregon in Week 5, but nothing too serious. After all, the Ducks were a top five team and the Nittany Lions kept it within a touchdown.

Things started to go off the rails the following week as Penn State fell behind 27-7 at halftime against a UCLA team that had not won a game at that point. That changed as the Bruins went on to withstand a comeback attempt from the Nittany Lions, who ended up losing 42-37.

It didn’t seem like it could get much worse than that, until Penn State lost Saturday against Northwestern. Now fans have had enough as they appear to want Franklin out.

Franklin has been the coach of the Nittany Lions since the 2014 season and took them to the College Football Playoff for the first time last season. He has reached at least 10 wins in six of his 11 full seasons so far to this point and has an overall record of 104-44.

However, the coach has taken a lot of flack for his perceived inability to win big games. Franklin is a mere 4-21 against top 10 teams and 15-31 against the top 25.

Now he isn’t even winning the games that he is supposed to. Certainly no one could have predicted the results of the past two weeks and one has to think his future at the university could be in question if things don’t turn around.

Franklin is currently under contract with the Nittany Lions through the 2031 season. He is currently making $7.5 million through base salary, supplemental pay and an annual retention bonus.

According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Penn State would owe James Franklin a buyout of $48.6 million if it were to fire him at the end of this season. That large number could certainly deter the school from making that decision, but we’ll have to wait and see.

For now, the Nittany Lions will look to turn things around after these awful past few weeks. That begins with a contest against Iowa in Week 8.