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James Franklin firing: Penn State pays tribute to former coach on social media

Chandler Vesselsby: Chandler Vessels10/12/25ChandlerVessels
james franklin (1)
Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Despite firing coach James Franklin on Sunday, Penn State football wanted him to know it was thankful for the 12 seasons he gave to the Nittany Lions. The team’s official X account posted a tribute to Franklin hours after it was reported that he would no longer be the coach.

Penn State also turned off replies on the post, as it wanted to keep fan comments restricted. You can check out what it posted below.

After a large number of fans were seen chanting “Fire Franklin” after Saturday’s 22-21 loss against Northwestern, it looks like they got their wish. But the Nittany Lions still want this to be a civil parting of ways.

Franklin was the coach of the Nittany Lions since the 2014 season and took them to the College Football Playoff for the first time last season. Penn State went 2-1 to advance to the semifinal of the CFP.

James Franklin reached at least 10 wins in six of his 11 full seasons at Penn State and has an overall record of 104-45. He also led the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten Championship in 2016, defeating Wisconsin by a score of 38-31.

Terry Smith will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season. Penn State AD Pat Kraft released a statement on the change in leadership, citing holding the program to the highest of standards as a reason for the decision.

“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” 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.

“Penn State Football is an integral part of our University and is an important part of the lives of our millions of fans, community members and alumni around the world. We have the best college football fans in America, a rich tradition of excellence, significant investments in our program, compete in the best conference in college sports and have a state-of-the-art renovated stadium on the horizon. I am confident in our future and in our ability to attract elite candidates to lead our program.”

The Nittany Lions (3-3) are coming off of three straight losses and will hope the change in leadership can spark something within the team. They next face Iowa at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday.