Penn State fires head coach James Franklin
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.
Franklin leaves State College with a 104-45 record since 2014 when he took the job. He is 128-60 overall as a head coach, which includes his three-year stint at Vanderbilt (24-15). 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. He cited holding the program to the highest of standards.
“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.”
There’s been an abundance of criticism surrounding Franklin going into the 2025 season. Fresh off a 2-1 record in last year’s College Football Playoff, this year was seen as national title or bust.
With a lot of players returning, Penn State got off to a 3-0 start to the year, beating up less than stellar non-conference foes. But losses to Oregon in overtime and then upsets at the hands of UCLA and Northwestern, the Nittany Lions found themselves unranked and searching for answers.
A large hurdle to overcome was the buyout of Franklin’s contract, which On3’s Pete Nakos detailed HERE. Franklin signed a 10-year contract extension in November 2021 that was supposed to run through the 2031 season. His agreement did not state how quickly Penn State would pay out the buyout. In most coaching contracts, institutions have the remainder of the contract to pay out the cash owed.
According to Nakos, the buyout is upwards of $48.6 million for Franklin. The buyout would’ve dropped by $8 million after each season moving forward. If Franklin had decided to leave Penn State, following the 2025 season, for a new job, he would’ve owe the Nittany Lions $2 million.
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With Franklin now gone, Penn State will have to pivot to a new option that can get them over the jump. Franklin led Penn State to a Big Ten title in 2016, but only made the CFP last season, beating SMU and Boise State in the first two rounds. But, the Nittany Lions fell to Notre Dame in the semifinals, missing out on a chance at playing Ohio State for the title.
Franklin’s big game struggles were the biggest talking point among critics. He was 4-21 against AP Poll Top 10 teams in his tenure with the Nittany Lions. There were even “Fire Franklin” chants at the end of Penn State’s loss to Northwestern, signaling the end.
Naturally, Franklin faced immediate questions from reporters about his status with the program going forward. Specifically, he was asked whether he still wants to be the coach at Penn State.
He didn’t tackle the question directly but instead spoke about his commitment to his players. It was an answer that lasted about two minutes.
“Yeah, for me, it’s always been about our players,” Franklin said. “And those guys are hurting right now. And the fans are frustrated. And I get it. I totally get it. I totally get it. We have great fans here. We get unbelievable support. And I understand their frustration, trust me. We’re as frustrated as anybody, the guys in the locker room …
“I love those kids. I am committed to those players in that locker room. I’ve been that way for 12 years. I’ve been that way for 15 years of my head coaching career, and I’ve been that way for 30 years. That won’t change. That won’t change.”