Pat Kraft believes this is the 'right moment' for new Penn State football leadership; here's what else he said about firing James Franklin

Pat Kraft believes now is the right time to make a change at the top of his football program. So, he did. The third-year leader of the Penn State athletic department announced Sunday that he is firing head coach James Franklin following a disastrous 3-3 start. The Nittany Lions dropped their third straight contest on Saturday in a 22-21 setback against Northwestern. It marked the first time a team has lost back-to-back games as a 20-plus point favorite. And, it put the nation’s No. 2 2025 preseason team at an all-time low.

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

Franklin’s buyout is north of $50 million. It was not immediately clear how that money would need to be paid out or when. But, for Kraft, it marks another expense as he continues a $700 million renovation project at Beaver Stadium. There is little doubt that the way this season has gone, and the price tag on that project, is a big part of why this needed to be done now.

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More: Penn State picks Terry Smith as its interim head coach following firing of James Franklin

“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,” Kraft said. “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.”

Franklin was not quoted in the school’s release. That, of course, is not uncommon in these situations. But, Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi was.

“I am grateful for all that Coach Franklin has done for Penn State football and the University over the past 11-plus years,” she said. “We thank him for his dedication, and we extend our best wishes to him and his family as they move forward into their next chapter.

“Our commitment to excellence extends across every facet of our institution, including athletics, and I am looking forward with great anticipation to this exciting new chapter for the Nittany Lions as we continue to build on that standard.”

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