It’s the end of an era at Penn State University.
James Franklin, who served as the PSU head football coach since 2014, was fired on Sunday, it was announced by the university.
Penn State will still be on the hook for $45 million remaining on his contract, The New York Times reported, citing to a school source. It is the second-largest buyout in college football history, behind what Texas A&M owed Jimbo Fisher when it fired him on Nov. 12, 2023. The Aggies owed Fisher roughly $77 million on a contract that runs through 2031. Other media reports cite an even higher buyout figure, mentioning that the money won’t likely be paid out all at once.
Associate head coach Terry Smith will be the team’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Franklin, who was hired after Bill O’Brien’s two-year tenure ended when he left to become the head coach of the Houston Texans, arrived at Penn State from Vanderbilt, where he served as head coach for three seasons. He is credited with turning around the Commodore’s football fortunes, going 9-4 in his final two seasons after a 6-7 record in 2011.
Franklin was 104-45 in 11-plus seasons, tying him for the second-winningest coach in the history of Penn State football.
“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” said Penn State’s Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Patrick Kraft. “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, who played college football at East Stroudsburg University as the team’s quarterback. Franklin attended Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
Franklin had been in the spotlight of late, and not for the right reasons. His 4-22 record against Top 10 opponents, including a 30-24 overtime loss to Oregon on Sept. 27, turned up the heat and renewed discontent among Penn State’s fan base.
Then, the Nittany Lions suffered one of the worst losses – maybe the worst – in Franklin’s tenure, a 42-37 loss to UCLA, who entered the game with an 0-4 record. On Saturday, Penn State lost to unranked Northwestern, 22-21, in its homecoming game.
The loss to the Wildcats was apparently the last straw.
“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,” said Kraft. “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.”
Penn State came within a game of competing in the inaugural College Football Playoff championship game against Ohio State. The Nittany Lions (13-3 last season) lost to Notre Dame, 27-24.
As Penn State moves forward without Franklin and three-year starting quarterback Drew Allar, who suffered a season-ending injury in the loss to Northwestern, the ripple effect as already begun.
Three-star wide receiver Lavar Keys of DeMatha Catholic became the first member of PSU’s 2026 class to decommit, according to the Rivals recruiting network. Keys was in the class since Aug. 2, 2024.
In addition, Penn State’s entire 2027 recruiting class decommitted, according to StateCollege.com. Three-star wide receiver Khalil Tayor decommitted on Friday. Five-star running back Kernon Spell, five-star offensive tackle Layton Von Brandt and four-star defensive tackle Gabriel Jenkins decommitted.
Franklin has coached 18 All-American selections, 32 national major award winners or finalists and 59 NFL Draft picks at Penn State. In his first 14 years as a head coach at Penn State and Vanderbilt, Franklin mentored 116 players reaching the NFL ranks, including eight Penn State first-round draft picks.
