PSU Football
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News—Oct. 12, 2025—Updated 10-18
Penn State Fires James Franklin
Penn State Athletics Director & Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Patrick Kraft, announced Sunday, Oct. 12 that James Franklin had been fired as Head Coach of the Nittany Lions after a 3-3 start to the 2025 season which included a shocking 0-3 start in the Big Ten. The 3 straight losses to open the Big Ten season saw the Lions drop out of the AP & Coaches polls completely and virtually ended any hope for a CFP Playoff berth in a year in which Penn State was one of the favorites to reach the National Championship game. Penn State had been ranked #2 in pre-season polls behind former #1 Texas.
On Oct. 18, Franklin made his first public comments in a live interview on the set of ESPN GameDay in Athens, Georgia. He said he was caught off guard by the decision to fire him, calling it “surreal”. He said Pat Kraft informed him of the decision to make the change at 1:30pm Sunday, Oct. 12 about 15 minutes ahead of a team-related session. Franklin had to quickly tell the players before it broke on social and other media. He called the team meeting “emotional”. Franklin said he felt that he did some really good things in his 12 years at Penn State, “great moments, big wins”. And his goal has not changed, he said he would just have to win a national championship someplace else.
Terry Smith, current associate head coach and cornerbacks coach (and a former player under Joe Paterno 1987-91) will take over as interim head coach for the rest of the season. He will debut along with a new starting QB, Ethan Grunkemeyer, on Saturday night, Oct. 18, in Iowa City against the always troublesome Iowa Hawkeyes. And it won’t get any easier after that, Smith’s second and third games in November will be against current #1 Ohio State in Columbus, and then at home with current #3 Indiana.
James Franklin had been with PSU since 2014 (replacing Bill O’Brien who left for the NFL’s Houston Texans) and was in his 12th season as head coach. Overall, Franklin was 104-45 with the Lions (64-36 in the Big Ten & 7-7 in all post-season games)—the 104-win total is tied with Rip Engle for second all-time in State College behind Paterno’s 409 wins. But Franklin’s teams struggled against Top 10 opponents, and he had only beaten rival Ohio State once in his tenure. Franklin was in the fourth year of his current 10-year contract extension which was signed back in 2021 under previous AD Sandy Barbour and was scheduled to run through the 2031 season. Per various media, Franklin’s buyout will run approximately $48.6 million (he earned an average of $7.5 million per year plus bonuses and incentives). On3 reported that the buyout is paid monthly over the remaining life of the contract through 2031. There is an offset clause that could reduce the payments if Franklin accepts another coaching job. Front Office Sports (FOS) reported that Franklin is required by his contract to look for work in either coaching or broadcasting, and if he is paid less than $8 million annually, PSU will only make up the difference which could ultimately reduce the financial hit of the buyout. This is reportedly the second largest buyout in college football history behind the $77 million owed to Jimbo Fisher by Texas A&M.
Front Office Sports also reported that Penn State denied that new uniform/footwear supplier Adidas played any role in the dismissal of Franklin and that Adidas is not paying for any portion of the Franklin buyout. Adidas replaces Nike starting with the 2026 season. FOS also suggested in its reporting that some members of the PSU Board of Trustees had issues with certain aspects of the new 10-year, estimated $300 million deal with Adidas, but the Board’s President issued a statement defending the Adidas contract on Oct. 11.
Recruiting for the 2026 & 2027 classes is already taking hits, as expected. Several players have announced their de-commitments on social media; notably Troy Huhn QB from class of ‘26, Kemon Spell RB & Layton von Brandt OT from the class of ‘27. Some players, however, remained committed while others remained in a “wait & see” mode. The 2026 national recruit “early signing period” runs from Dec. 3 to 5, 2025 and could see a smaller than usual haul of talent. It would not be surprising that the new Nittany Lions coach will have a busy regular (late) signing period when that opens Feb. 4, 2026.
Transfer Portal issues might not “officially” hit the current PSU roster until the window opens Jan. 2, 2026. But some players could reveal their intent to depart Penn State earlier than that.
In 2024, Franklin led the Nittany Lions to a school record 13 wins and a berth in the CFP National Semifinals. The Lions were Big Ten champs in 2016 and won 4 New Year’s 6 Bowls (1 Rose, 1 Cotton & 2 Fiesta) and 2 CFP games in 2024 under his leadership.
