Late on the night of September 27, the Penn State Nittany Lions were undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the country and had a two-touchdown lead over then-No. 6 Oregon in the fourth quarter of a home game.
Fifteen days after losing that game in overtime (and then losing two more games in which they were favorites by at least 20 points), the Nittany Lions are 3-3 and fired coach James Franklin despite owing him more than $49 million.
“Penn State owes enormous gratitude to Coach Franklin, who rebuilt our football program into a national powerhouse,” Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft said in a statement. “He won a Big Ten Championship, led us to seven New Year’s Six Bowl games and an appearance in the College Football Playoffs last year. However, we hold our athletics programs to the highest standards and believe this is the right time for new leadership to lead our football program as we advance toward the Big Ten and national championships.”
Franklin’s firing is pretty surprising even in the chaotic world of college football, both because of the money left on his contract and the team’s recent success.
Franklin, 53, is the second-winningest coach in Nittany Lions history, behind only Joe Paterno. Last season, he led Penn State to the College Football Playoff semifinal, and the team finished the season fifth in the final Associated Press poll — the Nittany Lions’ best finish since 2005.
Penn State entered August ranked No. 2 in the country by the AP, and most likely could have taken first place if it could have beaten Oregon instead of losing in overtime.
After the loss to the Ducks, the Nittany Lions lost two more times: on the road against the UCLA Bruins as a 24.5-point favorite and at home against the Northwestern Wildcats as a 21.5-point favorite. The two losses were by a total of six points, but they were not close enough to save Franklin’s job.
Penn State hired Franklin, who previously coached at Vanderbilt, before the 2014 season, initially signing him to a six-year contract.
In 2021, after Franklin had led the Nittany Lions to three 10-win seasons (and their first since 2009), the school signed him to a 10-year extension through 2031. Penn State will now pay Franklin the remaining $49.7 million on that deal to walk away from the program, according to USA Today, just nine months after it came within one game of a national championship appearance.
The buyout is the second-richest in college football history behind the more than $76 million Texas A&M owed Jimbo Fisher after it fired him in 2023.
While Franklin posted six 10-win seasons, including three straight from 2022-2024, he also struggled in big matchups.
After the loss to the Ducks in late September, Franklin fell to 4-21 in games against opponents ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll, including 1-18 against Big Ten foes.
“I understand that narrative, and it’s really not a narrative, it’s a fact. It’s the facts,” Franklin said after the Oregon loss. “I try to look at the big picture and what we’ve been able to do here. But at the end of the day, we have to find a way to win those games. I totally understand that. And I take responsibility. I take responsibility.”
Two people who could be candidates for the Nittany Lions job are two other Big Ten coaches, according to The Athletic: Indiana’s Curt Cignetti and Nebraska’s Matt Rhule.
Whoever the school ultimately hires will try to lead Penn State to its first national championship since 1986.
