James Franklin’s tenure as Penn State’s head coach is over.
The Nittany Lions fired their longtime head coach on Sunday, hours after suffering their third straight loss, a 22-21 home defeat to Northwestern that ended their College Football Playoff hopes in what was viewed as a championship-or-bust season.
“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” 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 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 will reportedly be owed more than $49 million in buyout money as a result of a 10-year contract extension he signed with Penn State in 2021.
The more than $49 million set to be owed by Penn State to James Franklin is the second-biggest buyout in the history of college football. Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher buyout remains the most at more than $76 million.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 12, 2025
Penn State associate head coach and cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, who’s been with the Nittany Lions since Franklin became their head coach in 2014, will serve as the Nittany Lions’ interim head coach.
The Nittany Lions entered the 2025 season as a projected frontrunner to win the Big Ten and contend for a national championship after returning a bevy of key veterans, including quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen and defensive linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant, among others. The Nittany Lions also hired defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from Ohio State, prompting Franklin to say at Big Ten Media Days that he thought Penn State had “the best combined personnel that I think we've had” in his PSU tenure.
But Penn State’s championship hopes went up in smoke over the last three weeks as the Nittany Lions followed a double-overtime home loss to Oregon with a pair of stunning losses to UCLA and Northwestern. With a 3-3 overall record and an 0-3 record in conference play, Penn State likely had no path to the CFP even if it won the rest of its regular-season games.
As a result, Penn State decided it was time to move on from Franklin, who leaves the Nittany Lions with a 104-45 career record but led Penn State to just one Big Ten title in 12 years as his team repeatedly fell short in big games against marquee opponents.
With Franklin no longer on its sideline, Penn State will travel to Iowa this week, then play at Ohio State – which won its last eight games against Franklin-coached Penn State teams – on Nov. 1.
