It’s the end of an era for Penn State.
Midway through his 12th season as head coach of Penn State football, James Franklin has been fired, the university announced Sunday. Cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, the only assistant coach who has been with the program since Franklin’s first season with the Nittany Lions, will serve as the interim head coach.
“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to coach Franklin who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” athletics director Pat Kraft said in 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.”
The move comes on the heels of a 22-21 loss to Northwestern in Beaver Stadium, a third consecutive one-score defeat which dropped Penn State to 3-3 on the year after starting the season as the No. 2 team in the country.
Franklin signed a 10-year contract extension worth roughly $8 million annually plus incentives in 2021, which was negotiated by former athletic director Sandy Barbour. With seven years remaining on the contract, Franklin’s buyout was a whopping $56 million.
Franklin’s tenure has been characterized by an inability to break through against upper echelon opponents despite consistently beating inferior competition. This year, two extremely uncharacteristic back-to-back losses as a 20-plus point betting favorite proved to be the tipping point.
His record with the Nittany Lions was 104-45, tying him with Rip Engle for the second-most wins in program history behind Joe Paterno. He posted a 64-36 record in Big Ten play and took Penn State to a bowl game in every season, excluding the COVID year in 2020.
The team finished seven seasons ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll, including a high of No. 5 last season. Its highest midseason ranking under Franklin was No. 2, achieved briefly in 2017 and again to begin this year.
Highlights of Franklin’s stint in Happy Valley include a Big Ten championship in 2016, wins in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl, 2019 Cotton Bowl, 2022 Rose Bowl and two College Football Playoff wins last season.
He also consistently sent players to the NFL, with 62 players drafted since his first season, including eight first-round selections.
Franklin is also credited with modernizing the program, fighting for alignment between the university president, athletic director and football program, pushing for renovations to athlete living spaces and athletic facilities and campaigning for more NIL funding. The program is undoubtedly in a better spot for the next head coach because of his contributions.
However, the team was just 4-21 against top-10 opponents under Franklin and crumbled under heavy expectations this season, still seeking its first win against a power conference opponent. An inability to get over the hump ultimately defined his relatively successful but exasperating tenure.
“I am grateful for all that coach Franklin has done for Penn State football and the university over the past 11-plus years,” Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said in the release. “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.”
