Penn State Is Having the Saddest National Signing Day

The Nittany Lions have one of the nation’s lowest-ranked recruiting classes as their coach search drags on.

Penn State is struggling on National Signing Day without a head coach. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

National Signing Day is supposed to be a celebration. Across the country, football programs are locking up their recruiting classes and welcoming new members to their teams. Unfortunately for Penn State, a day to dream on has become a nightmare.

As of early afternoon, two players had signed letters of intent with the Nittany Lions. Four-star edge rusher Jackson Ford and three-star quarterback Peyton Falzone are the only players in the fold.

Then there’s this fact: According to 247Sports, as of this moment, Penn State has the 135th-ranked recruiting class. There are only 136 FBS teams.

If you’re wondering how things got so bad in Happy Valley, this is the result of a program firing its coach and not hiring a new one before signing day.

Penn State dumped James Franklin on October 12 and got a jump on every other top tier program looking to replace its head coach. As we sit here on December 3, it is the only “elite” job to remain open. Numerous coaches have been connected to the opening, but none have jumped at taking it. Most recently, Kalani Sitake turned the Nittany Lions down to remain at BYU.

Twisting the knife even further, four-star linebacker Terry Wiggins, three-star edge rusher Tyson Harley, and three-star cornerback Amauri Polydor have all decommitted in the past 24 hours to sign on with Franklin at Virginia Tech.

It’s really hard to recruit without a head coach or permanent staff members in place.

Meanwhile, Franklin has moved on the Virginia Tech and currently has the 22nd-ranked class in the country. He seems to be doing fine.

This entire process has been botched by the powers that be at Penn State. Athletic director Pat Kraft dumped Franklin without a clear vision of who would take the job. That has led to the national embarrassment that has unfolded over the past week when Sitake very publicly spurned the program to stay in Provo.

Whoever winds up taking the Penn State job will have to hit the transfer portal hard to supplement the near-complete loss of the 2026 recruiting class.

---