Penn State Fires Coach James Franklin After Loss to Northwestern, Source Confirms

Franklin's Penn State career ends after three straight Big Ten losses, the last to Northwestern at home.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin walks off the field following the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

On Sept. 27, James Franklin appeared live on ESPN's College GameDay with hosts Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit and Nick Saban, all dressed in white, to make a pronouncement about that night's Penn State-Oregon game.

"This wil be the best atmosphere in the history of college football tonight," Franklin said.

"This will be the best environment in the history college football tonight."

James Franklin is expecting historic scenes at today's Penn State White Out 🤩 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HvvgF310YG

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 27, 2025

Fifteen days later, Franklin's Penn State coaching career is over. A source confirmed multiple reports, including by Matt Fortuna and Pete Thamel, that Penn State had fired Franklin following a three-game losing streak that included consecutive losses as three-touchdown favorites to UCLA and Northwestern.

Penn State later announced the decision in a news release, naming associate head coach Terry Smith as interim head coach.

“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 became the first Penn State head football coach in the program's 136-year history to be relieved of his duties during a season for performance reasons. Penn State's Board of Trustees fired Joe Paterno in November 2011 following the initial indictment of Jerry Sandusky on child sexual abuse charges. Franklin was the 15th Penn State football coach since the program began in 1892.

According to the term sheet of Franklin's 2021 contract, Penn State would owe Franklin $48 million in buyout money, plus his remaining salary for this season. The terms of that buyout payment are unclear, including the length of the buyout payment or whether Penn State negotiated a reduction of that buyout since signing the contract in late 2021.

Franklin spent 11-and-a-half seasons at Penn State, winning 104 games and one Big Ten championship. His teams won at least 10 games the past three seasons, including a school-record 13 in 2024, when the Nittany Lions made the College Football Playoff semifinals.

But after the most productive offseason of his career, during which Penn State spent millions of dollars on player and coaching salaries, Franklin did not win a Big Ten game. The Nittany Lions started the conference season 0-3 for the first time since 2004 (the 2020 COVID season notwithstanding) and did not beat a Power 4 team in Franklin's final season.

Franklin, 53, began the season by positoning this team as his best in 12 years. The Nittany Lions returned 20 starters, including quarterback Drew Allar, and hired Jim Knowles from Ohio State to the richest assistant-coaching contract in college football this season.

"This is the best combined personnel that I think we've had at Penn State," Franklin said in July, "nd when I talk about personnel, I'm talking about players and staff, from a depth, from a talent standpoint, and from an experience standpoint. So we're very excited about that."

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin prior to the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Then Penn State (3-3) lost three Big Ten games by a combined total of 12 points, including the double-overtime loss to Oregon in September. Following Saturday's 22-21 loss to Northwestern, Franklin said that he would "get it fixed."

"I take full responsibility for what happened tonight. I take full responsibility for what's happened this season, and I'm committed to the guys in that locker room," Franklin said Saturday night.

Franklin avoided answering a question about whether he still wanted to coach at Penn State, choosing instead to talk about his players.

"For me, it's always been about our players, and those guys are hurting right now," he said. "And
the fans are frustrated, and I totally get it. We have great fans here. We get unbelievable support. I understand their frustration, trust me. We’re as frustrated as anybody, the guys in the locker room. But to me, ultimately, it's about the guys. It's about the guys in the locker room, and they're hurting in there, and I’d do anything I could to take that hurt away from them.

"But like I told them, we got to stick together. We got to tune out all the noise, and we got to get to work. That's the only answer is, get to work. We've had some adversity in the past, not like this, and
we're going to get to work. I love those kids. I am committed to those players in that locker room, and I've been that way for 12 years. I've been that way for 15 years of my head-coaching career, and I've been that way for 30 years.

"That won't change. It's always been about the players for me; that won't ever change. That's what it's all about for me. So, my commitment is to the guys in that locker room and all the guys that have been in that locker room in the past. So that's where my commitment is."

In separate statements, Kraft and Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi praised Franklin and sought to project confidence in the football program's future.

“I am grateful for all that Coach Franklin has done for Penn State football and the University over the past 11-plus years," Bendapudi said in a statement. "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."

“Penn State Football is an integral part of our University and is an important part of the lives of our millions of fans, community members and alumni around the world,” Kraft said. "We have the best college football fans in America, a rich tradition of excellence, significant investments in our program, compete in the best conference in college sports and have a state-of-the-art renovated stadium on the horizon. I am confident in our future and in our ability to attract elite candidates to lead our program.”

Franklin finished his Penn State career with a record of 104-45. He is tied with Rip Engle at No. 2 on Penn State's list for career coaching victories.