Penn State: The firing of James Franklin went beyond recent conflicts

On Monday afternoon, fewer than 24 hours after rocking the college football world with his decision to fire head coach James Franklin following a stunning loss to Northwestern, athletic director Pat Kraft addressed the media in State College to explain his decision. 

Kraft read from a lengthy set of prepared remarks, answered a slew of pointed questions from reporters and then stepped aside so that Terry Smith, the interim face of Penn State football, could begin leading the program forward. The news conference lasted approximately 45 minutes. 

In terms of what both men said, let’s begin with the basics: Kraft told reporters he reached the conclusion to dismiss Franklin, who is now owed a massive buyout of approximately $50 million, early Sunday morning after reflecting on the Nittany Lions’ latest defeat and the overall standing of Penn State’s program. He contemplated sleeping on it for one more night, which would have dragged the process into Monday, but ultimately trusted his gut and made the move. Kraft said he informed Franklin at the Lasch Building on Sunday and then elevated Smith, who had been Franklin’s associate head coach and cornerbacks coach, to the interim role that afternoon.  

Smith, meanwhile, said the Nittany Lions had a team meeting scheduled for 1:45 p.m. on Sunday. He learned of Franklin’s dismissal about 25 minutes earlier and described his reaction as “stunned.” Franklin was afforded the opportunity to address his team one last time, informing them of Kraft’s choice, and then departed, his future uncertain. Smith and Franklin connected for a heartfelt conversation on Sunday evening. 

“I just wanted to express my gratitude and thankfulness for him and all that he’s done for me, my family and this program,” said Smith, a Penn State alum and mainstay on Franklin’s staff since 2014. “He took us out of a dark era and got us to be a relevant program again. And we don’t take that for granted.”

Together, Kraft and Smith laid out their vision of what comes next for Penn State and how the next few months might unfold. Smith wants to be considered for the full-time role — something Kraft said he’s happy to do — but understands that a national search will begin much sooner than later. And in the meantime, the Nittany Lions are preparing for a difficult road game at Iowa on Saturday night. 

Here’s some analysis of what was said:  

Kraft on what led to this decision and the timing of it: “Looking at where the program was and where it is and where we want to be, I just felt there was no other course. And I felt it was time. Now, remember, we’re in a different era of football. And there’s a lot of things that come with this new era and transfers and everything. So that probably was down the road in the thought process, but I did feel like for our student-athletes and the staff and the program and our fans, there wasn’t a choice, there wasn’t more [to be gained by keeping Franklin any longer].

He added: “I weigh everything when I make a decision. The Ph.D. nerd in me is like I’m doing the data, doing the analytics, looking at everything. And when you start looking at where we’re going — and yeah, how things were this year — all those things we have to take into account. … So to say, ‘Oh, it lost to Oregon and it lost to UCLA’ — no. It’s about “Where we are as a program, where we’re going, and how we’re doing it.” I give my student-athletes their best chance to win, how can I continue to build this place that makes us the best program in the country? This is the motivation. And so, when you start putting all of these things together, you have to make the call. And that’s where we were.”

analysis: Among the key themes that Kraft repeatedly drove home during his 20-minute session with reporters Monday was the idea that his decision to fire Franklin went far beyond Penn State’s current three-game losing streak, an astonishing 16-day stretch in which the previously unbeaten Nittany Lions came within a two-point conversion of a batter whose No. Then. 6 Oregon in late September — a game that might have propelled them to No. 1 in the AP poll — and then fired their head coach on Oct. 12, the day after falling to Northwestern.

Time and again, Kraft, who spoke passionately and forcefully, insisted that the selection was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction, and that Franklin’s departure leading up to those three agonizing losses was a disservice to both the coach who had accomplished so much over his 11-plus seasons in charge and the evaluation process of Penn State’s athletic director himself. Kraft really wanted those in attendance and observers from afar to believe the move had been coming for some time, though he never specified how long.

However, the problem with Kraft taking this stance is that the timeline for the development of such ideas doesn’t exactly make sense, especially with the athletic department and university continuing to invest in Franklin’s system through the offseason. Nine months ago, on Jan. 9, the Nittany Lions were facing Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The game was tied at 24-24 in the final moments when quarterback Drew Allard threw an interception that effectively cost Penn State the game. Had Allard made a different decision or had the ball dropped incomplete, it’s entirely possible that Franklin’s team would have reached the national championship game. Who’s to say what might have happened next?

Consider the moves Kraft subsequently agreed to in the weeks and months that followed: He allowed Franklin to hire former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, paying him an annual salary of $3.1 million, more than any other coordinator in the country; It allowed Franklin to spend huge amounts of money in both player retention and player acquisition as the Nittany Lions brought back a large number of highly paid starters from the 2024 squad and added several quality players in the transfer portal; It was fine with Franklin spending more money in late April when Trebor Pena, a former All-ACC player for Syracuse last fall, made a late decision to enter the transfer portal. Never during Franklin’s tenure has he seemed to have more momentum, more financial backing and more talent — both on his roster and staff alike — than he did entering the 2025 season.

So when, exactly, did Kraft begin to suspect that Franklin wasn’t able to bring a national championship to Penn State, which the athletic director emphasized Monday was the program’s consistent goal, even though it hadn’t happened since 1986? He already knew that Franklin, which entered the year 4-20 against top-10 opponents, struggled to win games against highly ranked teams long before the Nittany Lions’ loss to Oregon last month. He already knew that Franklin, who signed a 10-year contract extension in 2021, a year before Kraft arrived from Boston College, would leave Penn State on the hook for a nearly $50 million buyout when he allowed Franklin to continue spending money on coaches, staff and roster building. One thing Kraft didn’t know was that his coach could get embarrassed by mediocre Big Ten opponents because that was something Franklin always avoided.

That’s why it’s been a bit difficult to reconcile Kraft’s version of events — at least as he explained it Monday.

*** *** ***

Kraft on what he’s looking for in Penn State’s next coach: “We will conduct a national search. Our next coach will be someone who embodies everything Penn State stands for: integrity, accountability, toughness, humility and elite motivation. We will find a coach who can achieve excellence at the highest level, and do so with confidence and conviction. Recruiting will always be a key pillar here. We want someone who attracts elite talent, retains players in the NIL era and makes Penn State a destination. It’s also about In the modern era of college football. Our next coach must be able to maximize resources at an elite level, attack the transfer portal and develop at the highest level.”

analysis: While not impossible, it’s hard to dispute Franklin’s high school recruiting profile since taking over as Penn State’s head coach before the 2014 season. His subsequent 12 recruiting classes finished with an average national rank of 14.8, according to the 247Sports Composite, including top-10 transfers in 2018 (sixth overall) and 2022 (sixth overall). Its average rank among Big Ten programs during the same period was 3.1, headlined by five seasons that finished second in the conference behind Ohio State (four times) and Michigan (once). It would have been difficult for any coach, Franklin or otherwise, to have performed much better or with the same consistency over more than a decade.

However, Kraft and Penn State donors may have had legitimate frustrations, which were due to Franklin’s cautious use of the transfer gate compared to other elite programs. Not only has Franklin shied away from bringing in big gateway classes — he averaged just six incoming transfers per year from 2022-25, with no single group larger than eight — but he has also largely failed to attract legitimate difference-makers. His last four gate classes ranked 82nd nationally, 53rd nationally, 58th nationally, and 41st nationally, with none of those groups finishing among the top 10 in the conference either. Former Maryland edge rusher Chub Robinson (2022) and former Georgia linebacker AJ Harris (2024) were arguably the only transfers to make significant contributions on the field before his overhaul of the wide receiver corps last winter.

Franklin’s approach stands in stark contrast to what’s been happening at rivals Michigan and Ohio State, both of which relied on a few elite transfers to reclaim national championships in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The Wolverines’ title was supported by the likes of cornerback Josh Wallace (UMass), rusher Josiah Stewart (Coastal Carolina), tight end AJ Barner (Indiana), quarterback Drake Nugent (Stanford), offensive tackle Myles Hinton (Stanford), inside linebacker Ernest Hosemann (Nebraska) and kicker James Turner (Louisville). The Buckeyes’ run was shaped by players like safety Caleb Downs (Alabama), quarterback Will Howard (Kansas State), cornerback Quinchon Judkins (Ole Miss), and center Seth McLaughlin (Alabama).

Kraft’s reference to the “modern era of college football” may have been a signal for Franklin’s replacement to be more active in the portal.

*** *** ***

Smith on how Penn State lost its way in 2025: “There are a number of reasons. We are in a new era of football. And like Pat [Kraft] He said, you have to navigate everything about this: nothing, there’s money [involved]a locker room that brings 125 people together as a team, and brings individuals together [together] Like the hand and make it collective. This is my job now. And I have to bring everyone together to see the benefits of how we can all succeed as a team. It’s not going to be easy because these guys loved Coach Franklin and some of them are torn. We have to rally the troops and become one.

He added: “Success is when the team pulls a rope in the same direction. When you watch us play, you will come here and your questions will not be asked.” [about] an effort. Your questions won’t be, “They look lethargic.” If we lose, it will be because this team beat us and were better. We will not answer questions about how we lost the last three games. There are none of those teams that are arguably better than us, including Oregon. So I promise you we will deliver an even better product on the field that every Pennsylvania Stater will be extremely proud of.”

analysis: Taken together, these quotes from Smith seem to indicate at least some discontent and disharmony within the Penn State locker room this season, perhaps due to the large dollar amounts players are now earning.

The effort to assemble the 2025 roster has begun by raising enough money to retain several key contributors from last year’s team, many of whom turned down the opportunity to enter the NFL Draft. Quarterback Drew Allard, tailback Nicholas Singleton, edge rusher Danny Dennis Sutton, tailback Kaytron Allen and defensive tackle Zane Durant — all members of Franklin’s highly-rated 2022 recruiting class — have elected to return for their senior seasons. But as the Nittany Lions prepare to cross the halfway point in this disaster-filled campaign, Dennis-Sutton and Allen are the only ones who haven’t underachieved from expectations and past performances.

This was also the year Franklin swung the transfer portal further by adding an eight-man roster, his largest class ever. The most notable additions were the ones that received the most widespread reception, a situation that seems to bedevil Penn State on a yearly basis. Two years ago, Franklin swung and missed wideouts Malik McClain (Florida State) and Dante Cephas (Kent State), who combined for 28 catches, 317 yards and three touchdowns in 2023 before both players returned to the portal. Last year, Franklin vented on former Ohio State receiver Julian Fleming, who caught 14 passes for 176 yards and a score before exhausting his eligibility.

Franklin’s latest attempt to revamp this position group saw him bring in Devonte Ross (Troy), Kieron Hudson (USC) and Trebor Pena (Syracuse) for the 2025 season — none of whom came cheap — with those three players now leading the Nittany Lions in receiving, though only Ross has topped 100 receiving yards in a single game for a passing attack that ranks 96th overall. National level.

Understandably and somewhat expectedly, Smith refrained from mentioning anyone by name when he brought up the idea that nothing, player compensation and unity have become potential roadblocks for the Nittany Lions this season. The choice of how to handle those pitfalls — all of which stem from Kraft’s frequent references to the modern college landscape — now falls squarely on Smith’s shoulders between now and late November. But he made his feelings quite clear on Monday when asked what would make the remainder of Penn State’s season a success. He cited the rope analogy and said everyone should be pulling in the same direction, while implying that not all Nittany Lions are doing that now.

Michael Cohen Covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on @Michael_Cohen13.

Want great stories delivered straight to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports accountand follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!