Penn State fires James Franklin: top prospects, transfers and recruits
Less than a month ago, Penn State had legitimate national championship aspirations. Now, the school is searching for a new coach following the firing of James Franklin on Sunday.
Franklin’s downfall was stunning, rapid and historic, beginning with the kind of loss (Oregon State) that came to define his tenure at Penn State, and continuing with two more losses (to major underdogs UCLA and Northwestern) that did not. A season-ending injury to quarterback Drew Allard against Northwestern added more pain to a harrowing afternoon in Happy Valley.
Just like that, Franklin’s 11-plus year tenure at Penn State came to an end, in the same calendar year that Penn State reached the cusp of the national championship game, but fell to Notre Dame in the CFP semifinals. Penn State entered this season with a championship or bust mission, so did things fail? Although things quickly unraveled for Franklin, it also became difficult to envision a path forward, despite his many successes at Penn State.
Where does PSU go from here? The school has made significant investments in facilities, none, and other areas. Director of Athletics Patrick Kraft is a football guy who wants to win at the highest level. Penn State has access to talent in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, and can compete for major goals on a regular basis. The team can aim high with candidates, including from within the Big Ten, and certainly target those with a track record of winning the biggest games.
Here are several candidates Penn State could pursue, along with the roster and recruiting status amid a coaching transition period. — Adam Rittenberg
Candidates | Transfers | Recruits
Five candidates for the job
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule: Rhule’s fit factor at Penn State is off the charts. Rhule moved on to the Nittany Lions and played linebacker, and also worked under Kraft at Temple, where he was head coach from 2013 to 2016. The two remain very close, though that friendship — and maintaining it — may ultimately diminish the chances of a reunion. Then again, how many combinations of coaches and ADs that know each other so well get a chance to reconnect and chase a national championship? Rhule had won at his previous two college stops, Baylor and Temple, and put Nebraska in good position to make a breakthrough in year three at 5-1. He’s a former NFL coach who now has some experience in the Big Ten and won’t shy away from the size of the job. Rhule, 50, is also a fan of his party at Nebraska, which has pulled the program out of a long slump. But can he win a national title there? He certainly can at his alma mater.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti: There is arguably no move that would shake up the Big Ten more than Coach Cig’s move to Penn State. He doesn’t have the relationship with Kraft that Rhule does, and is more connected to Penn State’s regional rivals at Pitt (an assistant from 1993-99) and West Virginia, where he played quarterback and where his father, Frank, coached. But Cignetti pulled off a bigger win than anyone could have imagined in historic Indiana, where the Krafts played football. Cignetti wins and racks up big wins, including at his first coaching stop, Indiana University-Pennsylvania, where he went 53-17 in three Division II playoff games. Cignetti, 64, could spend the rest of his career at Indiana, but if he does make the move, it would have to be to a place with the resources to consistently compete for national titles.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell: His name has popped up frequently on lists like this over the years, but Campbell has remained loyal to Iowa State, a program he built into a Big 12 contender. Penn State has long been mentioned as a program that would interest him, along with Big Ten teammates Ohio State and Michigan, as well as Notre Dame. Campbell would bring a background on offense and with quarterbacks that could serve Penn State well after the end of Franklin’s tenure, where the offense never reached its potential. He played a season of college ball at Pitt before finishing it at Mount Union, in his home state of Ohio, where he spent his entire coaching career before taking the Iowa State job. It seems like the right time for the 45-year-old to make a big move, and Penn State would be a reasonable starting point.
Duke coach Manny Diaz: There is a range of opinions on how Diaz’s time in Miami went, and ultimately how things ended for him there. But he is positioning himself for a possible move to a program at a level similar to the United States’. Could he end up at Florida State, his alma mater, or another program in the ACC and Southeast, where he primarily lived and coached? This is completely possible. But he also spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as Penn State’s defensive coordinator, boosting the Lions’ defense to elite levels nationally before heading to Duke, where he is 13-6 in his second season. Diaz will bring a different energy to the Penn State program and an aggressive defensive philosophy that served the Lions well during his two seasons there. He can recruit all over the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic, and is 34-21 overall as an FBS coach.
UNLV coach Dan Mullen: With UNLV going 6-0 in Mullen’s first season, the market will look at him in several lights. Yes, his tenure at Florida unraveled quickly, but the issues in Gainesville clearly extend beyond Mullen, who still goes 34-15 with the Gators and has three top-15 finishes in the AP. Mullen’s overall record of 109-61 is very impressive and, unlike Florida, was not among the top-resourced programs. He may not be a rabid recruiter, but he’s a great developer at quarterback and has big game wins that Penn State lacked under Franklin. Although most of Mullen’s career took place at two SEC schools, Florida and Mississippi State, he was born in Pennsylvania and played college ball in the state at Ursinus College. Mullen, 53, may look to move closer to the Northeast. — Rittenberg
Five important players to keep
DeChaz Coleman: The true freshman has made a big impression since arriving on campus and will be highly sought after if he finds out to transfer. Coleman was an ESPN 300 recruit as a 6-foot-4, 220-pound athlete who also played quarterback in high school. In his first year in the program, he has already bulked up to 246 pounds and showed great potential with 11 pressures through his first five games, three tackles for loss and a strip sack against FIU that he returned 39 yards.
LB Tony Rojas: We find out how important Rojas is to a Nittany Lions defense that struggles to stop the run without him. Rojas, who played in 20 games, suffered an unspecified long-term injury in practice days after Oregon’s loss, and it’s unclear when he will return. The 6-foot, 230-pound junior was tied for the team lead in TFLs with 4.5 when he pitched and will have two additional seasons of eligibility if he needs to medically redshirt for 2025.
First Anthony Donquah: Assuming Olaivavega Ioane turns pro after this season, Donkoh will be Penn State’s most experienced returning lineman next year. The 6-foot-5, 323-pound sophomore started 10 games at right tackle last year, earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors, before suffering a season-ending knee injury in November. He started the first four games this season at right guard. Donkoh has two more seasons of eligibility and should be the leader of the offensive line this coming year.
CBAG Harris: Harris transferred from Georgia in 2024 and immediately proved he was ready to be a difference-maker as a sophomore, making 15 appearances and finishing with 48 tackles, one interception, five pass breakups and earning the seventh-best defensive grade among Big Ten starting cornerbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. If Harris stays in school for his senior season, he could compete for All-Big Ten honors. True freshman linebacker Darius Dixon looks like a future star as well and will be another important coverage guy to hold on to.
T. E. Luke Reynolds: Tyler Warren is emerging as one of the best tight ends in the NFL as a junior, and now it’s up to Reynolds to take his place as Penn State’s next great tight end. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound sophomore earned four starts during his debut season and ranks fifth among Big Ten tight ends with 197 yards on 18 catches this fall. He will be a prime target for Penn State’s inexperienced QBs to finish out the year and will have two more seasons of eligibility. — Max Olson
Three major recruits
WR Davion Brown, No. 71 in the ESPN 300: Not since the 2022 recruiting class — the same cycle in which the Nittany Lions landed quarterback Drew Allard — has Penn State signed a wide receiver as highly ranked as Brown. That’s part of the reason Franklin and his staff had to hit the transfer portal so hard to surround Allard with pass-catching talent before the 2025 season. Brown, a productive 6-foot-2, 200-pound receiver from Richmond, Va., has been Penn State’s top 2026 commit since May when he chose the program amid a slew of ACC and Big Ten offers. The SEC. That could change soon if pledges start rolling in from the Nittany Lions’ class.
OT Kevin Brown, No. 80 in the ESPN 300: ESPN’s No. 2 Penn State prospect this cycle, Brown is the type of offensive talent that Penn State has at times struggled to land as it strives to compete atop the Big Ten in recent years. That’s what makes Brown an important part of Franklin’s latest recruiting class as one of the Nittany Lions’ oldest commits in the cycle. Brown, from Harrisburg, Pa., has visited Penn State more than a dozen times, but with offensive tackle talent at an all-time high at this point, home ties may only do so much in keeping the 6-foot-5, 245-pound blocker committed to the Nittany Lions.
RB Messia Mickens, No. 135 in the ESPN 300: Mickens is a teammate of Brown’s at Harrisburg (Pa.) High School and is considered the longest-serving member of the Nittany Lions’ class. Mickens was ranked No. 14 by ESPN in 2026, and was headed to Notre Dame earlier this year before halting his recruitment in March. Mickens has been sidelined due to injury for the past month. But with the turmoil at Penn State, Notre Dame — with former Nittany Lions coach JaJuan Seider on the staff — should be one of several programs returning Mickens, the 2024 Gatorade Football Player of the Year at Penn. — Eli Lederman