Despite the massive buyout, Penn State made it official on Sunday, October 12. After three straight losses, the preseason No. 2 Nittany Lions have decided to part ways with longtime coach James Franklin.
Coming into the 2025 season, Penn State was one of the favorites to win the College Football National Championship. That took a minor setback in Week 5, when the team lost at home in their annual Whiteout game to then-No. 6 Oregon. The following week was much worse — the team lost in Los Angeles to a struggling, winless UCLA squad.
On Saturday, things were made much worse when the team lost QB Drew Allar for the season in a mind-boggling 22-21 home loss to Northwestern. As Franklin walked off the field, he was greeted with boos from fans.
Penn State Parts Ways with James Franklin After 12 Years
After 12 seasons as the head coach of the Nittany Lions, James Franklin was fired by Penn State on Sunday, October 12, as first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Sources: Penn State has fired James Franklin.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 12, 2025
Penn State originally hired Franklin in 2013 after a three-year stint at Vanderbilt. Over 12 seasons, the coach led his team to a 104-45 record that included a Big Ten title, another trip to the conference title game, and five bowl victories.
While Franklin’s PSU tenure wasn’t bad, he seemed to constantly be under scrutiny for never being able to “win the big one.” His teams almost annually choked in big spots and never put things together to overtake other Big Ten powers as the conference’s top team.
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Last season, Franklin guided the team to their first College Football Playoff berth, where it fell in the Orange Bowl Semifinal. This season, the team was favored at times to win it all.
With this firing, Penn State will pay Franklin nearly $50 million in buyout money. While the university looks for its next full-time coach, it has promoted longtime assistant Terry Smith to interim head coach.
