STATE COLLEGE, PA. James Franklin studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
The school fired the longtime head coach on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a 22-21 home loss to Northwestern that all but denied the preseason's No. 2 team a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Terry Smith will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season for the Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten), who entered the year with national title hopes but those hopes were dashed by early October after three straight losses, each more disappointing than the last.
Penn State, which reached the CFP semifinals 10 months ago, lost at home to Oregon in overtime in late September. Then came a road loss to previously winless UCLA. The final straw came Saturday at Beaver Stadium, where the Nittany Lions allowed Northwestern to come away with a victory and lost quarterback Drew Allar to injury for the rest of the season.
Franklin went 104-45 in his 11-plus seasons at Penn State. However, the Nittany Lions often faced top-tier competition, going 4–21 against teams ranked in the top 10 during his tenure.
Hired in 2014 following Bill O'Brien's departure to the NFL, Franklin inherited a team still reeling from unprecedented NCAA sanctions following the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Armed with relentless optimism and the ability to recruit new players, Franklin's program regularly produced NFL-caliber talent, from Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley to Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons. Franklin led the Nittany Lions to the 2016 Big Ten title and a seemingly permanent spot in the rankings.
The hope was that this fall could be the fall when Penn State finally broke through and won its third national championship and first since 1986. However, after three easy wins during an easy non-conference schedule, the Nittany Lions fell apart.
Athletic director Pat Kraft said the school owes Franklin, who is owed nearly $50 million in a buyout, “a huge amount of gratitude” for leading the Nittany Lions back to relevance but believes it's time to make a change.
“We maintain our athletic programs at the highest level and believe now is the right time for new leadership at the helm of our football program to propel us toward the Big Ten and national championships,” Kraft said.
Smith will now be tasked with trying to stop the bleeding in what has become a disastrous season. He has his work cut out for him, with Penn State's next three games coming at Iowa on Saturday, at No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1 and at home against No. 3 Indiana on Nov. 8.
Matchups with the Buckeyes and Hoosiers were expected to give the Nittany Lions a chance to bolster their CFP credentials. Instead, in a few weeks, Penn State will find itself playing spoiler.
