Panic at Penn State

Penn State Fires James Franklin

Photo from Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Penn State Nittany Lions are normally one of the most  prestigious programs  in all of college football, and this year was supposed to be no different. They started off ranked as the preseason number two team in the country and returned a majority of their starters. However, after an overtime interception by Oregon that caused Penn State their first loss, the season took a surprising turn. That loss then started a string of losses, eventually bringing the program to a 3-3 record. This finally led to the team’s head coach, James Franklin, being fired.

Penn State began the year as the number 2 team in the country with the second best odds to win the big ten title. The team seemed to have all of the momentum coming into the season. This felt especially true as the team returned 14 of their 22 starters from the previous year. In the current era of college football, this is extremely impressive considering the 2024-25 offseason had the most transfers in history. Along with the team's strong consistent performance, many of their players were projected first round draft picks in the 2026 NFL draft. This included quarterback Drew Allar, runningback Nicholas Singleton and edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton. With all of these strong preseason metrics and having a deep playoff push in the previous season, Penn State seemed destined to have a great year. 

Through the first three games of the season, Franklin led the team to a 3-0 record and outscored their opponents 132-7. The team then faced off against the sixth ranked Oregon Ducks as the number three team in the nation at home during their coveted whiteout game. Penn State started off this game slow, scoring three points in the first half, but the defense played great which meant they were able to maintain a tie going into halftime. The Penn State defense was unable to keep up the good play, as the Nittany Lions allowed the Ducks to score 14 unanswered points. Penn State was able to recover, after two great touchdown passes from Allar, the Nittany Lions tied the game, leading to overtime. After both teams were able to successfully score in the first overtime period, the second overtime period drastically changed the season for Penn State. Oregon was able to score a quick touchdown from a Dante Moore pass. However, Oregon missed their two point conversion, this meant the Nittany Lions had a great shot to take the win. Allar led the team out and Franklin called a pass first play, Allar dropped back and threw the ball, it was intercepted by Oregon and Penn State was upset at home losing the game 30-24. If Penn State wants another chance to make the playoffs, they could not lose any more games.

After the close loss to Oregon, Franklin’s job still seemed completely safe, Oregon was after all  a top team in the country. The Nittany Lions were still ranked seventh and were traveling to Los Angeles to face off against the 0-4 UCLA Bruins. UCLA had just fired their head coach, meaning that the team was being coached by interim head coach Tim Skipper and interim offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisal. Neither of these coaches have ever coached in these roles before, putting UCLA at a huge disadvantage going up against Penn State. Penn State  had a 92.5% chance to beat UCLA going into the game.  UCLA pulled off the upset of a lifetime, taking down the Nittany Lions 42-37. Fans stormed the field after a surprising win against Penn State. After this terrible loss, Franklin heard the first rumblings that he may actually lose his job. Though many fans still thought the loss was a fluke, and that Penn State would bounce back, the team could not afford another loss if they wanted any chance to make the College Football Playoff. Penn State then traveled back home to face the Northwestern Wildcats, and again were projected to win. Again disaster struck, Penn State was upset 22-21 and lost their third consecutive game as favorites. This ended up being the last game for Franklin, as the Penn State boosters gathered 50 million dollars to buy out Franklin, meaning Franklin was no longer the coach of Penn State. After the team started 3-0 with all of the momentum in the world, their season turned around completely and Franklin took the fall for the team's trouble.

Shortly after being fired, Franklin appeared on ESPN’s college gameday. During this interview Franklin said that he plans on coaching again and is excited for wherever his journey takes him.