One of college football’s most notable and longest-tenured coaches, James Franklin, was recently fired and bought out by Penn State for $56 million amidst a 3–3 start to the team’s 2025 campaign. Over his tenure at the university, Franklin asserted himself as one of the best coaches in program history, and since 2024 he went 104-45, marking a .697 winning percentage. In his best season at State College last year, he led the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff. The program won their first two games; however, they fell short by a possession against Notre Dame to reach the national championship game.
Entering this year, the Nittany Lions were riding high, as the team was ranked second and poised for another big year in the preseason. Franklin’s team shined in their first few games versus lower-level opponents in Nevada, FIU and Villanova, where they outscored those three teams by a combined score of 132-17. In those games, star quarterback and top draft prospect Drew Allar was on par as he combined for four touchdowns while passing for just over 600 yards. But in recent weeks, things quickly changed for Allar and his team as they headed to Oregon for a big matchup with the Ducks. The visitors battled hard; however, they ended up falling in double overtime, 30-24, marking their first loss of the season. In that game, Allar threw for just 137 yards, while completing two touchdowns and one interception. For Franklin, he couldn’t secure wins in big games against top 10 ranked teams; he held a record of just 4-21, including a 1-18 record against top 10 Big Ten teams.
Coming off the loss, the team looked for a bounce-back versus a winless UCLA. However, things would only get worse as Penn State traveled to Pasadena and were upset by new UCLA offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel and quarterback Nico Imaleava. Penn State’s second loss sent shockwaves around college football as the once-ranked no. 2 team in the nation fell out of the rankings entirely as they headed back home for a matchup versus Northwestern. From there, Oct. 11 went down as one of the biggest days in Penn State football history for all the wrong reasons. With the game close in the fourth quarter, Allar went down with a leg injury that ultimately sidelined him for the rest of the game. Penn State could not come back without their star as they fell 22-21, marking their third straight loss. Following the game, it was also determined that Allar’s injury would be season-ending. For a team with three straight losses and no chance at making the playoffs, this was the nail in the coffin.
Penn State had gone from a team destined to win it all to now being left with questions about the future for a program with a storied history. Sunday also marked the first turnover at the top of the program in ten years as Penn State AD Patrick Kraft fired Franklin. Kraft said that “we hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships.”
For Allar, he will rehab as his college career is presumably over, as he has used up all four years of his eligibility; however, he still should be considered a top draft prospect at his position. Franklin ultimately rebuilt this program following Joe Paterno and Bill O’Brien; however, he could not do what the brass wanted most, and that was not to create just a sustainable program, but to also win a national championship.
Now, the Nittany Lions aim to change their future, and this season, that future might be nerve-racking. They will have the number one and three teams in Ohio State and Indiana in back-to-back weeks following a game versus Iowa next week. They will look to build some momentum to get their program back to the top as they will see a regime change in the offseason. Jerry Smith has now been named head coach at Penn State as he looks to steer the program back on track during what promises to be a long offseason for whoever is at the helm.