After 12 seasons of unfulfilled promise, Penn State is moving on from head coach James Franklin. On Sunday, ESPN college sports insider Pete Thamel tweeted Penn State has fired Franklin and will owe him a whopping $49M. Terry Smith, who served as an assistant coach for 12 seasons under Franklin, will replace him as the interim HC. Paying $49M to a fired coach is absurd for the Nittany Lions, but it was time for both parties to move on. This season, the program has been heading in the wrong direction. After starting the season No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, Penn State (3-3) is now unranked and has lost three consecutive games to No. 8 Oregon (5-1), UCLA (2-4) and Northwestern (4-2). The coaching change was clearly needed. However, big questions remained unanswered. Barring some miraculous turnaround, the 2025 season seems like a lost one for the Nittany Lions. Starting quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury in the 22-21 loss to Northwestern, and backup QB Ethan Grunkemeyer, a redshirt fRead More
James Franklin’s firing was needed, but does it solve all of Penn State’s problems?
