Two weeks ago, the Penn State Nittany Lions were ranked in the top five and had just suffered a hard-fought overtime loss to Oregon, still with their entire season ahead of them.
Fast forward to the end of Week 7, and the Nittany Lions have now dropped back-to-back games to UCLA and Northwestern, falling to 3-3 and their year all but over after star quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury in Saturday’s loss.
On Sunday, Penn State officially announced that it had fired longtime head coach James Franklin, who was in his 12th season with the program.
According to ESPN, the university will pay Franklin approximately $56.66 million in buyout money. Had the school waited until after the season, Franklin’s buyout would’ve dropped to $48 million.
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Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft released a statement following the firing of Franklin, expressing gratitude for the longtime coach for helping restore the program’s national relevance during his tenure, despite the team’s continued struggles to get over the hump in big games.
“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” Kraft said. “He won a Big Ten Championship, led us to seven New Year’s Six bowl games and a College Football Playoff appearance last year. However, 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.”
The Nittany Lions are set to travel to Iowa this week for a road matchup against the Hawkeyes before entering their bye week and then returning for a Nov. 1 showdown with the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes. Terry Smith will serve as the interim head coach moving forward.
As for Franklin, his future remains uncertain, but he’s expected to be one of the more intriguing coaching candidates on the open market should he choose to remain at the collegiate level.
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