On Monday afternoon, fewer than 24 hours after rocking the college football world with his decision to fire head coach James Franklin following a stunning loss to Northwestern, athletic director Pat Kraft addressed the media in State College to explain his decision.
Kraft read from a lengthy set of prepared remarks, answered a slew of pointed questions from reporters and then stepped aside so that Terry Smith, the interim face of Penn State football, could begin leading the program forward. The news conference lasted approximately 45 minutes.
In terms of what both men said, let’s begin with the basics: Kraft told reporters he reached the conclusion to dismiss Franklin, who is now owed a massive buyout of approximately $50 million, early Sunday morning after reflecting on the Nittany Lions’ latest defeat and the overall standing of Penn State’s program. He contemplated sleeping on it for one more night, which would have dragged the process into Monday, but ultimately trusted his gut and made the move. Kraft said he informed Franklin at the Lasch Building on Sunday and then elevated Smith, who had been Franklin’s associate head coach and cornerbacks coach, to the interim role that afternoon.
Smith, meanwhile, said the Nittany Lions had a team meeting scheduled for 1:45 p.m. on Sunday. He learned of Franklin’s dismissal about 25 minutes earlier and described his reaction as “stunned.” Franklin was afforded the opportunity to address his team one last time, informing them of Kraft’s choice, and then departed, his future uncertain. Smith and Franklin connected for a heartfelt conversation on Sunday evening.
“I just wanted to express my gratitude and thankfulness for him and all that he’s done for me, my family and this program,” said Smith, a Penn State alum and mainstay on Franklin’s staff since 2014. “He took us out of a dark era and got us to be a relevant program again. And we don’t take that for granted.”
Together, Kraft and Smith laid out their vision of what comes next for Penn State and how the next few months might unfold. Smith wants to be considered for the full-time role — something Kraft said he’s happy to do — but understands that a national search will begin much sooner than later. And in the meantime, the Nittany Lions are preparing for a difficult road game at Iowa on Saturday night.
Here’s some analysis of what was said:
Kraft on what led to this decision and the timing of it: “Looking at where the program was and where it is and where we want to be, I just felt there was no other course. And I felt it was time. Now, remember, we’re in a different era of football. And there’s a lot of things that come with this new era and transfers and everything. So that probably was down the road in the thought process, but I did feel like for our student-athletes and the staff and the program and our fans, there wasn’t a choice, there wasn’t more [to be gained by keeping Franklin any longer].
He added: “I weigh every thing after I decide. The PhD nerd in me is like I do information, I do analytics, I have a look at every thing. And once you begin to take a look at the place we’re going — and, sure, how this yr had been enjoying out — all these issues we’ve got to take into accounts. … So to say, ‘Oh, he misplaced to Oregon and he misplaced to UCLA’ — no. It’s about the place are we as a program, the place are we going, how do I give my student-athletes one of the best probability to win, how do I proceed to construct this to a spot that we’re one of the best program within the nation? That’s the motivation. And in order you begin to put all these issues collectively, you gotta make the decision. And that’s the place we had been.”
Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions appears to be like on towards the UCLA Bruins. (Picture by Luke Hales/Getty Pictures)
Evaluation: Among the many main themes Kraft repeatedly drove dwelling throughout his 20-minute session with reporters on Monday was the concept his resolution to fireside Franklin went far past Penn State’s present three-game shedding streak, a dizzying 16-day stretch through which the beforehand undefeated Nittany Lions got here inside a 2-point conversion of beating then-No. 6 Oregon in late September — a recreation which may have vaulted them to No. 1 within the AP Ballot — after which dismissed their head coach on Oct. 12, the day after falling to Northwestern.
Again and again, Kraft, who spoke passionately and forcefully, insisted the selection was something however a knee-jerk response, that boiling Franklin’s departure right down to these three gut-wrenching defeats was a disservice to each a coach who had achieved a lot throughout eleven-plus seasons in cost and the analysis means of Penn State’s athletic director himself. Kraft actually wished these in attendance and people watching from afar to imagine this transfer had been coming for a while, although he by no means specified how lengthy.
The issue with Kraft taking this stance, nevertheless, is that the timeline for such ideas to develop doesn’t fairly make sense, particularly because the athletic division and college continued to spend money on Franklin’s regime through the offseason. 9 months in the past, on Jan. 9, the Nittany Lions had been battling Notre Dame in a Faculty Soccer Playoff semifinal. The sport was tied, 24-24, within the waning moments when quarterback Drew Allar tossed an interception that successfully price Penn State the sport. Had Allar made a special resolution or had the ball fallen incomplete, it’s completely doable that Franklin’s staff reaches the nationwide championship recreation. And who’s to say what might need occurred then.
Think about the strikes Kraft subsequently accepted within the weeks and months that adopted: He allowed Franklin to rent former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and pay him an annual wage of $3.1 million, greater than some other coordinator within the nation; he allowed Franklin to spend big sums of cash in each participant retention and participant acquisition because the Nittany Lions introduced again a slew of extremely paid starters from their 2024 squad and added a number of premium gamers within the switch portal; he was high-quality with Franklin shelling out much more money in late April when former Syracuse wideout Trebor Pena, a second-team All-ACC performer final fall, made a late resolution to enter the switch portal. By no means in Franklin’s tenure did he appear to have extra momentum, extra monetary backing and extra expertise — each on his roster and workers alike — than he did coming into the 2025 season.
So when, precisely, did Kraft start to suspect that Franklin wasn’t able to bringing a nationwide championship to Penn State, which the athletic director reiterated on Monday is this system’s unflinching objective, although it hasn’t occurred since 1986? He already knew that Franklin, who entered the yr 4-20 towards top-10 opponents, struggled to win video games towards extremely ranked groups lengthy earlier than the Nittany Lions misplaced to Oregon final month. He already knew that Franklin, who signed a 10-year contract extension in 2021, the yr earlier than Kraft arrived from Boston Faculty, would depart Penn State on the hook for a buyout of roughly $50 million when he allowed Franklin to maintain spending cash on coaches, personnel staffers and roster building. The one factor Kraft didn’t know was that his coach might be embarrassed by lowly Massive Ten opponents as a result of that was one thing Franklin at all times prevented.
Which is why Kraft’s model of occasions — a minimum of as he defined them on Monday — was a bit troublesome to reconcile.
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Kraft on what he’s in search of in Penn State’s subsequent coach: “We’re going to conduct a nationwide search. Our subsequent coach shall be somebody who embodies every thing Penn State stands for: integrity, accountability, toughness, humility and an elite motivator. We’ll discover a coach who can obtain excellence on the highest degree, doing it with confidence and conviction. Recruiting will at all times be a pillar right here. We wish somebody who will entice elite expertise, retain gamers within the NIL period and make Penn State a vacation spot. That is additionally concerning the trendy period of faculty soccer. Our subsequent coach wants to have the ability to maximize elite-level sources, assault the switch portal and develop on the highest degree.”
Who does Penn State go after to switch James Franklin? 🤔 Joel Klatt Present
Evaluation: Although not unimaginable, it’s troublesome to quibble with Franklin’s highschool recruiting profile since taking up as Penn State’s head coach forward of the 2014 season. His 12 subsequent recruiting lessons completed with a median nationwide rank of 14.8, based on the 247Sports Composite, together with top-10 hauls in 2018 (sixth total) and 2022 (sixth total). His common rank amongst Massive Ten applications throughout that very same span was 3.1, headlined by 5 lessons that completed second within the convention behind Ohio State (4 occasions) and Michigan (as soon as). It might have been troublesome for any coach, Franklin or in any other case, to carry out significantly better or with as a lot consistency throughout greater than a decade.
The place Kraft and Penn State’s donors might need had authentic frustrations, nevertheless, was with Franklin’s cautious use of the switch portal relative to different elite applications. Not solely did Franklin steer away from bringing in massive portal lessons — he averaged simply six incoming transfers per yr from 2022-25, with no single group bigger than eight — however he additionally largely failed to draw authentic distinction makers. His final 4 portal lessons had been ranked 82nd nationally, 53rd nationally, 58th nationally and forty first nationally, with none of these teams ending among the many prime 10 within the convention, both. It may be argued that former Maryland edge rusher Chop Robinson (2022) and former Georgia cornerback A.J. Harris (2024) had been the one transfers who made important on-field contributions previous to his overhaul of the extensive receiver corps final winter.
Franklin’s method stood in stark distinction to what was occurring at rivals Michigan and Ohio State, each of whom relied on a handful of elite transfers to carry dwelling nationwide championships in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The Wolverines’ title was aided by the likes of cornerback Josh Wallace (UMass), edge rusher Josaiah Stewart (Coastal Carolina), tight finish AJ Barner (Indiana), middle Drake Nugent (Stanford), offensive deal with Myles Hinton (Stanford), inside linebacker Ernest Hausmann (Nebraska) and kicker James Turner (Louisville). The Buckeyes’ path was solid by gamers like security Caleb Downs (Alabama), quarterback Will Howard (Kansas State), tailback Quinshon Judkins (Ole Miss) and middle Seth McLaughlin (Alabama).
Maybe Kraft’s reference to the “trendy period of faculty soccer” was a nod towards Franklin’s alternative being extra lively within the portal.
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Smith on how Penn State misplaced its method in 2025: “There’s quite a few causes. We’re in a brand new period of soccer. And like Pat [Kraft] mentioned, it’s a must to navigate every thing about it: NIL, there’s cash [involved], the locker room of bringing 125 guys collectively as a staff, bringing people [together] like a hand and making them collective. That’s my job now. And I’ve obtained to carry everybody collectively to see the advantages of how we are able to all succeed as one. It’s not going to be straightforward as a result of these guys beloved Coach Franklin and a few of them had been torn up. We’ve obtained to rally the troops and change into one.
He added: “Success is the staff pulling a rope the identical route. It’s once you watch us play, you guys will are available right here and your questions gained’t be [about] effort. Your questions gained’t be, ‘They give the impression of being torpid.’ If we lose, it’s gonna be as a result of that staff beat us they usually had been simply higher. We gained’t reply questions on how we misplaced the final three video games. There’s not a kind of groups that we may arguably say was higher than us, together with Oregon. So I promise we’re going to place a greater product on the sector that each Penn Stater goes to be tremendous pleased with.”
Evaluation: Taken collectively, these quotes from Smith appear to counsel a minimum of some discontent and disharmony inside Penn State’s locker room this season, maybe due to the numerous greenback quantities gamers are actually incomes.
Efforts to assemble the 2025 roster started with elevating sufficient cash to retain quite a few core contributors from final yr’s squad, lots of whom turned down the prospect to enter the NFL Draft. Quarterback Drew Allar, tailback Nicholas Singleton, edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton, tailback Kaytron Allen and defensive deal with Zane Durant — all members of Franklin’s extremely rated 2022 recruiting class — selected to return for his or her senior seasons. However because the Nittany Lions put together to cross the halfway level of this disaster-filled marketing campaign, Dennis-Sutton and Allen are the one ones who haven’t underachieved relative to expectations and previous efficiency.
This was additionally the yr that Franklin swung largest within the switch portal by including an eight-man group, his largest-ever class. Essentially the most noteworthy additions had been at extensive receiver, a place that has appeared to befuddle Penn State on an annual foundation. Two years in the past, Franklin swung and missed on switch wideouts Malik McClain (Florida State) and Dante Cephas (Kent State), who mixed for 28 catches, 317 yards and three touchdowns in 2023 earlier than each gamers re-entered the portal. Final yr, Franklin whiffed on former Ohio State receiver Julian Fleming, who caught 14 passes for 176 yards and one rating earlier than exhausting his eligibility.
Franklin’s most up-to-date try at revamping that place group noticed him usher in Devonte Ross (Troy), Kyron Hudson (USC) and Trebor Pena (Syracuse) for the 2025 season — none of whom got here cheaply — with these three gamers now main the Nittany Lions in receiving, although solely Ross has topped 100 yards in a single recreation for a passing assault that ranks tied for 96th nationally.
Understandably, and considerably predictably, Smith shunned mentioning anybody by identify when he floated the concept NIL, participant compensation and unity had change into potential roadblocks for the Nittany Lions this season. Selecting deal with these pitfalls — all of which harken again to Kraft’s repeated mentions of the fashionable faculty panorama — now fall squarely on Smith’s shoulders from now by late November. However he made his emotions fairly clear on Monday when requested what would make the rest of Penn State’s season profitable. He invoked the rope analogy and mentioned everybody should pull in the identical route, with the implication being that not all of the Nittany Lions are doing so proper now.
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Observe him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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