It finally happened. After years of rumors, flirtations with other schools, and a buyout that felt like a national debt, James Franklin is no longer the head coach in Happy Valley. Honestly, it’s weird. For over a decade, Franklin was the face of James Franklin Penn State football—a relentless, "1-0 every week" branding machine that brought the program back from the brink of extinction. But by October 2025, the air just ran out of the room.
The end wasn't a slow fade. It was a crash.
Losing three straight games after being ranked No. 3 in the country? That’s how you get a $48 million pink slip. Most fans are still arguing about whether it was the right move, but when you look at the 2-21 record against top-6 teams, the "elite" ceiling just started looking like a floor.
The Glass Ceiling That Never Broke
We have to talk about the elephant in the room: the big games.
People love to point out that Franklin won 104 games at Penn State. He tied Rip Engle for the second-most wins in school history. He actually reached 100 wins faster than almost anyone not named Kirby Smart or Dabo Swinney. That's objectively insane. But the "big game" narrative wasn't just Twitter noise; it was a statistical anchor.
Going 4-21 against AP top-10 opponents is a tough pill to swallow for a fan base that pays for national championship expectations. You’ve seen the games. The 2024 double-overtime heartbreaker against Oregon. The perennial struggle to hurdle Ohio State. It felt like Penn State was always the bridesmaid, perfectly dressed and ready for the party, but never actually getting the ring.
Then came 2024.
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For a second, it looked like he’d finally done it. Penn State made the College Football Playoff, beat SMU and Boise State, and marched into the semifinals. They won 13 games—a program record. Tyler Warren was playing like a man possessed, and the Abdul Carter-led defense was a nightmare. But then Notre Dame happened in the semis. And then the 2025 season cratered.
Why the 2025 Meltdown Was Different
Usually, Franklin’s teams beat the teams they were supposed to beat. They "bullied the bullies" but struggled with the heavyweights. In 2025, that script flipped in a way nobody saw coming.
Losing consecutive games as a 20-point favorite? That hadn't happened at PSU since 1978. It wasn't just that they lost; it was how they lost. The offense looked abysmal, ranking 79th in total yards. When you have five-star talent like Drew Allar and Nicholas Singleton, being 96th in passing offense is basically a fireable offense by itself.
The brass at Penn State, led by AD Patrick Kraft, didn't wait for the season to end. They ate the $48.6 million buyout—the second-largest in the history of the sport—and turned the page.
The Virginia Tech Pivot and the Recruiting War
If you thought Franklin would just take his millions and go sit on a beach, you don't know the man. He’s already at Virginia Tech, and he’s doing exactly what he did when he arrived in State College: he’s raiding the cupboards.
Basically, James Franklin is building "Penn State South" in Blacksburg.
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- He took QB coach Danny O'Brien with him.
- He convinced tight ends coach Ty Howle to be his OC.
- He flipped eleven commits from Penn State’s 2026 class to the Hokies.
It’s been a bloodbath. Penn State’s 2026 recruiting ranking plummeted out of the top 100 at one point because Franklin has so much "recruiting overlap" in the Mid-Atlantic. He knows the high school coaches in PA, NJ, and MD better than almost anyone. If you're a Penn State fan, watching him take your future stars to the ACC feels like a personal betrayal.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Buyout
There was a lot of talk about the "adidas money" paying for Franklin’s exit. That’s actually not true.
While Penn State did sign a massive $300 million deal with adidas that starts in July 2026, Patrick Kraft was very clear: the athletic department is footing the bill for the buyout, not the university's general fund or the new apparel partner.
It’s a massive gamble.
The school is already sinking $750 million into Beaver Stadium renovations. To drop nearly $50 million more just to make a coach go away shows how desperate the leadership was for a fresh start. They didn't want a coach who could get them to the playoff; they wanted a coach who could win it.
The Matt Campbell Era Begins
Enter Matt Campbell.
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The former Iowa State coach is the polar opposite of Franklin in terms of personality. Where Franklin was a CEO-style "CEO of the Brand," Campbell is a "football guy’s football guy."
Penn State is betting $30 million in NIL money and a $17 million staff pool that Campbell can take that 10-win foundation and finally push it over the edge. He’s already keeping some of the old guard, like special teams coordinator Justin Lustig, but the vibe in Happy Valley has shifted from "corporate" to "gritty" almost overnight.
The Actionable Reality of Penn State Football Now
If you're following the program today, the focus has shifted from "who are we playing Saturday" to "how many players are leaving."
With the transfer portal wide open, the 2026 roster is in total flux. Franklin has been aggressive in trying to pull his former players to Virginia Tech. If you’re a fan or an analyst, the next six months are more important than the actual football season.
Key steps for the program to stabilize:
- Roster Retention: Campbell has to stop the bleeding. Losing Ethan Grunkemeyer to Virginia Tech was a blow; he cannot lose the core of the 2025 defensive line.
- NIL Utilization: That $30 million needs to be deployed immediately to keep the remaining 2022 class members (the few who have eligibility) from jumping ship.
- Staff Integration: Campbell bringing his QB coach Jake Waters from Iowa State is a start, but he needs to prove he can recruit the East Coast, or Franklin will continue to dominate the region from Blacksburg.
James Franklin's tenure at Penn State wasn't a failure—it was a high-level plateau. He saved the program, stabilized it, and won a Big Ten title. But in the modern era of the 12-team playoff, "stable" isn't enough when you're paying $8 million a year. The divorce was expensive, messy, and probably inevitable. Now, the Nittany Lions have to prove that the coach was the problem, not the ceiling.