Penn State has fired James Franklin, ESPN reports
The move comes on the heels of a 22-21 loss to Northwestern in Beaver Stadium, a third consecutive one-score defeat which dropped Penn State to 3-3 on the year after starting the season as the No. 2 team in the country.
Franklin signed a 10-year contract extension worth roughly $8 million annually plus incentives in 2021, which was negotiated by former athletic director Sandy Barbour. With seven years remaining on the contract, Franklin’s buyout was a whopping $56 million.
Franklin’s tenure has been characterized by an inability to break through against upper echelon opponents despite consistently beating inferior competition. This year, two extremely uncharacteristic back-to-back losses as a 20-plus point betting favorite proved to be the tipping point.
His record with the Nittany Lions was 104-45, tying him with Rip Engle for the second-most wins in program history behind Joe Paterno. He posted a 64-36 record in Big Ten play and took Penn State to a bowl game in every season, excluding the COVID year in 2020.
