Penn State AD discusses determination to fireplace head soccer coach James Franklin

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Penn State Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft made the choice to rent head soccer coach James Franklin, and he informed reporters on Monday that it wasn’t simply the three-game shedding streak that led to the choice.

Franklin’s departure is a shock to college football , because the chief within the locker room since 2014 components methods with the Nittany Lions, who may have a whopping $50 million buyout to pay him.

Kraft stated he was "taking a look at the whole lot" after Penn State’s loss to Northwestern, 22-21, on Saturday.

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Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft provides head soccer coach James Franklin a giant hug following a 33-24 win over Indiana at Beaver Stadium Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in State Faculty, Pa. (IMAGN)

"I felt after sitting down Saturday and taking a look at the whole lot, at the place we have been when it comes to the perfect curiosity of the athletes and the place this system was going that we needed to make the onerous determination," Kraft informed reporters, by way of Sports Illustrated . "Taking a look at the place this system was, the place it's, and the place we need to be, I felt that there was no different course. I felt it was time."

This can be a Penn State program that was ranked No. 2 within the nation earlier than the season began. They went 3-0 to start, however have been in a free fall since. It got here to a head in opposition to an unranked Northwestern crew, as followers’ chants to fireplace Franklin roared even louder than they have been when Oregon went into Beaver Stadium and handed them their first loss.

PENN STATE FIRES JAMES FRANKLIN AFTER STUNNING LOSS TO NORTHWESTERN: REPORT

Kraft and Franklin have had a longstanding friendship in addition to knowledgeable relationship, making his firing onerous on many ranges.

"James Franklin is an effective buddy who has all the time carried himself with dignity, and represented Penn State with absolute class," Kraft defined. "We're all lucky to have had James Franklin to guide this program for greater than a decade and we want nothing however the perfect for him and his household."

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin stands on the sector following the sport in opposition to the Northwestern Wildcats at Beaver Stadium on Oct. 11, 2025 in College Park, Pennsylvania. (Matthew O'Haren/Imagn Photographs)

The Nittany Lions will probably be led by Terry Smith, Franklin’s assistant coach, who has been named the interim head coach.

Franklin took over as Penn State’s head coach earlier than the 2014 season after leading Vanderbilt for 3 seasons in the identical function. He was in his twelfth season at Penn State, having introduced the crew to the Faculty Soccer Playoff semifinals final season.

Because the crew’s head coach, Franklin was 104-45.

Wanting forward, Penn State will probably be with out quarterback Drew Allar for the rest of the season attributable to a leg harm suffered within the loss to Northwestern. They'll head right into a matchup with Iowa subsequent week, however the schedule will get a lot tougher from there.

Athletic director Patrick Kraft of the Penn State Nittany Lions is seen in the course of the recreation in opposition to the Illinois Preventing Illini at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023 in Champaign, Illinois. (Michael Hickey/Getty Photographs)

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Penn State will see No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1, No. 7 Indiana on Nov. 8, and 4 or extra losses would maintain them out of the Faculty Soccer Playoff for this season.