Penn State have parted ways with head coach James Franklin the day after a loss to Northwestern that saw the preseason favourite Nittany Lions’ record slip to 3-3.

After taking Penn State to the brink of the National Championship game last season, Franklin was expected to make another playoff run in 2025 but, following a solid but unspectacular start to the season, the Lions began to falter. The collapse began with a narrow overtime loss to Oregon but, whilst this was a forgivable slip against a strong opponent, it followed a trend of Franklin’s teams struggling against top ten ranked opponents. Despite those struggles, the coach had always been able to win consistently since he was hired in 2014, especially against lesser opponents, and finished his time at Penn State with a 104-45 record.

Success, however, eluded him over the past two weeks against very beatable opponents. The loss at the Rose Bowl to a winless UCLA team that had not led for a single second this season prior to their match-up was a shock. The loss to an unremarkable Northwestern side — at home — was inexcusable.

Asked after the Northwestern defeat if he still thought ‘it best for your career to be the head coach at Penn State’, Franklin responded by taking the weight of the blame on his shoulders, stating ‘again, I take full responsibility for what happened tonight. I take full responsibility for what’s happened this season, and I’m committed to the guys in that locker room’.

On Sunday, Franklin felt the full effect of that accountability as Penn State announced that they were moving on, prepared to pay up his $49m contract in a bid to turn things around.

“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin, who rebuilt our football programme into a national power,” the institute’s official statement read. “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 programmes to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football programme to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships.

“Penn State Football is an integral part of our University and is an important part of the lives of our millions of fans, community members and alumni around the world. We have the best college football fans in America, a rich tradition of excellence, significant investments in our programme, compete in the best conference in college sports and have a state-of-the-art renovated stadium on the horizon. I am confident in our future and in our ability to attract elite candidates to lead our programme.”

The Nittany Lions will, for now, be helmed by cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, who will serve as interim head coach as the search for a permanent replacement begins. Smith was a three-year starter at receiver for Penn State and is ranked 12th in school history for receiving touchdowns. He returned to Penn State as a coach with Franklin in 2014 and is the sole remaining member of that original staff, having been promoted to associate head coach/defensive recruiting coordinator in 2021.

Whilst Smith holds the fort for the remainder of the season, expect a high profile search to ensure with some big names being bandied about as candidates for one of college football’s most coveted jobs.

Smith, or whoever takes over if the search is swift, will have to play without Drew Allar, however, after the quarterback suffered a season-ending injury — thought to be foot or ankle but as yet unconfirmed — during the loss to Northwestern on Saturday.