Penn State football addressed its decision to fire James Franklin when athletic director Pat Kraft spoke to reporters on Monday, Oct. 13.
Kraft, who will lead the Nittany Lions’ search for a new coach, defended the school’s decision for buying out Franklin’s contract, which was the second-most expensive buyout ever at just under $50 million.
Franklin and Penn State entered the season ranked No. 3 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll. They not only fell out of the rankings on Sunday, Oct. 12 after their third consecutive loss, but also did not receive a single vote. The Nittany Lions fell to winless UCLA in Los Angeles and unranked Northwestern at home after falling to No. 5 Oregon in double-overtime on Sept. 27.
Franklin finished his Penn State tenure with a 104-45 record and five top-10 finishes.
Here’s what was said at Monday’s news conference:
Penn State press conference takeaways
James Franklin firing not based solely on three-game skid
Kraft said while the three-game losing skid to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern weighed in on his decision to fire Franklin, it wasn’t the sole reason for his decision.
‘I weigh everything when I make a decision. The Ph.D. nerd in me is like, ‘I do data. I do analysts. I do analytics.’ I look at everything. And when you start to look at where you’re going and, yes, how this year had been playing out, all those things, you have to take into consideration,’ Kraft said. ‘We’re all humans. James Franklin’s a human being. It’s a job he loved. And people can say what they want about James, but James, it’s a small world you have when we’re all friends. And so you cannot make decisions of this magnitude lightly.
‘So to say, ‘Oh we lost to Oregon, then we lost to UCLA,’ no. It’s about where are we as a program? Where are we going? How do I give my student-athletes the best chance to win? How do I continue to build this to a place that we are the best program in the country? That’s the motivation. And so as you start to put all those things together, you gotta make the call. And that’s where we were.’
While Franklin had six double digit-win seasons at Penn State, including a College Football Playoff berth in 2024, he consistently lost to the Nittany Lions’ toughest opponents. He was 15-29 against ranked opponents and 4-21 vs. top-10 opponents.
Penn State coach must be able to win championship in NIL era
In speaking about what the potential next coach for Penn State, Kraft said the coach first and foremost must model the team he’s leading.
‘Our next coach will be somebody who embodies everything Penn State stands for: Integrity. Accountability. Toughness. Humility. And an elite motivator. We’ll find a coach who can achieve at the highest level, doing it with confidence and conviction,’ Kraft said. ‘Recruiting will always be a pillar here. We want someone who will attract elite talent, retain players in the NIL era and make Penn State a destination.’
Kraft also said the coach must be someone who can succeed in the new era of college football, attacking the transfer portal while retaining talent. He described Penn State as having ‘elite-level resources,’ and therefore must be led by a coach who can maximize the investments into the program.
‘This is also about the modern era of college football,’ Kraft said. ‘Our next coach needs to be able to maximize elite-level resources, attack the transfer portal and develop at the highest level. This person has to fit Penn State. They need to represent the toughness, the blue-collar work ethic and the class that defines this institution. We want someone who honors our tradition but isn’t afraid to evolve. Someone who understands the weight of ‘We Are’ and leads us forward with a vision of championships.
‘We have made significant investments this program. We compete in the best conference in the country. And we have the best fans and alums in the country, with a renovated stadium on the horizon.’
Penn State press conference today updates
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12:46 p.m.: Smith says he has talked to a few players already when asked whether he expects any players intend to redshirt and sit the rest of the season.
‘My message is, we have an opportunity to come together, win the season, shock the world and we all can have success together.’
12:43 p.m.: Smith said he will define success in the last half of the season by ‘pulling a rope the same direction.’
‘When you watch us play, you guys will come in here and your questions won’t be effort. It won’t be, ‘they look lethargic.”
He promises Penn State will put a better product on the field moving forward.
12:40 p.m.: Smith is asked how the team fell so sharply from being a 2-point conversion away from beating a top-five Oregon team to having its head coach be fired in three weeks.
‘We were, like you said a 2-point conversion away from beating a top team. I don’t really have an explanation,’ Smith said. ‘When we look back at last season there were so many close games that the ball bounced our way.
Added Smith: ‘This year, the ball’s not bouncing our way so we have to persevere and keep grinding to be better.’
12:37 p.m.: Smith said he will make no changes to his coaching staff other than replacing himself at cornerbacks coach with defensive graduate assistant Jordan Lucas.
12:34 p.m.: Smith, when asked whether he views this as an opportunity to prove he can be the head coach full-time:
‘I love Penn State. And all I want to do is help Penn State be successful and win,’ Smith said. ‘I’m sitting here in this press conference because we didn’t win enough.’
He added that he would love to the opportunity to prove he can take over in a full-time role.
12:32 p.m.: Smith says ‘I have my work cut out for me’ on the recruiting front following the organizational change. He adds that he has recruited roughly 75% of the current roster and said the team will continue to ‘get out there and recruit.’
‘The one thing that doesn’t change is Penn State is still Penn State.’
12:31 p.m.: Smith said he found out about Franklin’s firing roughly 25 minutes before a scheduled team meeting on Oct. 12. He says he was shocked at the decision, and later spoke to Franklin later in the evening. He iterated that he’s thankful for Franklin leading the program the last decade-plus:
‘He took us out of a dark era.’
12:29 p.m.: In his opening statement, Smith says he wants to ‘keep the standard the standard’ at Penn State, adding that he wants players to ‘get back to enjoying ball.’
12:27 p.m.: Smith similarly opens up with a statement thanking Franklin for bringing him to Penn State. He similarly thanked Kraft for entrusting the program to him for the remainder of the season.
12:25 p.m.: Terry Smith is coming up next.
12:23 p.m.: Kraft says Smith will be considered a candidate to take over for Franklin in a full-time role.
12:19 p.m.: Kraft, speaking on Drew Allar, whose season and career was cut short with an injury, says ‘there’s not a negative word that comes up when I think of Drew.’ He is clearly emotional speaking on the Nittany Lions quarterback.
12:18 p.m.: Kraft, when asked how he came to his decision to fire Franklin, said ‘you cannot make decisions of this magnitude lightly.’ He acknowledged that the three losses weighed on his decision, but he looked at the state of the program under Franklin and considered data and analytics before landing on his decision.
12:14 p.m.: Kraft said he has spoken with Smith on how to mitigate any potential losses to the transfer portal or on the recruiting trail. He added the fact that Smith is an elite recruiter made him feel more comfortable making the call to fire Franklin after six games into the season.
12:12 p.m.: Kraft reiterates that he ‘has to be the leader,’ saying he must live with his choice to part ways with Franklin based on where the program was, is and where it wants to be.
12:09 p.m.: Kraft, when asked when he made the decision to fire Franklin:
‘Extremely difficult 48 hours. I felt after Saturday, sitting down and looking at everything, that where we are … in the best of my interests of my kids, my student-athletes … and where we were going, we had to make the decision.’
He adds that he thought he may sleep on it on Sunday before knowing it was the right time to make the call.
12:08 p.m.: Kraft, when asked about the details of Franklin’s buyout, declines to speak on how it will be paid out. He says it will be handled by the athletics department, not the university.
12:06 p.m.: Kraft is making no bones about what he expects from the next coach, who will be determined after a national search: ‘The next coach must maximize elite-level resources, attack the transfer portal and develop talent at the highest level.’
He adds that he wants someone who can retain talent, honor Penn State tradition and who isn’t afraid to evolve.
12:04 p.m.: Kraft describes the football program as ‘backbone,’ adding that ‘we have invested at the highest level’ in the team, meaning expectations must match the investment. ‘A new leader can help us lead a national championship.’
12:03 p.m.: Kraft opens the news conference by thanking Franklin for his time leading the program, adding that he ‘wishes them nothing but success’ moving forward.
Noon: The live stream of Penn State’s news conference is up. Kraft is scheduled to speak at noon, followed by interim coach Terry Smith at 12:15 p.m. ET.
Penn State press conference live stream
What time is Penn State press conference today?
- Time: Noon ET
Penn State will hold its news conference at noon ET from the Beaver Stadium press room. Kraft will begin the conference at noon, with interim coach Terry Smith scheduled to speak to assembled media at 12:15 p.m. ET.
