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If you thought college football fans were surprised by Penn State‘s decision to fire head coach James Franklin after last week’s loss to Northwestern, imagine how Franklin must have felt.
The former Nittany Lions head coach is seemingly already back on the hunt for a job, as he’s obligated to be as part of the terms of his buyout, and appeared on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday morning for his first media appearance since being fired.
While Franklin did not say anything overly incendiary about Penn State or athletic director Pat Kraft, he did pull back the curtain a bit surrounding how the firing went down.
James Franklin joined College Gameday this morning to talk for the first time since being fired from Penn State. pic.twitter.com/vbo1ltqc9h
— Richie O’Leary (@On3Richie) October 18, 2025
Penn State Fired James Franklin Just Before A Scheduled Team Meeting
According to Franklin, he had no prior indication that his job was at risk should he lose to Northwestern. In fact, he began the day after the loss preparing, as usual, for a team meeting.
“We have a team meeting at 1:45 (on Sunday). (At) About 1:30, the AD walked in and said, ‘I’m making a change. I’m sorry.’ I was in shock,” Franklin said.
So, what’s next for Franklin?
Well, the former Penn State coach is likely to be in high demand. Yes, he faltered at basically every opportunity to win a big game with the Nittany Lions. However, he also raised the floor of the program for the most part outside of a few outlier seasons.
As Franklin put in on “College GameDay,” he doesn’t have hobbies. So a return to coaching in 2026 seems extremely likely. And with several programs already opening up their head coaching position, and more seemingly to come, it’s easy to see how he could land on his feet.
In doing so, Franklin could involuntarily aid his former team, which is only on the hook for any difference in salary between what Franklin makes next season and what he would have made on his contract with Penn State.