Sports

Former Penn State Interim Head Coach Terry Smith Yet Again Puts James Franklin On Blast

#College Football
by
Penn State Interim Coach Terry Smith

© Jeffrey Becker/Imagn


With each passing month, it appears that any chances of James Franklin mending fences with his former employer, Penn State, get smaller and smaller. And former interim head coach turned associate head coach Terry Smith isn’t helping matters.

Smith, a Pennsylvania native and Penn State letterman, took over after Franklin was fired mid-way through the 2025 season. He went 3-3 down the stretch to lead the team to bowl eligibility and eventually beat Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Along the way, Smith was very clear about making significant changes to the program that he didn’t like under Franklin. One of those changes included encouraging quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, who took over after a season-ending injury to starter Drew Allar, to throw the ball down the field more often.

Smith re-emphasized that fact recently during a radio appearance discussing Allar going in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers.


“I’ve been known as the truth-teller here at Penn State. And unfairly to Drew, our system wasn’t built for him. It wasn’t made for him. Some of the decisions were taken out of his control,” Smith said in a local radio interview.

Terry Smith Has Been Outwardly Critical Of James Franklin

Smith, who is widely regarded as one of the nation’s top cornerbacks coaches, remained with Penn State under new head coach Matt Campbell.

He was also quick to note that Campbell has given him more of a voice within the program than Franklin did.

“My associate role is different and bigger than under James,” Smith said in February. “Coach Campbell has conversations with me about how he wants to do certain things. And I’ll share my insight to certain things. Ultimately, he has to make that final decision. James would ask me certain things. But it’s different under Matt. Everyone in the building knows that I’m the associate head coach. Under James, that wasn’t clear.”

Yikes.

Meanwhile, Franklin doesn’t appear to have much love lost for Penn State, either. So the sparring goes both ways. But it’s clear that Smith isn’t afraid to speak his mind on the matter.