When did Penn State Nittany Lions fans’ patience start to run thin for James Franklin? When they took an L at the hands of Dan Lanning’s Oregon, 24-30. The Beaver Stadium had set an attendance record of 111,015, with fans even paying as high as $412. As mid-game Ross Dellenger tweeted, “On fourth-and-1, with a chance to take a two-score lead with a field goal from the 9-yard line, Dan Lanning goes for it. Touchdown run right up the gut. Oregon 17, Penn State 3. The “fire Franklin” chants erupt from the student section.” Fans still would have given Franklin a chance, but they faced another defeat by UCLA (42-37). As the head coach might be losing his sleep about Penn State pulling the trigger, a FOX analyst shared his take on Franklin’s future. 

That’s none other than Joel Klatt. On the October 6 episode of his podcast, the analyst started with, “We get to the defense. I know that was a long dissertation, but again, it was a pretty bad film for Penn State. Get to the defensive side of the football. They couldn’t get a stop. Comebacks are like puzzles. They happen one piece at a time…And that’s exactly what happened on Saturday to Penn State.”

Penn State had three sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss, but it also had 12 missed tackles, which was three times as many as UCLA had in the game. But Klatt keeps panic at bay for the Penn State head coach. He said, “James Franklin and everyone talking about his job. But here’s the deal. He’s not going to be worried about that right now because what he’s going to be worried about is all the things that I just discussed…And that’s going to be his charge is to go through that and fix the things that are broken.”

The Bruins gashed Franklin’s boys for 280 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 52 attempts, with QB Nico Iamaleava leading the charge, 128 yards and 3 scores on the ground. The Nittany Lions’ front seven couldn’t set the edge, missed tackles piled up, and chunk plays turned into game-changing momentum. Drew Allar was only sacked once, but the ground game has struggled to get going for Penn State when it needed it to. 

Two games, two quiet outings. Franklin’s running back duo, Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, combined for 89 yards on 19 carries vs. UCLA, still underwhelming for a duo once labeled among the nation’s best. 

This year, Franklin and Co. brought back nearly all their elite personnel from last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal appearance. Penn State fans might have been looking for Franklin to be pulling off a successful stint, and probably bring home their first Natty since the middle stages of the Joe Paterno era. But here we are. Now, while Franklin tries to keep his ears shut, he can already hear some names.

James Franklin’s turn of fate from dream season to doubt season

Well, even in their wildest dreams, Penn State fans did not expect Franklin to be in this place in the 2025 season. After all, this is the head coach who gifted them 10 wins in six of his 12 seasons, with only one losing year (2020) and six bowl victories, including two CFP wins in 2024. But they failed to get rid of their nagging problem of struggling against top-10 teams. As per the reports, Franklin’s record against AP-ranked top-10 teams, combining his Penn State and Vanderbilt chapters, is 4-26.

The top-tier test keeps failing. Franklin owns a 1–18 mark vs. top-5 teams and a 17–36 record against ranked foes overall. And guess what? The head coach no longer runs away from facing the truth. After crumbling down in the hands of Oregon, he said, “I get that narrative, and it’s really not a narrative. It’s factual. It’s the facts. I get it. But I try to look at the entire picture and what we’ve been able to do here. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to find a way to win those games. I totally get it. And I take ownership. I take responsibility.”

But the acceptance does not make his seat any less hot. Names like Curt Cignetti, Matt Rhule, and Dabo Swinney are already making rounds to contest in the race to replace Franklin. But there’s a catch, as the firing won’t be that easy for Penn State. 

Let’s be real. Nittany Lions are not firing a guy who’s won 10-plus games three years running. Not when it would cost them nearly $50 million to do it. His contract stretches through 2031, and AD Pat Kraft is still very much on the James Franklin train. Unless the Nittany Lions somehow forget how to play football overnight, that buyout isn’t getting triggered. So, Franklin had better take his advice seriously.