Penn State had to put out a fire almost as big as the one surrounding James Franklin’s actual firing on Sunday, and this time it involved their brand-new apparel partner. A wild rumor started circulating on social media claiming that Adidas not only pushed for Franklin’s dismissal but also committed to pay most or all of his massive buyout, somewhere in the $45 to $50 million range.

The report came from Pittsburgh Sports Now’s Mike J. Asti, who cited a source at Penn State saying, “Adidas drove the James Franklin firing and are why it happened today. They committed to pay most or all of the money.” The claim went viral instantly, which makes sense when you think about it—a shoe company essentially firing a football coach sounds like something straight out of a Netflix sports drama.​

But Penn State wasn’t having any of it. When Front Office Sports’ Daniel Roberts reached out to both Adidas and the university for comment, he got a pretty definitive answer. Roberts tweeted, “In response to the viral tweet Sunday that claimed Adidas drove the Franklin firing and paid for it, Adidas directed me to PSU; PSU said, ‘The report is patently false. This decision was made solely by Penn State. Adidas is not helping to pay the buyout for Coach Franklin.” That’s about as clear a denial as you can get, with Penn State basically saying that it’s all on them when it comes to the decision and the money involved. The university was quick to shut down any suggestion that their new apparel partner had that kind of influence over football operations.

The reason this rumor gained so much traction in the first place is that Penn State literally just signed a transformational 10-year, $300 million deal with Adidas that’s set to begin in 2026. They announced the switch from Nike to Adidas back on September 5, and the deal was already causing headaches for the athletic department before Franklin even got fired.

Moreover, some Penn State trustees were reportedly “outraged by the process behind the decision,” with particular concern about a $500,000 “annual product allotment” for athletic director Pat Kraft. Although the university insisted that it’s standard for these types of deals and isn’t for Kraft’s personal use. So when Franklin got the axe just over a month after that Adidas announcement, people started connecting dots that apparently weren’t supposed to be connected.​

But the rumor never really made much sense when you thought about it logically. Multiple people who work in the industry pointed out that Adidas has zero business case for dropping $50 million to fire a coach at one of their partner schools, especially a coach who just took Penn State to the College Football Playoff semifinals eight months earlier. The idea that Adidas executives had some emergency 3 AM board meeting after watching Northwestern beat Penn State on Saturday night and then decided to wire $50 million by Sunday morning to make Franklin go away is far-fetched. Even in today’s wild college football landscape, that’s a bridge too far.​

Out with Franklin, in with Rhule?

So Penn State just paid James Franklin $49 million to walk away after going 104-45 over 12 seasons. But now the leading candidate to replace him is a guy whose record against ranked teams is somehow even worse. Franklin’s downfall wasn’t his overall record. It was his inability to win the games that actually mattered, going 4-21 against top-10 teams and losing his final 15 matchups against teams ranked in the top six. 

Those numbers are brutal, but at least Franklin occasionally pulled off the upset. Rhule’s sitting at 2-23 against ranked opponents with zero wins against AP Top 10 teams since 2016. The math isn’t mathing here, folks. Penn State essentially decided Franklin’s big-game failures were unacceptable, and then it was rumored that the guy who’s never beaten an elite team is their top target.​

But if Penn State actually wants to revolutionize its program and is looking for someone who can build it from the ground up, then Rhule absolutely makes sense. Franklin had Penn State playing at a high level consistently, but there was always this feeling that they’d plateau right before the breakthrough moment. Rhule’s entire identity as a coach is about building programs from scratch and establishing systems that produce incremental growth year after year. Temple went from 2-10 to 10-4 under him. Baylor went from 1-11 to 11-3. Nebraska is following the same trajectory at 5-1 right now.