The James Franklin era is officially over at Penn State. The No. 2-ranked team in the preseason rankings had all the hype going for it due to returning production. Franklin added key offensive pieces from the portal and brought Jim Knowles from Ohio State. First three games, three wins. But the Lions faltered against Oregon at home, and since then, Penn State has been in shambles. If losing to 0-4 UCLA wasn’t bad enough, they topped it by losing to Northwestern at home.

Franklin’s 11-plus-year tenure saw Penn State register six 10-win seasons, but he could never get over the biggest hurdle. Winning against top teams. This season, even the teams that the Lions used to bully refused that treatment.

Terry Smith, the Lions’ CB coach and assistant head coach, has been named as the interim head coach following the departure of James Franklin. Smith, who played for Penn State, has been with the program for the last 11 years. James Franklin hired him in 2014 as a defensive recruiting coordinator and CV coach. That was followed by a promotion to an assistant HC role between 2016-20 and an associate HC role in 2021.

This is a developing story…