UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has made a change in the leadership of its football program, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Patrick Kraft announced today. Associate Head Coach Terry Smith will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Kraft will lead the national search for the next head coach.
James Franklin concludes his tenure in University Park after 11-plus seasons with an overall record of 104-45, tying him for the second-winningest coach in the history of Penn State football.
“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” said Kraft. “He won a Big Ten Championship, led us to seven New Year’s Six bowl games and a College Football Playoff appearance last year. However, we hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships.”
Franklin has coached 18 All-American selections, 32 national major award winners or finalists and 59 NFL Draft picks at Penn State. In his first 14 years as a head coach at Penn State and Vanderbilt, Franklin mentored 116 players reaching the NFL ranks, including eight Penn State first-round draft picks.
“I am grateful for all that Coach Franklin has done for Penn State football and the University over the past 11-plus years. We thank him for his dedication, and we extend our best wishes to him and his family as they move forward into their next chapter,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “Our commitment to excellence extends across every facet of our institution, including athletics, and I am looking forward with great anticipation to this exciting new chapter for the Nittany Lions as we continue to build on that standard."
“Penn State Football is an integral part of our University and is an important part of the lives of our millions of fans, community members and alumni around the world,” said Kraft. “We have the best college football fans in America, a rich tradition of excellence, significant investments in our program, compete in the best conference in college sports and have a state-of-the-art renovated stadium on the horizon. I am confident in our future and in our ability to attract elite candidates to lead our program.”