In one of the biggest stunners of the 2025 college football season, one of the sport’s most recognizable coaches is out of a job. Penn State has fired coach James Franklin, the university announced on Sunday, Oct. 12, after a disappointing 3-3 start for a team that was widely expected to return to the College Football Playoff and contend for a national title. The surprising move comes one day after the Nittany Lions lost at home 22-21 to Northwestern, their third-consecutive loss after a 3-0 start. The two most recent defeats in that run were particularly damning for a talented and experienced team that got as high as No. 2 this season in the US LBM Coaches Poll this season. After a double-overtime loss to Oregon on Sept. 27, Penn State lost to two of the worst teams in the Big Ten, UCLA and Northwestern, in back-to-back weeks. More on Franklin's firing at the link in our bio. #JamesFranklin #PennState #NittanyLions #firing #collegefootball