Jake TrotterOct 13, 2025, 02:24 PM ET
- Jake Trotter is a senior writer at ESPN. Trotter covers college football. He also writes about other college sports, including men's and women's basketball. Trotter resides in the Cleveland area with his wife and three kids and is a fan of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for five years, moving back to college football in 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers before joining ESPN in 2011. He's a 2004 graduate of Washington and Lee University. You can reach out to Trotter at [email protected] and follow him on X at @Jake_Trotter.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- James Franklin's record in big games played a role in Penn State moving on from the longtime head coach, athletic director Pat Kraft acknowledged Monday.
"I'm here to win a national championship," Kraft said. "And I believe our fans deserve that."
Penn State fired Franklin on Sunday after 12 seasons following a stunning 0-3 start in the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions opened the year ranked No. 2 in the polls off an appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinals last season.
But Penn State tumbled out of the polls two weeks ago after losing to then-winless UCLA, which hadn't held a lead all season. Then at home on Saturday, the Nittany Lions lost to Northwestern.
With the two losses, Penn State became the first team since the FBS and FCS split in 1978 to lose consecutive games while favored by 20 or more points in each game, according to ESPN Research.
Yet Penn State's first defeat of the losing streak continued a troubling and inescapable trend under Franklin, which ultimately led to the move.
The Nittany Lions fell at home in double overtime to Oregon, dropping Franklin to 4-21 at Penn State against AP top-10 opponents, including 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams in conference games. Franklin's .160 winning percentage against AP top-10 teams is tied for the third-worst record by a coach (minimum 25 games) at a single school since the poll era began in 1936, according to ESPN Research. Penn State has not defeated a Big Ten top 10 opponent since knocking off Ohio State in 2016.
"This is not a three-game thing," Kraft said. "This is really diving where we are as a program -- what is the trajectory of this program?"
Kraft noted that the athletic department will cover the $49 million buyout that Franklin is owed, the second-biggest buyout in college football history behind only Jimbo Fisher's $76 million buyout from Texas A&M.
Despite that figure -- and the ongoing $700 million renovation to Beaver Stadium -- Kraft said Penn State will aim high in hiring its next coach.
"We want someone who will attract elite talent, retain players in the NIL era and make Penn State a destination," he said. "Our next coach needs to be able to maximize elite level resources, attack the transfer portal and develop at the highest level."
Franklin reached double-digit wins in six of his 11 full seasons. But Penn State's last national title came 39 years ago.
"Football is our backbone. We have invested at the highest level. With that comes high expectations," Kraft said. "I believe a new leader can help us win a national championship -- and now is the right time for this change."
