From the moment Penn State fired James Franklin, it was going to be an uphill battle to keep his 2026 recruiting class together. Well, it appears that the skeleton crew left behind, led by interim head coach Terry Smith, is losing that fight.
On Tuesday, Penn State lost another 2026 commit, four-star defensive back David Davis, who flipped his commitment to North Carolina and Bill Belichick. The Western Pennsylvania native and his Imani Christian teammate Gabe Jenkins, a four-star 2027 safety, have now both de-committed from Penn State. Jenkins has yet to find another landing spot.
BREAKING: Four-Star CB David Davis has Flipped his Commitment from Penn State to North Carolina, he tells me for @rivals⁰⁰The 6’0 190 CB from Pittsburgh, PA had been Committed to the Nittany Lions since March⁰⁰“Feels great being a part of history”⁰⁰https://t.co/gCuslZ5IY2 pic.twitter.com/fqNMTlBYLG
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) November 13, 2025
Coaching uncertainty costs Penn State 4-star DB David Davis
Davis is the 382nd-ranked player in the 2026 class, and the No. 11 recruit in Pennsylvania according to 247Sports Composite. An undersized athlete at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, he’s a ball-hawk in the secondary with natural instincts to force turnovers in zone coverage and the speed to cover ground.
He'll be a versatile player in the secondary for Bill Belichick in the secondary with a chance to play the nickel and safety positions.
Almost every program that makes a surprise midseason coaching change sees the recruiting class that the previous head coach constructed fall apart. That’s exactly what’s happening in Happy Valley, and Smith, a longtime ace recruiter for Franklin, has been helpless to stop it.
There’s no confidence that Smith, despite being named the interim head coach, will continue at his alma mater in any capacity beyond this season, and the loss of multiple defensive backs is another symptom of that uncertainty.
Smith, a Western PA native who played at Aliquippa, is Penn State’s cornerbacks coach and defensive recruiting coordinator. So, if there is any position group that he would have a chance to keep committed to the program, it would be an in-state defensive back, like Davis. Yet, Davis has flipped, Jenkins de-committed just days after Franklin’s firing, and four-star safety commit Matt Sieg, though he remains committed, has named a top four that doesn’t include the Nittany Lions.
Other than Sieg, three-star cornerback Amauri Polydor is the only remaining committed defensive back among the Nittany Lions’ 2026 class, which has dwindled down to just 13 players. The class isn’t done shrinking yet.
Along with Sieg, Penn State’s highest-ranked commit, four-star offensive tackle Kevin Brown, is on flip watch. Brown is being pursued heavily by Ohio State and West Virginia. Brown’s teammate at Harrisburg, four-star running back Messiah Mickens, is also trending toward a flip to Oklahoma.