James Franklin loses in-state 4-star amid Penn State’s two-game losing skid

James Franklin has been seen taking a helicopter to Pine Richland High School outside of Pittsburgh to watch four-star wide receiver Khalil Taylor play this fall, but that hasn’t been enough to keep the 2027 in-state star locked in with the program. On Friday, Taylor announced his de-commitment from Penn State. 

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound receiver is the 56th overall player in the 2027 class according to 247Sports Composite and the No. 3 player in Pennsylvania. His de-commitment, maybe not so coincidentally, comes on the heels of the Nittany Lions' two-game losing streak to Oregon and UCLA, which has all but dashed their College Football Playoff hopes and put major pressure on James Franklin’s job. 

4-star WR Khalil Taylor de-commits from Penn State

Taylor recently received an offer from Florida and saw interest from Notre Dame over the summer. His recruitment is now wide open after delivering an unexpected blow to Penn State and Franklin. 

Franklin is under contract with Penn State until 2031, but his long-term status with the program feels anything but stable. Franklin’s 4-21 record against top 10 opponents has long clouded his tenure in Happy Valley, but a loss to 0-4 UCLA as a 24.5-point road favorite has reopened questions about how far Franklin can take the program.

With an exorbitant buyout, Franklin is likely to stay put, and he still has the opportunity to rebound this season. Embarrassing upsets tend to have an impact on the program beyond just another tally in the loss column, and if blue-chip recruits like Taylor view Penn State as a program that could be in transition or a place where they won’t be able to win a national championship, it could force them to look elsewhere. 

Taylor has not opened up about what led to his de-commitment after committing to Penn State in March, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Franklin pulls him back into the fray, but this does spark real concern about a 2027 class that was off to a blistering start. 

Taylor wasn’t Penn State’s only top-tier junior from Western Pennsylvania committed to the Nittany Lions. The class still includes four-star defensive back Gabe Jenkins from Imani Christian and five-star running back Kemon Spell from McKeeseport High School. Many of the country’s biggest powerhouse programs have been pushing hard to flip Spell, who committed as a sophomore, and he just received an offer from Georgia. 

The fear for Franklin is that Taylor’s de-commitment could start a domino effect that could see the foundation of next year’s recruiting class fracture. This is what leads coaches to be fired. Oftentimes, it's not just losses, but what those losses do to his coaching staff and recruiting base. If top high school talent doesn’t think the head coach will be around for their entire four years, or even by the time they arrive on campus, they will likely look elsewhere.