Penn State football is seeing the effects of not placing emphasis on NIL packages in recruitment. While the Nittany Lions are used to having a top recruiting class and retaining valuable pieces of the team since the time they commit, the class of 2026 hasn't been as kind to head coach James Franklin.
Even when keeping players in Happy Valley, the team culture, playing time, and overall program is what Franklin relies on. Take Nicholas Singleton, for example. Before the 2024-25 season, schools reached out with very high offers, up to $1 million. Luckily for the Nittany Lions, he stayed put.
College football is a business. While there's always going to be different factors that play into whether or not an athlete enters the Transfer Portal, money is becoming a more prominent one. Except instead of throwing money at current college athletes, programs are turning more heavily towards recruits now with the recent developments in NIL.
Penn State started in the top 10 of class of 2026 recruitment, looking to work its way up the ladder from No. 7 before the end of June. To their dismay, the Nittany Lions had a tumultuous ride in recruitment the past few weeks.
Elite, five-star recruits Immanuel Iheanacho and Joey O'Brien committed to Oregon and Notre Dame, respectively. Four-star recruits Brayden Fogle, Khary Adams, Grayson McKeogh, and Luke Wafle also opted for other programs. Penn State lost out on five-star Brandon Arrington before his decision was even announced. On top of missing targets, Franklin suffered two flipped commitments as four-star Peyton Falzone and three-star Roseby Lubintus backed down and went with Auburn and Syracuse, respectively.
The Nittany Lions' recruitment class of 2026 tumbled down from No. 7 to No. 16. USC, Georgia, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Michigan, Texas, Miami, Oregon, Clemson, Florida State, and Florida are all ranked above Penn State currently.
The Nittany Lions are spending an average of $59,000 on the class of 2026. They fall behind 23 schools: Oregon, LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Miami, USC, Texas, Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Houston, Maryland, Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Washington, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Clemson and BYU. To no surprise, every single program doing better than Penn State in recruiting is paying more on average. Oregon is paying an average of $232,000.
Naturally, the Nittany Lions are prioritizing their veterans. They have roughly $12.2 million to spend on their players with the new settlement, and a majority of that is going to key returners. Singleton, Drew Allar, Kaytron Allen, Zane Durant, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and Zakee Wheatley are just a few names whose NIL deals will definitely take up some of the pot. Allar himself is estimated to be around $3.1 million and Singleton is expected to make $1.8 million.
It makes sense for Penn State to focus the cash on its veteran and high-performing players. However, when programs are flooding the Nittany Lions out of the recruitment competition with NIL potentially being a huge factor as to why, Franklin may need to reassess. It's only a matter of time before young players in the system start looking elsewhere because of money, especially if it's already contributing to recruiting and commitments.