Penn State fires James Franklin in stunning move that needed to happen

There really was no choice for Penn State football here. Entering the season, the expectation was that James Franklin was going to help the program push for a National Championship. Instead, after six games in 2025, the veteran coach is out of a job.

The perfect James Franklin replacement couldn't be more obvious after Week 7

According to reporter Pete Thamel, Penn State has made the tough but necessary decision to fire Franklin. The news comes after the Nittany Lions suffered a shocking loss to Northwestern on Saturday, bringing the team's record to 3-3. There was buzz that Franklin could be fired by the end of the weekend and Thamel was all over this one:

Penn State has fired head coach James Franklin following the loss to Northwestern

When Penn State lost at home to Oregon, people were calling for Penn State to make a move. Then after losing to UCLA last week, Franklin's seat was sizzling hot. Once the loss to Northwestern was posted, you just knew that Franklin's time running the show was about to come to a close.

Franklin first joined Penn State in 2014, making the move over from Vanderbilt. He had plenty of success overall, but his record against ranked teams is something that's going to leave a bit of a black eye on his legacy with the Nittany Lions.

Franklin was known for dropping the ball against winning teams, especially those ranked inside of the Top 10. He was owned by Ohio State throughout his career, which only added to the anger that people had for him. This season was a dumpster fire too.

Losing three straight games is never going to be acceptable at Penn State, especially in the kind of fashion those defeats were posted. Sure, the loss to Oregon was tough to swallow, but going down against UCLA and Northwestern? Can't happen. Franklin learned this the hard way, as those two losses in particular sent things over the top and it forced the university to send him packing.