The firing of Penn State head coach James Frankling has been the biggest story of the 2025 college football season thus far. Three consecutive losses, an inability to win big games, and a toxic “championship or bust” mentality were all factors in that midseason decision. With three ranked opponents left on their schedule, Penn State finds themselves in a difficult situation.
Sitting at 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten conference, Penn State is all but mathematically eliminated from College Football Playoff contention. A position almost no one in Happy Valley expected would be the case when the season started. The double overtime loss vs Oregon was not the desired outcome, but by no means was it outside the realm of possibility before that day started. Multiple score losses to unranked UCLA and Northwestern on the other hand, were very surprising.
In the wake of firing their head coach and losing their Heisman hopeful starting QB, interim head coach Terry Smith recently described the locker room as “fragile and hurt” in the wake of the Franklin firing. As reported by Sports Illustrated, there is optimism in the situation as Smith claimed he’s seen “incremental progress” as the team prepares for Iowa.
Penn State locker room prepares while they grieve
“The messages that I've gotten all week [are], take care of the guys in the locker room, you’ve got to win them back and you’ve got to pick their spirits up,” Smith said Wednesday.
“It’s so much more than just the game. Each day is getting better. You know, Sunday was really traumatizing to them. Monday, they calmed down a little bit but had some anger in them. And then yesterday was, we'll show up for practice, coach, and give you some effort. And today was, hey, we'll run a little harder today. So I think we're headed the right direction. We’ve just got to close the gap quicker, though.”
The players did not receive the Franklin news well. Players are internalizing the firing as their failure on the field and why their former head coach is no longer employed. Smith cancelled the Sunday practice which is not typical. Monday is players day off, but Smith and his staff met individually. The motivation behind those meetings was to “calm them down, give them a voice and allow them to express themselves”.
"We tell the truth in the building, and we all failed coach Franklin," Smith said. "That's why he's not here. We failed him. So, we have to take ownership of that, and as we move forward we have to correct it. We want to play for him, we want to play for us, but at the end of the day it's the game of football, and every guy in the locker room has their own why."
While the coaches and players process the human aspects of their current situation, they are still focused on the job of football. Smith claims that regardless of the distractions, the team will be ready to play on Saturday. The Nittany Lions travel to Iowa this week. The game will kick off at 7:00pm eastern and will broadcast on Peacock.
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