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Penn State fires James Franklin
The James Franklin era is over at Penn State.
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BLACKSBURG, Va.
James Franklin leaned back in his seat as he spoke, gesturing to his maroon tie.
“This was hard,” he said. “Because when you’re at a place for 12 years — I don’t really have anything that’s not blue or white. Because again, it’s everything, right? It’s not just your job, it’s your family, it’s a lifestyle.”
Franklin sat in the cornerbacks room in the Merryman Athletic Facility in Blacksburg late Wednesday morning, taking questions from a small group of reporters after he was introduced as the Virginia Tech head football coach at a press conference.
He was relatively open about his time at Penn State during the conversation with reporters, but it was clear that the emotions of his departure were still raw, and that there was a newness to everything that was happening. Because after over 11 years of building with the Nittany Lions, Franklin must start over at Virginia Tech.
That is not easy. He mentioned the shock of his initial firing and how the first few days were spent trying to work through that. But then the real hard part came. His first Saturday in the fall where he wasn’t a head coach in about 15 years. His former players and staff members at Penn State were playing.
But he couldn’t watch.
“I watched college football,” Franklin said. “I will be transparent and say I didn’t watch the Penn State games, I just had a hard time doing that. Was very supportive of the coaches and (interim head coach) Terry (Smith). We talk all the time. Talked to him last night. He was at my house a couple nights ago.”
Penn State football coach James Franklin greets recruits during team arrival before the game against Villanova on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. Abby Drey [email protected]
That was hard for Franklin, who has said time and time again that he views the players as his sons. He mentioned how his daughters are close with his players from Vanderbilt and Penn State — his older daughter Shola babysat over the weekend for former player Nick Scott — and how he’s looking forward to that part of building with the Hokies.
But part of building new is letting go of the past, and that has not been easy for the head coach who spent over a decade at one spot, which is not a common thing in college football. He was asked if he thought he would finish his career at Penn State, but did not directly answer.
“I was — I am focused on moving forward,” he said. “And am appreciative of my 11 and a half, 12 years, however you want to describe it — the relationships, the people, the things that we did. I’ll let other people talk about the shock or surprise of the timing of that.”
Penn State football coach James Franklin high-fives fans in the student section before the homecoming game against Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. Abby Drey [email protected]
He doesn’t have to say it. Nobody thought this would be happening — that he would go 3-3 to start a season with championship aspirations and get fired on Oct. 12 by Penn State AD Pat Kraft. Or that he would be wearing a maroon tie and pocket square with a VT pin on his lapel, sitting in a Virginia Tech athletics facility, in front of a table with a “VT” logo on it. But it has happened, and after only a month of unemployment.
Because that’s the thing for Franklin. He could have sat out and collected a paycheck — he said so himself — but that’s not how he’s wired.
“A couple times I ran some errands for my wife and see people, like a wife and a husband, walking around the neighborhood at like four in the afternoon, I’m like, what is that?” Franklin said with a laugh. “What are they doing? I don’t even know what that looks like or what that is.”
His wife, Fumi, makes fun of him for not knowing where they bank, and he says as long as he goes to Sheetz (which he says, jokingly, is where they bank) and can get $400 out, he’s fine. Because coaching is all he knows, and he’s not worried about the other stuff — despite Fumi’s insistence that it is what he does, not who he is.
But it is a large part of who he is.
Football coach James Franklin speaks during his introductory press conference at Virginia Tech on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. Jon Sauber
“My wife has always been very direct in making sure that I knew that football is what I do, and it’s not my identity,” Franklin said. “I think that sounds good in theory, but the reality is when you spend so much time and your family makes so many sacrifices, it’s hard to say that this isn’t a huge part of my identity.”
And so he’ll jump right back in. Part of that, he says, is knowing he might not be as marketable as a candidate if he took a year off. But most of it is just about being a coach — about building relationships and guiding young people. So he’ll do that now at Virginia Tech, using Penn State as another learning experience as he keeps chasing a national title, just 10 months after he was a play or two away from playing for one with the Nittany Lions.
He lamented just how close they were to that goal, but insisted that he’s ready to move forward.
And as he leaned forward to shake the hands of the reporters in the room, he smiled when he saw some familiar faces. A glimpse into what his life used to be.
And at how much has changed in just over a month.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 2:53 PM.
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Jon Sauber
Centre Daily Times
Jon Sauber covers Penn State football and men’s basketball for the Centre Daily Times. He earned his B.A. in digital and print journalism from Penn State and his M.A. in sports journalism from IUPUI. His previous stops include jobs at The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA, and Rivals.
