The 2025 Penn State football season went from a season full of promise to a disaster in three weeks. The Nittany Lions lost a heartbreaker to Oregon at home during their White Out and then were stunned in back-to-back games against UCLA and Northwestern. Those shocking results led the Nittany Lions to fire James Franklin and go in a different direction at head coach.

The decision to fire James Franklin mid-season and pay the over $49 million buyout sent shockwaves through the college football world. The fact that it happened so fast was the surprising part and has led to some players on the team being shocked and disappointed, and one like team captain Nick Dawkins at center saying that the team failed coach Franklin.

“We all failed coach Franklin,” center Nick Dawkins told reporters Wednesday. “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.”
“I think the players like James,” a former staffer said. “Most of them do, but he had been there so long, and he had pissed some people off there.”
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Franklin received the news from athletic director Pat Kraft on Sunday after Penn State lost at home to Northwestern. His first order of business was to meet with the team, and some described the meeting as emotional.

“The players really did love him,” one source told The Athletic.

On Tuesday, Penn State center and captain Nick Dawkins praised Franklin's “contagious energy, fighter's spirit, toughness, and grit” when addressing the media.

“All the flak and criticism and boos and chants in the face of adversity, he remained a strong shoulder, remained stone cold for his players, for the university,” he said. “Standing tall for those that are standing with you.”
Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith will lead the Nittany Lions for the rest of the season, but this coaching search has the potential to be massive. The candidates who could take the job in State College span across the country. It's the first elite job opening that will attract interest from various coaches, and it could start a domino effect of other job openings.