It has been a full year since Penn State fired former football head coach James Franklin, just a day after the team lost to Northwestern on October 11, 2025.

For the anniversary, let’s look back on the last year of Penn State football and reflect on how it will affect the program for the foreseeable future.

Franklin served as Penn State’s head coach for twelve seasons, from 2014 until his firing last year. He boasted an overall record of 104 wins to 45 losses during his tenure. He also went 4-21 against top-10 teams in the AP poll — a stretch that led to his eventual firing.

In 2025, Penn State entered the season ranked No. 2 in the country and started 3-0. Ultimately, though, the Nittany Lions lost three straight games, fell out of the AP Top 25, and the program fired Franklin just one year removed from a College Football Playoff Semifinal berth.

The firing itself stirred a lot of conversation about how the program handled the decision.

Some saw the decision as a necessary act that had been needed for a long time. Others viewed it as an overreaction, made just six weeks into the season after Penn State finished in the top four the previous season.

But fans could only dwell on the decision for a short while before questions about who the next head coach would be began to surface.

Virginia Tech quickly picked up Franklin as its head coach in mid-November, while Penn State continued to slug its way through the coaching decision.

Early names emerged, including Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, Penn State alumnus Matt Rhule, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, and even interim head coach Terry Smith.

The search got embarrassing for the Nittany Lions when it became public that they wanted Sitake and he declined the offer.

A head coach choosing to stay at BYU over Penn State — and doing so very publicly — was a harsh look for a school that considers itself a blue blood in college football.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel also took shots at the Nittany Lions when asked about the job opening.

“I wouldn’t want low expectations. That’s part of why I want to be [at Tennesee],” Heupel said. “We’ll win big.”

A couple of negotiation slip-ups and failed attempts to find a coach nationwide left Penn State without a new coach for national signing day. Almost the entire recruiting class decommitted as a result, leaving the Nittany Lions with just one high school recruit for the Class of 2030.

As Penn State fans began to worry, prayers were answered on December 5, 2025.

The university announced the hiring of then-Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, who went 72-55 over his 10-season tenure with the Cyclones, led his team to eight bowl games in 10 years, and earned three Big 12 Coach of the Year awards.

Some folks saw this hire as a step back from where the program should be, while others quickly rallied around the Campbell era.

So far this season, however, many have felt let down by the decision, as Penn State has fallen into yet another three-game slide under circumstances very similar to last year.

Folks have questioned attendance issues, NIL, the roster’s talent, and just about everything that comes with Penn State football and the athletics department.

Despite this, almost exactly one year removed from the firing, Penn State fans broke the Beaver Stadium attendance record for a game that ended in a loss to USC.

The Nittany Lions are now 0-5 in their most-attended games, once again drawing attention to the team’s shortcomings and perhaps the failed process of hiring a new head coach to flip the narrative.

The Nittany Lions’ 3-3 start to the season has folks wondering whether the program will ever return to its premier expectations and whether the real issue with the 2025 Nittany Lions was athletic director Pat Kraft.

The grass hasn’t been greener for Franklin either, though, as he has a 4-2 record in his first year as the Hokies’ head coach.

Some Virginia Tech fans have already turned against the former Penn State man, upset with two big losses in a row. The Hokies lost to Pitt on a missed field goal as a home favorite, then lost to Cal the following week as a double-digit favorite.

College football is a unique place where single-season turnarounds have almost become expected from fan bases — thank you, Cignetti — but for now, both Franklin and the Nittany Lions will have to wait a little while longer to match the success they had together in 2024.