Firing James Franklin seems to have backfired on Penn State in more ways than one. Penn State recruiting has gone down the rankings as the school lost several four-star commits from the Class of 2026, many of them going to where Franklin is now: Virginia Tech.
Whenever a school fires a coach for underperforming, it is often expected that many of the high school players that the coach recruited would flip. The same can be said for Penn State recruiting, as the team just went further down the Class of 2026 recruitment rankings, all the way to No. 150. The team often stayed around the top 25 under Franklin.
With yet another commit flipping to Virginia Tech, Penn State’s recruiting class now sits at 150th overall.
They are one spot behind South Dakota State and one spot ahead of Prairie View A&M. pic.twitter.com/nHAniUZX9e
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) December 3, 2025
This soon had several fans poking fun at Penn State recruiting, falling so low after much success under Franklin.
“Franklin got the last laugh after all. PSU is going to have to attempt to hire the Janitor and he will get an extension to remain where he is at.” one fan pointed out.
“At this point, Penn State should just order helmets and pads for the cheerleaders.,” another fan joked.
“Fun Fact: The longest losing streak in all of college football history is 80 games by Prairie View A&M from 1989 to 1998. This is the company that Penn St is currently keeping. 😬” another fan noted.
“Imagine you went into a coma in August when Penn State was ranked #2 in the preseason AP, and you wake up today to see them having fired James Franklin, finished 6-6, on Plan “H” of their coaching search, and they are signing the 150th ranked class on early signing day. 🤯” one X used chimed in.
“This is the biggest downfall ever,” a USC fan said.
“Kudos to the 2 gentlemen that still went ahead and committed there. I think PSU made a massive mistake with JF.,” a fan replied.
Penn State Recruiting: Only 2 Players Have Signed So Far
National signing day has been a bad day for Penn State recruiting, as the team continued its recruitment struggles after firing James Franklin and continuing to struggle in finding his replacement.
The Nittany Lions did sign three-star Peyton Falzone and edge prospect Jackson Ford, but some of the bigger names, such as four-star linebacker Terry Wiggins and four-star safety Matt Sieg have both flipped and signed with Franklin at Virginia Tech.
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