Penn State Dealt Unfortunate Recruiting News in Wake of James Franklin's Firing

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Grant Bricker | Last updated Oct 22, 2025 5:28 PM ET

Penn State can not seem to stop being dealt bad news since James Franklin was fired after the 22-21 Week 7 loss to Northwestern.

As of Wednesday, the Nittany Lions have had seven recruits from the 2026 class and three from the 2027 class decommit, totaling 10.

The most recent decommitment was three-star defensive lineman Alexander Haskell, who reopened his recruitment on Tuesday and has since committed to Syracuse.

Penn State missed out on an in-state product on Wednesday, as four-star interior offensive lineman James Halter committed to Notre Dame, via Rivals' Hayes Fawcett. Halter is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, out of Central Catholic.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin. Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Ohio State was also in the running, but Halter opted to go with the Fighting Irish instead.

Since Franklin was fired, there are no longer commitments in the Nittany Lions' 2027 class. Penn State's crown jewel of its 2027 class was five-star running back Kemon Spell, who is the top player at his position in the cycle.

Franklin had been with Penn State since 2014 and amassed a record of 104-45, but that was not the whole story. He struggled historically against ranked teams, finishing his team in State College with a record of 15-31 against them.

Things were looking good for Penn State early on in 2025, with wins over Nevada, FIU, and Villanova. However, the Nittany Lions went on a three-game losing streak, falling to then-ranked No. 6 Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern.

Interim head coach Terry Smith now leads the team, but it has not been the smoothest transition. Penn State lost 25-24 to Iowa in its last game and now takes on No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1 following a bye in Week 9.

Kickoff from Columbus is at noon ET on Fox.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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