When Penn State, a 4-touchdown favorite, lost to UCLA, I blasted out text messages to friends and family, wishing that Dear Ol’ State would fire Coach James Franklin. Not only did dude’s teams consistently lose to higher-ranked teams, but they were also getting beaten by a team with inferior talent.

I never stopped to consider the coach’s recruiting skills or that he built Penn State into a perennial top-10 team.

The brass at PSU listened to me and terminated Mr. Franklin. The aftermath is worse than losing to the Ohio State University by a handful of points every season. The players in Penn State’s once-vaunted 2026 recruiting class have all de-committed. And with no replacement in sight, my beloved Lions have ceded their place in college football’s upper echelon. Yikes.