Six games into his 12th season with the Nittany Lions, Penn State has fired head coach James Franklin.

According to CBS Sports, the university announced Franklin’s termination on Sunday following a disastrous three-game losing streak.

In a statement, Penn State athletic director Patrick Kraft thanked Franklin for his contributions to the Nittany Lions.

“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin, who rebuilt our football program into a national power," Kraft’s statement read. "He won a Big Ten Championship, led us to seven New Year's Six bowl games and a College Football Playoff appearance last year. However, we hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships." 

Following a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance against Notre Dame last year, the Nittany Lions had expectations of competing for the Big Ten title.  With a record of 3-3, it “marked the worst six-game start for a preseason AP top-two team since Oklahoma in 1964.”

Per Franklin's contract, he was to receive $8 million annually through 2031 and $500,000 retention bonus paid each year on Dec. 31. Also, Franklin will receive all of the money remaining on the deal from his termination date, which is approximately $50 million. The buyout is the second-largest in college football history, after the  $76 million Jimbo Fisher received from Texas A&M.

In his tenure at Penn State, Franklin posted a record of 104-45, including a 64-36 mark in Big Ten play. Last season, Penn State made its second Big Ten Championship Game and won the Big Ten in 2016. Also, the Nittany Lions won at least 10 games in six of his 12 seasons as coach, “including three straight double-digit win campaigns from 2022-24.”

Before arriving at Penn State in 2014, Franklin coached the Vanderbilt Commodores to back-to-back nine-win seasons and top-25 finishes from 2012-13.