Penn State Football Faces Unimaginable Humiliation As Program Sinks Lower

Penn State's football program appears to be on the brink of absolute disaster.

The Nittany Lions fired James Franklin after the sixth game of the season following a loss to Northwestern.

That was back on October 11. It's now December 3, and the team still doesn't have a new head coach as of signing day for new recruits.

That's not great, and the lack of a leader has set the program up for humiliation today.

Penn State finished the season 6-6 after firing James Franklin. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

Penn State's recruiting class is comically low.

It's nearly impossible to recruit without a head coach, and with a vacancy for nearly two months, the Nittany Lions are going to feel some serious pain and embarrassment on signing day.

Just how bad?

FCS Idaho is currently ahead of Penn State in the On3 recruiting class rankings as of publication. The Nittany Lions are ranked as the 128th best class in America with a total of four recruits. The Vandals are one spot ahead at 123.

The five teams directly behind PSU in the rankings are UConn, Ball State, Akron, Sam Houston State and Middle Tennessee State. The five teams directly ahead are Southern Miss, Air Force, Army, Navy and Idaho.

Imagine telling someone in August that Penn State would have a worse recruiting class than *ALL THREE SERVICE ACADEMIES* on signing day.

It's not like Army, Navy and Air Force are known for attracting a lot of five and four-star recruits. They get guys most people have never heard of who are more focused on joining the military than playing football.

There's absolutely no way this would have happened under James Franklin, and you don't have to take my word for it.

Let's look at Franklin's last few classes:

• 2025: 13th
• 2024: 15th
• 2023: 14th
• 2022: 7th
• 2021: 18th
• 2020: 14th

Turns out a ship without a captain is very rudderless.

Penn State's 2026 recruiting class is ranked 128th as of signing day. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)

Now, there is another signing window that opens in February, and Penn State will likely attempt to be hyper-aggressive once the team has a new coach. When will that be? Your guess is as good as mine, but for now, PSU is going to have a very miserable day. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.