Editorial: Penn State cares more about coaching than campuses

Penn State has firmly held priorities. But are they the ones the university wants people to believe?

The football team came into the season with the highest rank it has ever held to start the year; it was No. 2, right behind Texas and ahead of longtime rival Ohio State. After a 2024-2025 season that was among the best of the post-Joe Paterno years, it seemed like validation of James Franklin as head coach.

In five weeks, that fell apart with a home loss to Oregon. Years of grumbling about losses of big games intensified with calls to can the coach. Two weeks and two losses to unranked teams later, Penn State responded. Franklin was fired.

It’s not an unfamiliar story. This happens often in the fickle world of college sports. Alumni, donors, students — all of them want to win. It makes the tailgating more fun and it keeps the licensed merchandise flying off the shelves.

And football is big business at Penn State. University athletics pulls in more than $200 million a year, with over half coming from football. That includes tickets and media rights, plus directed giving. Merchandise sales are on top of that and the university just inked a $300 million deal with Adidas after years of partnering with Nike. A program history of winning is an important part of the image that makes that money.

But responding to howls for Franklin’s blood has a cost, too. Namely, it carries one of the most expensive contract buyouts in college football history, as much as almost $50 million, depending on how quickly he finds a new, lucrative job. That’s a considerable chunk of the cost of the extensive $700 million renovations being made to Beaver Stadium.

It is not just this seemingly casual dismissal of money in response to an outcry that speaks to the university leadership’s priorities.

Penn State appears willing to listen when the demands are about football, yet it wouldn’t even slow down when the question was about actual education.

Penn State ignored pleas to save Commonwealth Campuses when President Neeli Bendapudi put the idea of closings on the table in February. Within months, a review was completed and recommendations made. Seven campuses, including New Kensington and Fayette, will shutter in 2027.

That decision came over an outcry from the affected communities, local leaders and lawmakers. It even came over pleas from university trustees who asked for time to explore other alternatives.

Penn State athletic director Patrick Kraft said in a press conference that the athletic department will cover all the costs of the buyout, suggesting the cost will not impact the university. It’s the same refrain often heard when a huge bill hits related to sports.

It gives the impression the university and the football program at least — or the athletic department as a whole — are entirely separate entities. They aren’t.

The release of Franklin may be satisfying for frustrated fans. But Penn State’s mission isn’t about providing an NCAA football championship to the Keystone State.

It’s about making education broadly and affordably available to Pennsylvania residents.