Correlating coffee and coaching might be far-fetched, but Penn State’s depth has created a special playbook menu☕️🏈 https://t.co/bRAkuJdoFq

Terry Smith, Penn State’s interim head coach, began his new job with a goal. “We have to get our grittiness back, our toughness, our swag and most importantly, we have to go have fun, enjoy playing the game of football.” https://t.co/FXSRob6S0P

Terry Smith was shocked to hear he would become Penn State’s interim head coach. But during his press conference, he embraced it. https://t.co/leMrx2Hzn8

Terry Smith promises that the product on the field will be better moving forward. "You guys will come in here and your questions won't be about effort. Your questions won't be they look lethargic. If we lose, it's going to be because that team beat us and they were just better."

"James has always told me, if something happened to him he would recommend that I be the next person to lead," Smith said on if he had any hesitation about accepting this role. Said when he woke up yesterday that he had no idea he would be in this position

Terry Smith reveals that James Franklin did address the team: "as you can imagine, it was emotional."

Terry Smith (interim HC) found out at 1:20 p.m. yesterday he would step into this role. Said he was "stunned" and spoke with James Franklin late last night to express his "gratitude for him" "He brought this program out of a dark era and got us to be a relevant program again"

More from Pat Kraft regarding Drew Allar’s season ending injury: “No matter the outcome of the games, I want every one of our athletes to finish everything they start in life and in games. And [Allar] is going to be an incredible pro football player.”

Pat Kraft calls his student-athletes his kids, and when asked about Drew Allar and he can't help but get emotional and answer somberly "Anyone who every doubted that young man's commitment to Penn State and Penn State football, you don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Pat Kraft: "All our focus...Let me repeat, ALL OUR FOCUS...should be on the young men in the Lasch Building."

Pat Kraft said he "felt there was no other course." "For our student athletes and the staff and the program and our fans, there just wasn't a choice....I have to be the leader. I have to make decisions."

Pat Kraft says he won't get into the financials regarding James Franklin's buy out but does say that athletics is "absorbing all the costs associated with this."

Pat Kraft starts his press conference by calling James Franklin "a tremendous man" for the work he put into the PSU community and program "Ultimately, I believe a new leader can help us win a national championship, and now is the right time for this change."

James Franklin and Penn State had a productive, positive but complicated relationship for nearly 12 years. In the end, the risk was both parties becoming desensitized.

We are 20 minutes away from Pat Kraft and Terry Smith’s press conference. The typical mic surrounded by different gatorade bottles and water has been replaced by this podium stand.

The last time James Franklin was announced in Penn State’s starting lineups he was booed. When the Nittany Lions lost those “Fire Franklin” chants felt conclusive. Now a new era begins. In three and a half hours AD Pat Kraft and interim Terry Smith will meet with the media

The social media reaction of James Franklin's firing has only begun. Here's what they're saying about the end of the James Franklin era at Penn State so far. https://t.co/KPED2ihg2v

Penn State players take to social media after James Franklin was fired as the head coach of the program. Drew Allar and Tony Rojas among the many posting on Instagram and X so far.

James Franklin is out. So, who’s the next head coach of Penn State football? @nolandoessports provides his top candidates for the job:

For the first time in its 136-year history, Penn State has fired a head coach during a season for on-field performance reasons. After 11-and-a-half years, James Franklin is out at Penn State. https://t.co/8UYqMj5X73

Terry Smith will serve as Penn State's interim head coach for the remainder of the season, per announcement. He and AD Pat Kraft will meet with the media tomorrow. But for now, here's some background on Smith who has a long history with the Nittany Lions https://t.co/r86mPJGsJy