On Oct. 12, 2025, football head coach James Franklin was fired from Penn State after 12 seasons. The web circulated with news about his nearly $50 million buyout and debates about Penn State’s head coaching candidates for the following season. But despite all the attention, Penn State still needed someone to take the reins for the rest of the year, and that became the duty of associate head coach Terry Smith.
Smith is nothing new to Penn State football. He played wide receiver there from 1987 to 1991 and has been working with the Nittany Lions since 2014, being promoted to associate head coach in 2021. Then, he was put in a position he never would have imagined at the start of the season: interim head coach.
Smith’s first game as a head coach wasn’t going to be an easy one. It was a road game against a red-hot Iowa team, with star quarterback Drew Allar out for the season, and the team was on a three-game losing streak. Penn State put up a good fight, even taking a late lead, but ultimately came up short, 25-24, and the team’s record fell to 3-4.
The next game wasn’t going to be easier, as Penn State had to travel to Ohio State to face its longtime rival, which was the number one-ranked team in college football at the time. Once again, the Nittany Lions put up a good fight and entered halftime down only three, but couldn’t keep up in the second half and lost 38-14. Their record then stood at 3-5.
After that, the Lions returned home to face No. 2-ranked Indiana. Penn State kept it close early, but Indiana scored 13 points to take a 20-7 lead in the third quarter. It looked like it was over. But the Smith-led Nittany Lions wouldn’t quit, scoring 17 unanswered points to take a 24-20 lead late in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, Indiana drove down the field to score a touchdown on an improbable catch and win 27-24.
After this, it looked like it couldn’t get much worse for Penn State. It had been so close; this would have been its first win against a top-five-ranked team in nine years, but it just couldn’t get it done. The Nittany Lions still hadn’t found a permanent head coach, and a bowl game seemed like a faraway prospect at 3-6, needing to win out just to become eligible.
However, Smith’s leadership played a key role in helping the Nittany Lions save their season.
“He’s just better at connecting with the players,” sophomore Edmond Li said. While progress was noticeable, there was still room to grow, adding, “The program is doing better, but there could still be a lot more room for improvement.”
Penn State traveled to Michigan State and earned a 28-10 victory to move to 4-6. Then, they returned home to face Nebraska, a talented team that had also fallen short of expectations. This time, they pulled out a 37-10 win. The stadium rocked with cheers from players and fans calling for Smith to be the next head coach.
In the final game of the regular season, Penn State traveled to Rutgers, where they survived a 40-36 shootout to finish 6-6 and secure bowl eligibility.
Shortly after, coaching buzz grew louder than ever, with a near-miss on BYU coach Kalani Sitake and continued speculation surrounding Terry Smith. Ultimately, Matt Campbell from Iowa State was hired on Dec. 5, 2025. Rumors then surfaced that Smith might leave for a head coaching job elsewhere, but Smith chose to stay on staff, expressing his love for Penn State, a decision that brought relief to fans.
“I think Matt Campbell’s a really good coach, and I’m really happy that Terry Smith is staying on staff,” social studies teacher and sports fan Barrett McMurtry said.
The late-season winning streak gave students confidence heading into Penn State’s bowl game, where it would compete in the Pinstripe Bowl against Clemson, another team that had fallen short of preseason expectations.
“Clemson’s another team that was supposed to do really well this year, and I think Clemson’s a pretty good team with a lot of talent. I’m feeling optimistic with the way the offense has looked,” sophomore Dillon Lieb said.
Penn State went on to get a definitive victory against the Clemson Tigers, 22-10, improving its final record to 7-6. Strong performances by freshmen and seniors alike left excitement for the future, and more good news came with the hire of Penn State letterman D’Anton Lynn as defensive coordinator on Dec. 29, 2025.
The bowl game marked the end of Smith’s time as interim head coach, closing a 70-plus-day stretch filled with twists and turns that brought emotions of all kinds to the Penn State fanbase. Through it all, Smith kept the team competitive and helped usher in a new era of Penn State football, one with an uncertain but promising future.
