James Franklin did some of his best work in 11-plus years at Penn State on the recruiting trail.

He consistently had the Nittany Lions competing for top-15 classes nationally and signed a couple of top-10 groups in his tenure.

But after being fired on Oct. 12 as Penn State’s championship-hopeful 2025 season went off the rails, he quickly took chunks out of what he had built in Happy Valley.

And as the early national signing period begins Wednesday, the effects of his efforts will become official.

Penn State had 25 high school prospects committed when Franklin was fired. As of Tuesday, nine of those had followed Franklin to his new job at Virginia Tech , and just five remained with the Lions. Edge rusher Tyson Harley joined Franklin’s class late Tuesday night after OL Benjamin Eziu

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