Inside Penn State’s Viral Farewell to James Franklin: The Message That Shocked Fans Everywhere
Who knew a simple tweet could rattle an entire fanbase? That’s exactly what happened when Penn State’s football X account quietly posted a heartfelt farewell to James Franklin, the man who once seemed untouchable atop Happy Valley. The message, “Thank you for everything, CJF,” accompanied by a clean, respectful graphic, might look like a routine sendoff—but beneath the surface, tensions and emotions exploded. Considering Penn State stormed into the 2025 season as a national title favorite, the swift fall from grace is almost Shakespearean. Over just fifteen dramatic days, a once-promising campaign unraveled, and with it, Franklin’s decade-long tenure, ending not just a coach’s era, but a chapter of high hopes and heartbreaks. So, was it a respectful nod or an understated tweet that set the internet ablaze? Let’s dive into how one social post became a digital lightning rod for a community stunned by sudden change. LEARN MORE.
Even the simplest of social media posts can ignite the internet, and you need to look no further than Penn State football’s X account.
After the university fired head football coach James Franklin, the Nittany Lions’ football account posted, “Thank you for everything, CJF,” along with an image that says, “Thank you, Coach Franklin.”
With replies to the post being disabled, people took to the quotes feature to express how they felt about the firing and the post itself. In particular, among the more than 2,000 retweets, some pointed out the similarities to the graphic Penn State made for Franklin and the graphic Oklahoma State used following the recent dismissal of head football coach Mike Gundy.
Thank you for everything, CJF. pic.twitter.com/2ZkNYrEbRp
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) October 12, 2025
Regardless of the message or image, the fact that it exists at all is astounding, considering Penn State entered the season as widely perceived national title contenders and was ranked second in the country. However, the last 15 days or so utterly derailed not only the Nittany Lions’ 2025 season, but Franklin’s more than decade-long tenure as their head coach.
On Sept. 27, Franklin led a third-ranked PSU team into a highly anticipated Big Ten opener vs. Oregon, which had beaten the Nittany Lions in last year’s conference title game. With more than 100,000 in attendance for the annual ‘White Out’ game, Penn State stood toe-to-toe with the Ducks for more than 60 minutes, going to overtime with the then-No. 6 team in the country. But after Oregon scored first in OT, Drew Allar threw a game-losing interception, ending any chance of an undefeated season in Happy Valley.
Still, there was plenty of hope that Penn State, like last year, could bounce back from a conference loss to make it to the Big Ten title game and the College Football Playoff. But winless UCLA, led by interim head coach Tim Skipper and first-time play caller Jerry Neuheisel, had different ideas, and the Bruins stunned Penn State 42-37 the very next week. And then Northwestern came to town; the Wildcats delivered the knockout blow to the 2025 Nittany Lions and Franklin with a 22-21 upset win on the road Saturday.
Franklin, who went 104-45 and won the 2016 Big Ten championship at Penn State, leaves the university tied for the second-most wins in program history with Rip Engle (both behind Joe Paterno). He will be paid about $50 million, per the terms of his buyout, which is the second-largest sum in college football history (behind Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M).
The post Penn State football’s goodbye note to James Franklin goes viral appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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