‘Embarrassing’: With no coach, Penn State signs 2 recruits on National Signing Day
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State signed just two prospects on National Signing Day with no head coach
- PSU’s recruiting ranking dropped to No. 150, trailing FCS programs and peers
- Staff instability will force Penn State to rely on transfers and late signees
Most of Penn State football’s past recruiting classes on National Signing Day could be described with words like star-filled, talented and solid. But fans and national analysts alike had a few different words Wednesday to describe the Nittany Lions’ Class of 2026.
“Embarrassing,” one 247Sports recruiting analyst said on a livestream. “Saddest National Signing Day,” read one Sports Illustrated headline. “Small and unimpactful,” USA Today wrote.
As the biggest program still without a head coach, the Nittany Lions managed to snag just two signees during Wednesday’s National Signing Day, the first day that high school football players can officially sign binding letters of intent with colleges. That put Penn State at No. 150 in 247’s latest recruiting rankings, behind FCS schools such as Columbia, Montana and West Georgia.
By comparison, USC ranked No. 1 nationally with 35 signees and Rutgers was No. 44 with 21 signees. James Franklin’s Virginia Tech team ranked No. 22 with 23 signees, flipping multiple PSU commits.
Who signed with Penn State?
The Nittany Lions managed just two signees, but both are widely viewed as strong prospects. They include 4-star DE Jackson Ford (Malvern Prep) and 3/4-star QB Peyton Falzone (Nazareth).
Both are from Pennsylvania. And Ford spoke publicly Wednesday during 247’s National Signing Day livestream about his commitment.
“Penn State obviously has had a big coaching change before Franklin, and they managed to get out of that,” Ford said. “I strongly believe they’ll be able to do it again. The people in the building are great people. The program itself, it’s built on greatness. It’s built on family, and just a tight connection.
“And there’s no doubt in my mind — everyone in that building and everyone in those facilities — I 100% believe they’ll be able to build it back up. And that’s why I want to stay.”
Ford is listed at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds. Falzone, who took part in the prestigious Elite 11 for quarterbacks, is listed at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds.
What are analysts saying?
It’s nearly impossible to separate Penn State’s coaching situation over the last 52 days from Wednesday’s results on National Signing Day. If it wasn’t for the former, the latter likely wouldn’t be as bad as it is.
And national media, understandably, haven’t been too kind to PSU.
“It’s a disaster,” ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum said Wednesday when asked about Penn State’s situation. “How you can go as long as they have gone without hiring a coach, I mean, we’ve been here every day. Ten, 15, 20 schools have replaced coaches. What is wrong with Penn State?”
He added: “It’s pretty embarrassing.”
Finebaum wasn’t alone in his assessment. 247 recruiting analyst Brian Dohn addressed Penn State during a recruiting livestream earlier Wednesday and also used the word “embarrassing.”
“Using the world ‘fumbled’ for this coaching search and the class is probably the nicest thing I’ve heard in weeks about this thing,” Dohn said. “... They’ll be fine in the long run. But in the short term, man, embarrassing is putting it mildly.”
It’s not known what kind of recruiting push, if any, that interim head coach Terry Smith made in the closing weeks. Neither Smith, nor any of the coaching staff, was made available for interviews Wednesday like they usually are on National Signing Day.
But nothing was usual about this class.
“With the class nearly wiped out and the roster bracing for significant portal departures, the next coach should expect to inherit one of the biggest rebuilds in the country,” said CBS Sports’ Cody Nagel.
What’s next?
Although Wednesday’s National Signing Day is not the last day that recruits can sign letters of intent, it is a crucial date where a majority of players formally announce their commitments.
With that date basically a wash, that means Penn State will have to vie for a smaller and less talented pool of recruits for the second signing period that starts Feb. 4. The transfer portal will also play a pivotal role in the Nittany Lions’ 2026 success, and that runs from Jan. 2-16.
USA Today’s Paul Myerberg wrote that this roster imbalance might take one or two additional cycles to correct. Dohn implied as much, pointing out that filling out the roster with transfers might not be so easy.
“Everybody talks about the recruiting class. Well, it’s not just that,” Dohn said. “When Lane Kiffin goes to LSU, there’s an expectation some guys are going to follow there. Well, who’s Penn State going to get who can bring 20 guys from that roster, 15 guys from that roster, to compete with Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan if they get back on track? It’s really far-reaching.”
In other words, Penn State’s nightmare has no end in sight just yet.
This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 5:30 PM with the headline "‘Embarrassing’: With no coach, Penn State signs 2 recruits on National Signing Day."
