The recruiting impact of Penn State firing James Franklin for Ohio State football

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Just three weeks ago, Penn State was hosting Oregon in one of the biggest games of the James Franklin era.

Now, Franklin is unemployed and Penn State is scrambling to figure out what’s next for the program.

That job entails keeping the 2026 recruiting class together and working on the 2027 class as well. That’s not going to be the easiest task, with programs from all over the country circling the Nittany Lions’ classes for potential flips.

That includes Ohio State.

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Before things went haywire for Penn State, ahead of the loss to Northwestern, four-star wide 2027 receiver Khalil Taylor decommitted from the program on Friday. The No. 56 overall prospect and No. 11 receiver in the class, per the 247Sports composite rankings, is from Pittsburgh and had been committed to Penn State since March.

After his decision, he quickly scheduled a visit to Ohio State on Nov. 1, ironically for the matchup against Penn State.

Ohio State already has a five-star receiver committed (Jamier Brown) in the 2027 class, and Taylor would certainly fit the mold for the Buckeyes.

The battle figures to be tougher for 2027 five-star running back Kemon Spell.

He decommitted from Penn State shortly after Franklin’s firing, as the No. 8 overall prospect and No. 1 running back in the class certainly has a massive list of suitors. He’ll take a visit to Notre Dame this weekend, with Georgia, USC, Florida State, Miami, Michigan and Tennessee also in the mix.

The Buckeyes are too, but they’ll have to sift through a bevy of top-tier programs. And, David Gabriel-Georges remains the top running back on the team’s board in the 2027 class.

Five-star 2027 offensive tackle Layton Von Brandt decommitted from Penn State on Sunday, too, and considering he currently holds an Ohio State offer, he’s certainly another name to monitor. The Buckeyes don’t have an offensive lineman committed in the class yet.

Expect the 2027 class to get the majority of the attention from Ohio State. There’s four-star edge rusher Jackson Ford in the 2026 class, someone the Buckeyes were a finalist for, but it’s unclear if Ohio State would even pursue that path.

As is the case with essentially every program in the country, Penn State’s 2026 and 2027 recruits could be back with open recruitments. Ohio State may be the beneficiary.

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