Examining the Penn State Nittany Lions' poor 2026 recruiting class after the first day of the early National Signing Day period.
With the early National Signing Day period officially kicking off on Wednesday this week, the once highly coveted day for Penn State Nittany Lions’ fans has lost its luster this year.
During the 2022 recruiting cycle, National Signing Day was akin to Christmas Day for the entire program.
Penn State and former head coach James Franklin managed to land the No. 6-rated class in the cycle, with the Nittany Lions signing three five-star commits in quarterback Drew Allar, running back Nicholas Singleton, and defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton.
However, this was simply not the case in 2025.
After the program decided to fire Franklin in the middle of the 2025 season, Penn State began to lose a majority of the upcoming recruiting class following Franklin's departure from State College. The “Franklin Affect” carried over into National Signing Day, with the school losing multiple commits to the former head coach and the likes of other major programs.
Now that the dust has begun to settle, the Nittany Lions’ 2026 recruiting class features two signees in four-star EDGE Jackson Ford and four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone.
As a top-10 prospect in the state of Pennsylvania, Ford has been committed to the program since June. Once Franklin left the picture, however, the highly-touted defensive end remained strong in his committment to Penn State, and was once of the few prospects to not take official visits to other schools.
Falzone, on the other hand, had a completely different journey compared to his fellow signee.
The Nazareth, PA native originally announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions back in April of 2025, but quickly changed his mind once the Auburn Tigers began to pursue the young talent. Falzone would eventually decommit from Penn State and commit to Auburn, but with newly-hired head coach Alex Golesh taking over, Falzone decommitted and signed with the Nittany Lions on Wednesday.
According to college football insider Pete Nakos, interim head coach Terry Smith played a “key role” in Falzone’s signing, giving him a huge boost when looking at his quest to become the next head coach for the program.
It’s clear that if Smith does get the job, the former Penn State standout has major work to do in the recruitment department.