It was a hectic day in the college football world, with a total of three FBS coaches getting fired, including Oregon State’s Trent Bray and UAB’s Trent Dilfer. However, the headliner was Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin, who was shown the door after losing his third consecutive game on Saturday, this time to the Northwestern Wildcats, and starting 0-3 in the Big Ten after entering the year as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
The fallout from Franklin’s firing is going to be widespread and will reverberate for quite a while. This is especially true as the Nittany Lions work to fill the head coaching position with one of the top coaches or coordinators in the game, creating a domino effect throughout the nation.
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One thing we have already seen take place following Franklin’s firing is a string of decommitments for Penn State’s 2027 class. One of those decommitments, 5-star running back Kemon Spell, happened to pick up an Oregon Ducks offer not long after announcing that he was back on the open market.
Spell is rated by 247Sports as the No. 8 overall player in the 2027 class, and the No. 1 running back in the nation. He stands at 5-foot-9, 205 pounds, and holds offers from the Georgia Bulldogs, Ohio State Buckeyes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Tennessee Volunteers, and Michigan Wolverines, among many others.
The Ducks are an intriguing landing spot for many high school running backs right now, given their track record of young players getting early run if they’re talented enough to see the field. Both true freshmen Dierre Hill and Jordon Davison have been among the leading rushers in Eugene this year. Oregon has a commitment from 4-star RB Tradarian Ball in the class of 2026, but only one player — an edge-rusher — committed in the class of 2027.
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Spell’s recruitment is going to ramp up quickly once again after his announcement on Sunday, and it will be interesting to see how much of a part the Ducks will play down the line.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks offer former Penn State 5-star RB after decommitment
