Penn State football’s top Class of 2026 commit told NSN via text message that he’s “still trying to digest” coach James Franklin’s firing.
“Can’t really believe they did it,” Matt Sieg told NSN. “I feel really bad for coach.
Franklin and Penn State were the first DI program to offer Sieg, doing to in September 2023.
Since then, Sieg turned into one of PA’s best players, committing to Penn State in November 2024.
As a senior at Fort Cherry High School, Sieg has broke multiple WPIAL records, with the most recent one being for career total yardage. That was Friday night. The next day, Penn State suffered a stunning loss at the hands of Northwestern, and the day after that, Franklin was fired.
PSU has already lost its entire 2027 Class, with Khalil Taylor de-committing Friday night and Layton von Brandt, Gabe Jenkins and Kemon Spell doing the same within an hour of Franklin’s firing being announced.
In the 2026 Class, only WR Lavar Keys has de-committed thus far.
Sieg is the No. 2 player in PA per 247Sports, along with the No. 9 safety in the country from his class and the No. 79 overall player.
If he doesn’t stay with PSU, he’d be the fourth player from the Pittsburgh area to de-commit, joining Taylor (Pine-Richland), Jenkins (Imani Christian) and Spell (McKeesport).
We’ll see what impact PSU making Terry Smith the interim coach has on Sieg. Smith has his roots in the Pittsburgh area, being from Aliquippa and coaching at Gateway. He’s also responsible of Penn State cleaning up in WPIAL recruiting in recent years.
The Penn State Class of 2026 stands at 23.
