Former Gateway standout terry smith takes over as interim football coach at penn state

Photo by Caitlin Regan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

No one has a better reputation for recruiting Pennsylvania athletes then former Gateway standout Terry Smith. Smith, who has been an assistant for 12 seasons under coach James Franklin, received an emergency promotion Sunday afternoon. The Nittany Lions chose to make a change at head coach, letting go of Franklin after the Nittany Lions suffered their third consecutive loss.

Penn State, which had national title aspirations, fell to 3-3 Saturday after a shocking 22-21 loss to Northwestern Saturday. The Nittany Lions also lost quarterback Drew Allar to an injury. Smith was a standout player for the Gators who went to play collegiately at Penn State.

Smith returned to coaching after a brief stint in the Canadian Football League. When Smith took over at Gateway, he compiled a 101-30 record in 11 seasons and reached the WPIAL final four times. Smith, who also served as Gateway's Athletic Director, chose to leave Gateway after they reduced the AD position to part time and cut his salary in half.

Smith was hired by Penn State in 2014. 

Josh Rizzo is the editor of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo