HENDERSONVILLE — A week ago, Jack Fuchs was enjoying what he figured would be a nice autumn getaway.
The Beech senior offensive lineman and Penn State football commitment went to Pennsylvania for a home game against Northwestern. The Nittany Lions suffered a 22-21 loss, their third straight, but it didn’t seem like the end of the world.
Fuchs and his mom, Emily, boarded a plane back to Tennessee, and everything changed when they landed in Nashville. Penn State had fired coach James Franklin.
“I had about 100 notifications on my phone,” Fuchs said after Beech’s 62-29 TSSAA football win over Gallatin on Oct. 17. “As of right now I’m still committed (to Penn State), but I am talking to some other schools, just seeing what’s going on.”
Less than 24 hours later, more change shook the Fuchs home.
Fuchs’ dad, Scott, began the season as a Tennessee Titans assistant offensive line coach. He was promoted this week to help oversee the group after the Titans fired coach Brian Callahan on Oct. 13. Callahan’s dad, Bill, had been the offensive line coach.
Jack Fuchs admitted it’s been a chaotic few days, but he’s accustomed to this as the son of a coach who spent 31 years in college football. Fuchs was born in Michigan and has moved seven times, also living in Illinois, North Dakota, Wyoming, New York and Kansas, each time when his dad got a new coaching job.
“We’ve seen this our whole lives. It wasn’t too unbearable to handle,” Fuchs said. “It’s just the way the coaching world works.”
Fuchs, a 6-foot-8, 290-pound three-star prospect, is the No. 16 player in Tennessee from the 2026 class and No. 43 offensive tackle nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Fuchs still wore a Penn State bandana under his helmet against Gallatin (5-2), helping the Buccaneers (6-1) explode for 34 second-half points. He plans to visit Indiana next week. His brother, Hank, is a freshman offensive lineman at Indiana State.
“I think he’s handled it pretty well,” Scott said. “I don’t want him to overreact or react hastily or anything like that. Just ask, what’s out there? What can you do to make the best decision? Do you want to stay at Penn State? Do you want to look at other schools? Certainly we don’t want him to make the decision in the first few days. Let the dust settle a little bit and then go from there.”
Fuchs’ dad believes his son will likely enroll early wherever he intends to play in college.
The Penn State staff, including Franklin, has stayed in contact with Fuchs. Franklin texts the Nittany Lions’ 2026 recruiting class group message, Jack said.
“I was really close with Coach Franklin and that whole Penn State staff. It’s just really heartbreaking for me,” he said. “You just got to move on. It’s in the past now. I’m going to just kind of see what happens with everything.”
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
He also helps write The Tennessean’s high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Penn State commit Jack Fuchs to visit Indiana football
