Penn State Has a $50 Million James Franklin Problem

Penn State has no easy way out of the James Franklin business. 

On Saturday, the No. 7 ranked Nittany Lions were upset by UCLA 42–37 in a game that will likely keep them out of the College Football Playoff. 

PSU still has two top-10 matchups left on its schedule: top-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 1 and No. 7 Indiana, which took the Nittany Lions’ spot in this week’s Associated Press poll, the following week. The school hired Franklin as head football coach in 2014 and so far he’s been good at winning the games he should, but has struggled against college football’s elite. At Penn State, Franklin is 1–10 against Ohio State and 4–21 against top-10 teams. 

A year ago, PSU went 13–3 and led Notre Dame 10–3 at halftime of the College Football Playoff semifinal before losing to the Irish, who went on to play in the national championship game. 

If Penn State were to go a different route, they’d be firing a coach who is good enough to regularly get his teams into the playoff to hire one who can win it all. 

But Franklin’s buyout is nearly $50 million, according to USA Today, which could make him the first test case of breaking the bank to change coaches in college football’s revenue-sharing era. 

Contract Terms

In 2021, Franklin signed a 10-year extension with PSU that took effect in January 2022. The deal came with base compensation of $500,000, supplemental pay totaling $6.5 million and a $1 million life insurance loan, according to the Centre Daily Times, which acquired Franklin’s financial term sheet. Franklin is the 15th-highest-paid coach in the country. 

If Penn State fired Franklin today without cause, he’d be owed $50 million. Texas A&M paid $76 million to part ways with head coach Jimbo Fisher in 2023, but that was before schools started allocating roughly $20 million of their budget to share with athletes. 

Penn State’s dilemma comes during a $700 million renovation to Beaver Stadium. Other schools have prioritized paying athletes over construction projects, which is why Iowa State recently shelved its own renovation plans. Putting Franklin’s buyout on its books would further strain the school’s finances. 

Unless a wealthy booster raises their hand to pay for Franklin’s buyout, can the school afford to eat that amount of money while trying to improve its facility and field competitive rosters all at the same time?

A Way Out?

If Franklin were to leave for another head coaching gig, the school would owe him just $2 million, according to The Athletic. It would likely be for a lesser Power-4 job, but Franklin would have a huge market despite his shortcomings at PSU. 

Just 53, Franklin is 128–59 in his career, which includes going 24–15 at Vanderbilt from 2011–2013. The Commodores are ranked this season for the first time since Franklin left in 2013, which shows how hard it is to win in Nashville. 

He’s averaged more than nine wins per season at Penn State, which plenty of programs would happily sign up for.