Penn State coach James Franklin has agreed to a new 10-year contract that will run through the 2031 season, the university announced Tuesday.
The terms of the deal were approved by the Penn State board of trustees’ subcommittee on compensation at a meeting Tuesday.
In a statement, Franklin said that the university’s administration approached him nine weeks ago about “making a long-term investment in our football program,” prompting further conversations about “the resources needed to be competitive at a level that matches the expectations and history of Penn State.”
“With the support of President [Eric] Barron, Sandy Barbour and the Board of Trustees we’ve been able to create a roadmap of the resources needed to address academic support, community outreach, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), facility improvements, student-athlete housing, technology upgrades, recruiting, training table and more,” Franklin said in a statement. “This renewed commitment to our student-athletes, community and fans reinforces all the reasons I’ve been proud to serve as your head football coach for the last eight years and why my commitment to Penn State remains steadfast.”
The contract, which runs from Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2031, gives Franklin a total guaranteed annual compensation of $7 million for each of the 10 years. At the end of each of those years, he gets a $500,000 retention bonus if he’s still in the position.
Among the other incentives in the deal are $250,000 for appearing in the Big Ten championship game, $350,000 for winning it, $400,000 for appearing in the College Football Playoff semifinals, $500,000 for making the CFP championship, $800,000 for winning it, $300,000 for making a New Year’s Six bowl, $200,000 for appearing in any other bowl game, $150,000 for winning national coach of the year and $100,000 for winning Big Ten coach of the year. Those performance-based bonuses are capped at $1 million per year cumulatively.
If Franklin leaves for an NFL or another college coaching job before April 1, 2022, he would owe the school $12 million, a figure that drops to $8 million on Dec. 31, 2022. That then decreases to $6 million in 2023, $2 million in 2024 and 2025, and $1 million from 2026-30.
The agreement ends what had been several months of speculation in which Franklin’s name was linked to a number of high-profile vacancies in the sport, primarily at USC and LSU. Those whispers only grew louder after it was reported in October that Franklin had hired college football super agent Jimmy Sexton, a move Franklin said happened over the summer.
Franklin’s contract had been extended in December 2019, a deal that ran through 2025 and paid him $7.37 million per year prior to bonuses. He received another extension in 2017.
In nearly eight full seasons with the Nittany Lions, Franklin, a Langhorne, Pa., native, has gone 67-32. That run was highlighted by a Big Ten championship in 2016, as well as appearances in the Rose Bowl in 2017, the Fiesta Bowl in 2018 and the Cotton Bowl in 2019. Since 2016, Penn State is 53-20, giving it the ninth-best win percentage among Power Five programs.
Despite potential interest from other programs, Franklin’s teams have slipped a bit the past two years. In that time, the Nittany Lions are 11-9, including a 7-4 mark this season heading into the regular season finale at Michigan State.
