Penn State's James Franklin cashing in on new, $32 million contract

York Daily Record

Penn State head coach James Franklin answers a question during a press conference at media day held at Penn State on Saturday, August 5, 2017.

James Franklin's long-awaited contract extension was finally announced, just before the start of Penn State's most anticipated season in nearly 20 years.

Penn State’s compensation committee met Friday to discuss and approve the deal. The contract is worth $32 million in guaranteed money, averaging $5.33 million over six years. Adding in his yearly retention bonus pushes that average to $5.8 million.

Franklin will earn $4.3 million this year — the same base salary of his original contract — but he'll now see his compensation gradually increasing to $6.25 million in 2022.

His buyout is $2 million this year before dropping to $1 million in 2018.

"James is a tremendous leader of young men, motivating them to extend their reach and impact far beyond what they might have thought possible on the field, in the classroom and community," Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said in a prepared statement.

"We are excited about continuing to work together to strive to make a lifetime of impact, win championships and celebrate many successes on and off the field along the way."

It's certainly been a remarkable ride the past year for Penn State football and its leader. The Lions started the 2016 season at 2-2 with a blowout loss at Michigan. Some outside the program were calling for Franklin to be replaced.

Then, of course, the Lions won nine-straight games and a most surprising Big Ten Championship, the program's first outright conference title since 1994. Franklin has produced a 25-15 record and three straight bowl appearances since joining the Lions, including last season's scintillating Rose Bowl effort and No. 7 final ranking.

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Franklin, 45, was the nation's 11th-highest paid college football coach in 2016, according to a report by USA Today. In the Big Ten, he was behind only Michigan's Jim Harbaugh and Ohio State's Urban Meyer and even with Iowa's Kirk Ferentz.

Since then, Alabama's Nick Saban has signed his own extension, making him America's highest-paid coach in any sport at $11.1 million per year. Harbaugh is next at $9 million per year.

James Franklin is the ultimate people-person as Penn State's head coach. And so his greatest success, so far, may be compiling his staff of assistants, and then re-shaping it. They are fueling another hot recruiting start.

Franklin and agent Trace Armstrong have been negotiating with Penn State and athletic director Sandy Barbour since at least the end of last season. Just before the Rose Bowl, Barbour said discussions were moving along smoothly.

Both sides addressed the subject amicably during the Coaches Caravan in May and at Big Ten Media Days in July and talked as if a deal was imminent.

"I'm in football mode now, so I'm focused on the season," Franklin said Aug. 5 at Penn State media day. "We've been talking about this for a while, and I feel good about it. I don't have any concerns, but my focus is on our team and the 2017 season completely."