James Franklin's Salary at Penn State: An Overview of His Compensation
James Franklin's Salary at Penn State: An Overview of...
By Oliver Wiener August 16, 2024 07:01
James Franklin is a popular man in college football after becoming the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions in 2014. He compiled a glittering body of accomplishments highlighted by consecutive bowl bids and an exceptional recruiting class. Here's a comprehensive look at Franklin's salary, bonuses, perks, and where his pay stands among the highest-earning college football coaches.
Contract Overview
James Franklin signed a 10-year, $70 million contract extension with Penn State in November 2021. Dubbed with the new deal that was structured to keep him among the highest-paid coaches in all of college football, it is a sign that both he has won and they intend to maintain an elite program. Under his contract, Franklin is guaranteed an annual salary of $8.5 million. He ranks as the Big Ten Conference's second highest-paid active coach behind Ohio State headman Ryan Day, who pulls in $10.3 annually.
Franklin's Annual Salary Breakdown
Franklin has considerable bonuses and incentives, which makes the overall amount of money in his deal even higher than just a base salary. His salary package includes the following:
- What he may command: $8.5 million annually
- Stay Bonus: $500,000/year
- Life Insurance Loan: $1 million more per year
- Franklin's contract comes with $1 million in team-based performance incentives.
- 500,000 for winning the College Football Playoff national championship
- Championship Game (College Football Playoff): $500,000
- $400,000 academic success stipends for schools that reach the College Football Playoff.
Comparison with Other Coaches
Franklin's salary would rank him among the highest-paid head coaches in college football. Currently, he is 11th in the land and, as of 2023, just barely out of the top ten. For perspective, his salary is higher than that of many top coaches, including Jim Harbaugh ($8.25 million) and Luke Fickell of Wisconsin (7.6 million).
Highest Paid College Football Coaches
For comparison, here is a sampling of the top-paid college football coaches going into 2023:
- Nick Saban (Alabama): $11.7 million
- Dabo Swinney (Clemson): $11.5 million
- Ryan Day (Ohio State): $10.3 Million
- Lincoln Riley (USC): $11 million estimate
- Brian Kelly (LSU): $9.5 million
- Josh Heupel (Tennessee): $9 million
- Lane Kiffin (Mississipp)i: $9 million
- James Franklin (Penn State): $8.5 million
- Jim Harbaugh (Michigan): $8.25 million
- Mario Cristobal (Miami): $8 million
Franklin signed his original contract with Penn State in 2014 and reworked it again back in 2017. But his biggest ascent came in 2021 when he inked the decade-above-long deal. This extension originally did not sit well with fans when they thought about how the team had looked in previous years. Even so, the university administration was confident that Franklin could take the program to new levels.
Historical Context
Franklin's original deal was a six-year contract in 2014, which paid him $35.4 million and was seen as competitive at the time. However, it didn't quite align with his advancements on the coaching totem pole by signing day for high school seniors across America before this season began. That also is on top of a hefty compensation package that included some $4 million in performance incentives, making it among the richest deals in college football.
Benefits and Perks
Private Helicopter Use: Franklin gets 55 hours of private helicopter use per year, again far exceeding the average allowance for his peers. Increasingly a part of higher-tier coaching contracts, this perk enables coaches to be significantly more efficient when they travel for recruiting or personal business.
Country Club Memberships: This is where many golf coaches earn serious coin, especially at the top of coaching due to exceptionally expensive memberships.
Travel and Entertainment Budgets: Coaches often have large personal travel budgets as part of their employment agreements, enhancing total compensation.
Certainly, with college football changing so rapidly around it this week, contract economics bills will likely continue to be part of fans' and administrators' analyses for a while. Franklin's case illustrates the convergence of performance, financial investment, and what is high-risk employment for some college football coaches.
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