Penn State football coach James Franklin could earn guaranteed $35.4 million over next 6 seasons
Penn State football coach James Franklin, who agreed to a new six-year contract in December, will be paid a guaranteed $35.4 million through 2025, according to terms released Wednesday by the university.
The contract, which took effect Jan. 1, includes an annual base salary of $500,000, plus supplemental pay of $5.4 million this season with increases of $100,000 for 2021 and $250,000 annually for the remainder of the term.
Franklin will be paid $6.5 million in the final year of his contract, if he remains Penn State’s coach through 2025. The contract also includes retention bonuses of $300,000 for 2021 and $500,000 for each of the remaining five years. Those are payable Dec. 31, starting this year. That would bring his total pay this season to $5.7 million
Franklin, 48, earned $5.65 million last season, according to USA Today. That ranked 11th in the nation among college coaches and third in the Big Ten, behind Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm.
The contract also includes buyout clauses starting at $5 million this year and descending by $1 million annually, if he leaves for the NFL or another college team.
Terms of the contract also allow Franklin to earn various performance bonuses. He will be paid $800,000 if Penn State wins the national championship and $350,000 if he leads his team to a victory in the Big Ten title game.
Other incentives include $400,000 for an appearance in the College Football Playoff Final Four, $200,000 for any bowl game and $150,000 for earning national coach of the year honors.
Non-monetary items include:
• A $10,000 per year automobile allowance
• A $1 million life insurance loan.
• A private aircraft for personal use 50 hours per year.
Franklin, who replaced Bill O’Brien in 2014, has a .793 winning percentage (42-11) since 2016, third for that period among active coaches, behind Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Alabama’s Nick Saban.
The Nittany Lions are one of four teams — joining Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma — that earned a spot in the top 12 of the College Football Playoff rankings in each of the past four seasons.
Penn State has earned bowl berths in all six of Franklin’s seasons.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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