Penn State is reportedly paying James Franklin in the neighborhood of $50 million to go away. Well, kind of.
Franklin, who was fired as the Nittany Lions’ head coach on Sunday after the program’s third consecutive upset loss one day prior, is set to receive the second -largest buyout for a college football head coach in history, behind only Jimbo Fisher’s payments from Texas A&M.
Franklin’s buyout, however, contains offset language that would mean Penn State will only pay the difference between his new annual salary and the $8 million annual payment the school will owe him through 2031. Per a report by Front Office Sports, the offset language mandates Franklin make a “good faith” effort to obtain a new job in either coaching, scouting, or, wait for it, media.
The fired coach to media pipeline is well-traveled. Countless former coaches have used the media as either a pit stop before moving onto another coaching job, or a second act after their coaching career comes to a close. Sometimes, these media jobs are taken specifically to avoid the offset language present in most buyout clauses in college coaching contracts.
In Franklin’s case, taking a media job, which would all but certainly be substantially less lucrative than another college head coaching job, would force Penn State to eat the vast majority of his expensive buyout. If he is feeling vindictive towards his former employer, the media route is a pretty good option.
But aside from that, Franklin might be drawn to the media for its rehabilitation. Despite a number of high-profile head coaching jobs opening up this season — from Oklahoma State to UCLA to Virginia Tech and beyond — Franklin’s stock isn’t at its highest right now, to say the least. A year or two as a TV analyst could go a long way in terms of reshaping his image.
And as Franklin sits in front of a camera, he can afford to be selective based on which jobs become available. If he doesn’t like the openings after Year 1, he can always go back to TV and reassess after Year 2. All the while, Penn State will be sending him millions of dollars not to coach in State College.
All this to say, don’t be surprised if Franklin ends up on your TV screen next season (or even earlier). There’s plenty of incentive to do so.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.