James Franklin is officially the 16th head football coach in Penn State history. While that means a lot of things, the most important thing, of course, is that Franklin's name and likeness are going to be put on corny t-shirts throughout Happy Valley sooner rather than later, because any time a person can be put on a t-shirt in one way or another, it's going to happen. So, as the clothing stories send their BILLieve and O'Brien's Lions shirts off to impoverished countries, it's time to get those Franklin shirts on the presses.
James Franklin grew up and went to school in Pennsylvania, and after years of coaching elsewhere, will return home as head coach of the Penn State football program.
The terms of new Penn State head football coach James Franklin's new contract will not become official until this afternoon. However, according to Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports, Franklin is about to get a huge payday to the tune of 6 years and $4.5 million annually.
Most of Penn State's new staff is likely to be made up of Franklin's assistants from Vanderbilt, with a few unpredictable outside additions as well. For now, let's take a look at the coaches that helped Franklin turn Vanderbilt from a perpetual SEC bottom feeder to a respectable 24-15 in the last three seasons, many of whom are likely to be on the Beaver Stadium sidelines next season.
Now that James Franklin is officially O'Brien's replacement at the helm of the Nittany Lions football program, there are sure to be plenty of comparisons between the two coaches over the coming year. Let's take a look at Franklin's résumé compared to his predecessor.
For the second time in two years, the Penn State athletic department had to organize a search committee and hire a new head coach for the football team. Two years ago, a relatively unknown NFL assistant named Bill O'Brien was the last man standing when the dust settled. This time around, the Nittany Lions landed one of the hottest names in the football world, convincing Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin to ditch the Commodores and replace O'Brien at Penn State. Let's take a look back at the hiring process and hand out a grade to the search committee now that the hire has been made.