Where does Penn State football coach James Franklin’s salary rank in the Big Ten and nationally?
Penn State head coach James Franklin has just agreed to 10-year contract extension that will last until 2031.
He will make $7 million per year in guarantees and $500,000 in retention bonus each Dec. 31 beginning in 2022. If Penn State wants to fire Franklin, it would have to pay the sum of his base compensation, his supplemental pay and his life insurance loan, which equals $8 million, times the number of years left on the contract.
Here’s where Franklin’s 2021 guaranteed salary ranks among coaches in the Big Ten and nationally, according to USA Today’s database, released Oct. 14, 2021.
Big Ten (guaranteed pay)
- James Franklin, Penn State — $7 million
- Ryan Day, Ohio State — $6.61 million
- Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern — $5.748 million
- Mel Tucker, Michigan State — $5,566 million
- Scott Frost, Nebraska — $5 million
- Kirk Ferentz, Iowa — $5 million
- P.J. Fleck, Minnesota — $4.42 million
- Jeff Brohm, Purdue — $4.417 million
- Paul Chryst, Wisconsin — $4.362 million
- Tom Allen, Indiana — $4.26 million
- Bret Bielema, Illinois — $4.2 million
- Jim Harbaugh, Michigan — $4.03 million
- Greg Schiano, Rutgers — $4 million
- Mike Locksley, Maryland — $2.538 million
NCAA (guaranteed pay)
Nick Saban, Alabama — $9.753 million
Ed Orgeron, LSU — $9.012 million
Dabo Swinney, Clemson — $9.508 million
David Shaw, Stanford — $8.924 million
Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma — $7.672 million
Dan Mullen, Florida — $7.57 million
Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M — $7.5 million
Kirby Smart, Georgia — $7.133 million
James Franklin, Penn State — $7 million
Ryan Day, Ohio State — $6.614 million
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 6:00 PM.
