The NCAA slammed the hammer on Penn State two summers ago with a four-year postseason ban, the massive loss of scholarships and tacked on an option for players to get a free transfer and a $60 million fine. At the time it was thought Penn State would never be the same again, and perhaps in a sense that will remain true. On Saturday Penn State proved the program will find a way to survive by hiring James Franklin, one of the best possible coaching candidates to be had in the most recent round of the college football coaching carousel.
The hire that had been reported for days finally became official Saturday morning after a compensation committee at Penn State voted on the contract offered to Franklin. Within the same hour Franklin met with his Vanderbilt football players and program to address them one final time. Franklin accumulated a 24-15 record at Vanderbilt over the last three seasons after leaving Maryland as an assistant coach. Franklin succeeds Bill O’Brien, who left Penn State to coach the Houston Texans.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to come home,” Franklin, a Pennsylvania native and former quarterback at East Stroudsburg University, stated. “I grew up watching Penn State football and now to be at the helm of such a storied program is a tremendous honor. It’s important to me to be a part of a University that strives for excellence in everything they do. When football student-athletes come to Penn State, they have a unique opportunity to receive a premium education while playing at the highest level of competition.”
O’Brien proved to be a solid hire for Penn State in one of the most difficult situations any football program has faced. O’Brien thrived by bringing a new look to the offense and standing up for the program in the face of tremendous adversity for the program. In two years O’Brien made the Penn State job a much more desirable and lucrative position by winning football games despite the sanctions. Two winning seasons kept Penn State’s head above water. It will now be Franklin’s task to lift the life-preserver out of the water.
Penn State still has two seasons left of NCAA sanctions, although he will have scholarships return to his new program ahead of schedule after some reconsideration from the NCAA in light of the most recent George Mitchell review. Penn State currently has two more years on their postseason ban, but there is always a chance the NCAA will scale that back at some point if the program and university continue to prove worthy of the consideration. Franklin will have to assume he inherits a two-year postseason ban but the groundwork is now laid for him to lead Penn State out of the mess left behind by the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Details of the contract will be revealed at a later time. Franklin is scheduled to be formally introduced as the next head coach later Saturday afternoon. It is expected details of the contract will be shared at that time. A previous report suggested Franklin will make $4.5 million to become the second highest paid coach in the Big Ten behind Ohio State’s Urban Meyer.