Could Penn State, Franklin be getting close on extension?

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- James Franklin said 10 days ago he was in "football mode" and wasn't paying much attention to whether or not his agent, Trace Armstrong, and Penn State hammered out a long-term contract extension.

Potentially there could be some news coming on the head coach's contract as Penn State's Board of Trustees -- specifically the committee on compensation -- will hold a special meeting via teleconference Friday afternoon. Sports Illustrated's Bruce Feldman reports that Franklin's contract will be among the topics discussed during that time. For now, the meeting topic listed on the trustees' website is simply: Consider and take action on a personnel matter.



In order for a new contract to go through, much like it was for athletic director Sandy Barbour, who was hired three years ago, it would have to first get the approval of the board. Franklin is in the fourth year of a six-year contract and coming off a Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl, Franklin's contract was discussed a lot this offseason.

In the lead up to the Rose Bowl, it was Barbour who said "there's a lot going on" when asked about a potential extension for Franklin, and last month at Big Ten media days she said, "it’s just probably going to take longer than any of us thought.”

The Lions are 25-15 under Franklin and with two Heisman hopefuls in Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley, plus a team that checked in at No. 6 in the preseason coaches poll and a 2018 recruiting class that's a consensus top-5 group. Franklin certainly has held up his end of the bargain since arriving from Vanderbilt.

"We've been talking about this for a while and I feel good about it," Franklin said on Aug. 5 when asked about his contract. "I don't have any concerns, but my focus is on our team and the 2017 season completely. I'm not -- [sports information director] Kris [Petersen] will tell you. We get interview requests. We get this, we get that. Once the season starts, it changes a little bit for me. So I kind of put the blinders on and jump in the submarine. To me, everything that we do and I do is about getting the team ready to be successful."

Last season's success resulted in several contract bonuses for Franklin, who cashed in on New Year's Eve when he collected the $300,000 retention bonus he's guaranteed every year on that date as long as he's still with the program. That figure is slated to jump to $750,000 in 2019.

Franklin had $4.2 million in annual compensation last season, plus $350,000 for winning the Big Ten title game, $300,000 for making an appearance in the Rose Bowl, $250,000 for taking home the Big Ten coach of the year award ($150,000 for Sporting News National Coach of the Year and $100,000 for securing the media vote for the conference Coach of the Year title), plus the retention bonus.

While that resulted in $5.4 million for Franklin last season, an ESPN study conducted last March also determined that Franklin was the highest paid public employee in Pennsylvania, with Gov. Tom Wolf a distant second at $190,823. According to the ESPN article, Franklin's salary is 28 percent above the Big Ten average and it would take 84 people making the median household income of $53,599 to equal his base salary for last year.

The Board of Trustees' Committee on Compensation is slated to hold the private, executive session teleconference Friday at 11:30 a.m. and at 11:45 a.m. the public will be able to listen online.