When he was hired on Jan. 11, 2014, James Franklin was Penn State’s fourth head football coach in 28 months.
Since then, he’s been the model of consistency and longevity — not just for Penn State, but in all of major college football. Call him James Franklong.
As he heads into his 12th season at Penn State, the 53-year-old Franklin ranks No. 2 in same-school longevity in the 18-team Big Ten Conference and No. 8 overall among all 136 FBS programs.
No. 1 on both lists? That would be Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, who has been the longest-tenured FBS head coach with one program since 2017. Ferentz, who turns 70 on Aug. 1, begins his 27th season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. (Penn State travels to Kinnick Stadium to face Ferentz & Co. on Oct. 18.).
Franklin’s Penn State teams have averaged 10.4 victories over the past eight full seasons — not counting the COVID 2020. The Nittany Lions have been 34-8 (.809 winning percentage) over the past three seasons — 11-2, 10-3 and 13-3. Of their eight losses since 2022, three were in post-season play, and all but one were vs. teams ranked in the top five…undeniably, Franklin’s Achilles heel. (The outlier? A 38-25 loss as the 10th-ranked team vs. No. 11 Ole Miss in the 2023 Peach Bowl.)
Now, Penn State is on the precipice of even bigger things, as the Nittany Lions are No. 1 in several preseason polls. Two of Franklin’s top assistants point to reasons why Franklin has stayed and ultimately thrived in one place — and been successful after a 14-12 start in the very challenging early post-sanction seasons of 2014-15.
WHAT HIS TOP ASSISTANTS SAY
Terry Smith, associate head and cornerbacks coach, has been with Franklin at Penn State since the very beginning — the only fulltime assistant coach on staff who has been at PSU since 2014. He credits Franklin’s ability to change with rapidly changing times in college football as a big reason for the head coach’s longevity in Happy Valley.
(The changing times include three different athletic directors and three university presidents in Franklin’s dozen years at Penn State — not to mention six offensive coordinators, five defensive coordinators and six special team coordinators.)
“Coach Franklin’s key to his longevity is simply that he’s adapted,” Smith told me in June. “We have to continue to adapt more rapidly than ever. NIL changes things every day. The transfer portal is real. We have to continue to adjust to those things. When [athletic director] Pat Kraft came three years ago, he was a game-changer as well. He’s put us in great position to succeed. Coach Franklin has obviously had the master plan from Day One, and we’re just executing that plan.”
Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, entering his second season at Penn State, views Franklin’s longevity under a different prism. Kotelnicki spent nearly a decade working under veteran head coach Lance Leipold. He was with Leipold for six seasons (2015-20) at Buffalo, then three more years at Kansas (2021-23).
“I think what I’ve been impressed in the 16-17 months I’ve been here,” Kotelnicki told me this summer, “is that whole time, Coach Franklin has been able to keep The Main Thing the main thing. And that is the development of the current Penn State football program.
“Of course, when you’re in his chair, there’s a lot of staff changes that happen too, right? There are people who are getting jobs [elsewhere] and you have to replace them. So, he’s had to consistently keep what’s best for Penn State football on the forefront of his mind when thinking of all the people and all the personnel decisions that he’s making.
“In my observation, [his longevity] is due to the fact that he’s a process-oriented guy. He’s a people person. He cares about the players. He’s doing it for the right reasons, which makes a lot more lot easier to stick around.”
“YOUR STAFF, THEY COMFORT ME”
Only a few key staffers have been with Franklin since his first days at Penn State. They include associate athletic director/chief of staff Kevin Threlkel, who has been with Franklin the longest, at stops at Kansas State, Maryland and Vanderbilt, and Andy Frank, general manager of personnel and recruitment, who has been with Franklin since Vanderbilt.
Strength coaches Chuck Losey and Alvin Futrell have been with Franklin at Penn State since 2014. Losey was also with Franklin at Vanderbilt in 2011-13. Both Jevin Stone (video director) and Angie Hummel (administrative assistant) were at Penn State when Franklin arrived, and both have worked under his direction since his first days at Penn State.
Frank says the longevity of those key staffers, plus Smith, is a big plus for Franklin — as well as newer members of the Penn State football program.
“We understand what Coach Franklin is looking for. And he understands how we’re going to approach things,” Frank said last month. “We can help spread the message to the staff — especially the new staff members. A few of us are fortunate to have been here the entire time. And we’ve been fortunate that a lot of other folks have been here for a long time as well. As new people come into the organization, they can pass that down the chain to the next new person.
“Efficiency is a big piece of it. And hopefully every year we’re getting better at how we do things and how we approach things. It’s been very valuable for all of us.”
MORE ABOUT FRANKLONG
WIN-LOSS: Franklin, who turned 53 in February, has an overall record of 101-42 (.706) at Penn State, including a 64-33 (.659) record in the Big Ten and a 7-5 record (.583) in the postseason — with two of those postseason victories coming in the 2024 College Football Playoff. Penn State won the Big Ten title in 2016.
PENN STATE HEAD COACHES: Franklin ranks No. 4 in total games as Penn State’s head football coach, with 143. He should catch No. 3 Rip Engle (156) in 2025 and possibly No. 2 Bob Higgins (159). Joe Paterno, obviously, is No. 1 (548). Franklin ranks No. 3 in wins (101), trailing Engle (104) and Paterno (409). He ranks No. 5 in overall winning percentage (70.6), behind Dick Harlow (71.4), Bill Hollenback (73.2), Paterno (74.9) and George Hoskins (82.6).
CONTRACTS: Franklin is on his fifth contract, including amendments, since being hired in 2014, with the latest coming in November 2024. It’s a 10-year, $85 million deal (plus incentives) that runs through Dec. 31, 2031. His other contracts with Penn State were announced the day he was hired; Aug. 18, 2017; Dec. 6, 2019; Nov. 23, 2023; and Nov. 29, 2024.
DOLLARS: To date, Franklin has made more than $75 million from Penn State as its head football coach. That includes base, retention and performance bonuses, access to insurance cash, a car stipend and use of a private aircraft.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Ferentz ranks No. 1 in the nation among all FBS head coaches for current longest tenure at one school (27 seasons). He is followed by: No. 2 Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (21), who coached at Maryland with Franklin; No. 3 Kyle Whittingham, Utah (21); No. 4 Troy Calhoun, Air Force (19); No. 5 Dabo Swinney, Clemson (18, includes seven-game interim stint); No. 6 Dave Doren, N.C. State (13); and No. 7 Mark Stoops, Kentucky (13). All numbers include the 2025 season.
BIG TEN RANKINGS: Ferentz, hired in 1999 by Iowa, is the dean of Big Ten coaches. Since Franklin was hired by Penn State, there have been 67 other head coaches among the other 17 Big Ten football programs, including the current coaches in the conference. Two schools have had six different head coaches — including interim head coaches — during Franklin’s tenure at PSU: Nebraska and Purdue.
Here’s a breakdown of head football coaches in the Big Ten since Franklin’s hiring, including interim head coaches; numbers include the 2025 season:
Iowa (1) — Kirk Ferentz
Penn State (1) — James Franklin
Ohio State (2) — Urban Meyer, Ryan Day
Northwestern (2) — Pat Fitzgerald, David Braun
Indiana (3) — Kevin Wilson, Tom Allen, Curt Cignetti
Michigan (3) — Brady Hoke, Jim Harbaugh, Sherrone Moore
Minnesota (3) — Jerry Kill, Tracy Claeys, PJ Fleck
Maryland (4) — Randy Edsall, D.J. Durkin, Matt Canada, Mike Locksley
Michigan State (4) — Mark Dantonio, Mel Tucker, Harlon Barnett, Jonathan Smith
UCLA (4) — Jim Mora, Jedd Fisch, Chip Kelly, DeShaun Foster
USC (4) — Steve Sarkisian, Chip Helton, Donte Williams, Lincoln Riley
Illinois (5) — Tim Beckman, Bill Cubit, Lovie Smith, Rod Smith, Bret Bielema
Rutgers (5) — Kyle Flood, Norris Wilson, Chris Ash, Nunzio Campanile, Greg Schiano
Oregon (5) — Mark Helfrich, Willie Taggart, Mario Cristobal, Bryan McClendon, Dan Lanning
Washington (5) — Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake, Bob Gregory, Kalen DeBoer, Jedd Fisch
Wisconsin (5) — Gary Anderson, Barry Alvarez, Paul Chryst, Jim Leonhard, Luke Fickell
Nebraska (6) — Bo Pelini, Barney Cotton, Mike Riley, Scott Frost, Mickey Joseph, Matt Rhule
Purdue (6) — Darrell Hazel, Gerad Parker, Jeff Brohm, Brian Brohm, Ryan Walters, Barry Odom
