Franklin Extends Contract to 2025
Coach Franklin has announced that he has signed on to remain Head Coach of the Nittany Lions for another five years. Penn State re-signed Franklin through the 2025 season with his third contract in six years.
“Whenever we get a new [recruiting] commitment, I always tweet out, ‘We Are better,‘” Franklin said. “And it was really pretty cool to see a bunch of former [Penn State] players in the NFL and also our current players, all tweeting out ‘We Are better’ with a connection to my new contract announcement. I thought that was really cool. It meant a lot to me and my wife.”
Penn State Athletic Director, Sandy Barbour stated that the new contract is a “strong pledge to James and this program.” As Franklin has been discussing the need for upgrades and consistency across all aspects of the football program, he suggested that this renewed contract will help provide those needed resources.
“Winning is really important, but it’s so much more than wins here,” Franklin said. “So to be able to get in a room and kind of talk through all these things and ask, ‘What can we do? What can we do to continue to make our community proud and the university proud and our lettermen proud?’ We keep chipping away at that. So we continue to make significant progress, and we want to continue to do that.”
Penn State announced Franklin’s new contract during the final recruiting stretch before the early signing period begins Dec. 18. Franklin met with recruits on campus recently and will do so again in the coming weeks.
When asked about the rumors of his offers from Florida State and USC after the Lions’ 27-6 victory over Rutgers at Beaver Stadium, Franklin said, “I’m hoping this is going to be over very quickly. Like I told you, I love Penn State, I love our players. I don’t see that changing any time soon. It’s a little bit the nature of college football but I love Penn State, I love our players, I love what we’re doing here. I don’t see that changing any time soon. Hopefully all this conversation will be over very shortly.”
Penn State will finish the season Dec. 28 in the Cotton Bowl facing off against No. 16 Memphis for an exciting first-time matchup. The Lions (10-2) were ranked 10th in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
