How James Franklin’s $45 million Penn State buyout compares to recent coaching changes

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Penn State coach fired head coach James Franklin on Sunday despite being on the hook for $45 million remaining on his contract, according to a school source. It is the second-largest buyout in college football history, behind what Texas A&M owed Jimbo Fisher when it fired him on Nov. 12, 2023. The Aggies owed Fisher roughly $77 million on a contract that runs through 2031.

Franklin’s buyout is only the third in college football history to surpass the $20 million threshold for a fired coach, joining that of Fisher and Gus Malzahn, who was owed $21.4 million when he was fired by Auburn in December 2020.

In 2021, Franklin signed a 10-year contract that paid him $7 million per year in annual compensation plus a $1 million annual loan for life insurance. There were also incentives and retention bonuses in Franklin’s contract, but only his annual compensation and loan are part of the buyout.

The massive buyout figure comes as coaching salaries have skyrocketed in recent years. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the industry saw an increase in fully guaranteed contracts awarded to top coaches with buyouts that crept up into the upper eight figures. Franklin, who went 104-45 in 12 seasons at Penn State, was one of several to receive long contracts with large guarantees and buyouts earlier this decade, along with Fisher, USC’s Lincoln Riley and LSU’s Brian Kelly, among others.

According to USA Today’s coaching salary database, Georgia coach Kirby Smart currently has the largest buyout in the country at $105.1 million, followed by Ohio State’s Ryan Day ($70.9 million), Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer ($60.8 million), Texas’ Steve Sarkisian ($60.3 million) and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($60 million). Because Riley is at USC, a private school, the institution is not required to disclose contract terms via open records laws. Other currently employed coaches with buyouts above $40 million include Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Kelly, Nebraska’s Matt Rhule and Illinois’ Bret Bielema.

Here’s a look at the circumstances that led to some of the largest buyouts in the sport’s history.

Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M: $77.6 million (2023)
Record at Texas A&M: 45-25 (six seasons)

In 2020, Fisher took the Aggies to their second top-five finish in the Associated Press poll since joining the SEC, when the Aggies finished 9-1, won the Orange Bowl and narrowly missed the College Football Playoff. But the Aggies went 8-4 and 5-7 in the next two seasons, despite A&M hauling in highly ranked recruiting classes. The program culture began to rot, the Aggies couldn’t win on the road and often underwhelmed in big games. The Aggies fired Fisher with three games left in the 2023 season as A&M sat at 6-4 and later hired Fisher’s former defensive coordinator at A&M, Mike Elko, who had elevated Duke and now has the Aggies at 6-0 and in the top 10.

Gus Malzahn, Auburn: $21.7 million (2020)
Record at Auburn: 68-35 (eight seasons)

Malzahn took the Tigers to the BCS National Championship game in 2013 but never again reached those heights in the next seven years. Although Malzahn gave Nick Saban fits, Auburn won only 10 games once more in Malzahn’s last seven years and finished with eight or fewer wins on five occasions. The offense, Malzahn’s forte, regressed over time, he flip-flopped multiple times on calling plays and after a 6-4 campaign in 2020, the Tigers dismissed him.

Malzahn went on to UCF, where he had back-to-back nine-win seasons, but struggled upon the program’s entry into the Big 12 and he’s now the offensive coordinator at Florida State. Auburn fired Malzahn’s successor, Bryan Harsin, after 23 games and a 9-12 record and is now in Year 3 of Hugh Freeze, who is 14-17 on the Plains.

Charlie Weis, Notre Dame: $18.9 million (2009)
Record at Notre Dame: 35-27 (five seasons)

Weis, the former Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots, got a five-year contract when arrived at Notre Dame in 2005. Midway through that first season he received a new contract of double that length. The Fighting Irish went a combined 19-6 in Weis’ first two seasons, but then went 3-9, 7-6 and 6-6 in the next three years. He was fired in 2009 with six years remaining on his deal. He went on to Kansas, where he went 6-22 while putting the Jayhawks in a massive scholarship hole, before collecting another $5.6 million in buyout money from that firing.

Willie Taggart, Florida State: $18 million (2019)
Record at Florida State: 9-12 (two seasons)

Taggart, who arrived in Tallahassee after one season at Oregon, lasted only 21 games before getting fired in his second season. The Seminoles went 5-7 in his first season, losing their first two conference games by a combined score of 54-10, in addition to blowout losses later to NC State, Notre Dame and Florida. He was 4-5 before getting fired in Year 2. The Seminoles turned to Mike Norvell, who is 36-30 in his sixth year at the school.

Ed Orgeron, LSU: $16.9 million (2021)
Record at LSU: 51-20 (six seasons)

Orgeron had his ups and downs in Baton Rouge, but won the ultimate prize by taking LSU to a 15-0 record and a national title in 2019, which included one of the most prolific offenses in college football history. But Orgeron was out two years later, going a combined 11-11 in 2020 and 2021. There were myriad issues, including failed assistant coaching hires, underperformance, a Title IX scandal and Orgeron’s own personal matters that played a role in the Tigers’ quick decline.

Orgeron provided one of the most memorable quotes about his firing and subsequent buyout, joking about it when speaking to the Little Rock Touchdown Club in Arkansas in 2022.

🎥 Former #LSU head coach Ed Orgeron explains his $17 million buyout after being fired following the 2021 season pic.twitter.com/NU1rkXZB3m

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) September 6, 2022

“We had a meeting (with LSU leadership) and they said, ‘Coach, things are not going well,’” Orgeron said. “(I said) ‘No, shit. Ray Charles could see that, brother.’ And (LSU athletic director) Scott Woodward is a friend of mine today, really. A lot of respect for the way that they handled me.

“He said, ‘Coach, you got $17.1 million on your contract. We’re going to give it to you.’ I said, ‘What time you want me to leave and what do you want me out of, brother?’”

More on the Penn State opening:

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