James Franklin (Maybe?) Signs Extension

After Penn State rattled off nine straight victories to turn around its 2016 season, the talk of James Franklin’s hot seat changed to discussions of a possible extension. Although the athletic department has yet to announce anything of the sort, if you believe 2018 wide receiver Solomon Enis, Franklin has already signed his extension, locking himself in for another five years in State College.

Obviously, anyone who follows the program knew an extension was coming. Franklin is coming off a Big Ten Championship season that saw the Nittany Lions return to national prominence, and he now heads into 2017 with a consensus top 10 squad. If there was ever a time to sign a coach to an extension, it’s now.

It’ll be interesting to see what the parameters of Franklin’s new contract are. He was already one of the highest paid coaches in the country — making $4.5 million in 2016 — so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that Franklin’s new salary is over the $5 million mark.

More fascinating than that though, is what Franklin will be getting for his staff and the program in general. As Penn State continues to win, other college programs will try more and more to poach assistant coaches like Joe Moorhead, Sean Spencer, and Josh Gattis. With an increased budget for his staff, Franklin would have a better opportunity of keeping his coaches in Happy Valley.