How Much Penn State Owes James Franklin After Firing

Franklin is owed an enormous buyout.

Penn State fired James Franklin on Sunday and owes its now-former head coach an enormous contract buyout. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State fired James Franklin on Sunday as three straight losses ended his 12-year tenure in Happy Valley. While the 53-year-old is no longer the school's head football coach, his paychecks will continue to roll in for the foreseeable future.

According to multiple reports, Penn State will owe Franklin a buyout in the neighborhood of $50 million after firing him. The exact number is more than $49 million. It will be the second biggest buyout in college football history, behind the $76 million Texas A&M paid to Jimbo Fisher when he was fired in 2023.

MORE: Eight possible replacements for James Franklin

Franklin signed a 10-year contract extension in November 2021 that was set to run through the 2031 season. That contract began in January 2022, and his base pay came in around $8.5 million.

The Nittany Lions opened the 2025 season 3-0 and were ranked No. 3 when they suffered a 30-24 overtime home loss to then-No. 6 Oregon. Franklin's squad then followed that up by losing 42-37 to a then-winless UCLA team as a 24.5-point favorite. The final straw came this weekend, as Penn State lost at home to Northwestern 22-21.

The firing comes one year after Franklin's team went 13-3 and reached the College Football Playoff semifinal. They Nittany Lions lost to eventual national title runner-up Notre Dame 27-24 in the Orange Bowl.

During Franklin's tenure, Penn State went 104-45 and won a Big Ten title in 2016.

Now the school will pay him an enormous sum to no longer be its head coach.

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