Penn State Football's Next Big Hire? A General Manager for Revenue Sharing

Now that Penn State has reset the assistant-coaching market, head coach James Franklin turns toward his next major hire: a contracts expert. As revenue sharing looms over college football, the Penn State football coach wants to bring in someone familiar with negotiations, agents and roster finances to prepare the program for what's next.

Penn State made a bold statement by making Jim Knowles the highest-paid assistant coach in college football, according to multiple reports. Knowles, the former Ohio State defensive coordinator, helped the Buckeyes to a national championship, holding Penn State without a touchdown last November in the process. Penn State reportedly is paying Knowles an average of $3.1 million per year.

Penn State's next major move likely will be to hire someone in a general manager's role to handle contract work for players on the roster, in the transfer portal and in recruiting. Franklin discussed the possibility last season during The Penn State Coaches Show.

"What we’re looking in this next generation of college football, with revenue sharing and those things coming, is trying to get really a specific contract and money [person], an accountant, somebody who maybe has a background working in the NFL and is maybe a No. 2 or a No. 3 in the NFL to the general manager," Franklin said on the show. "And who maybe has got a Penn State connection or Pennsylvania connection who would love to be working in this role. That's the next step for us."

Penn State football has a general manager in Andy Frank, whose official title is general manager of personnel and recruitment. Frank recently discussed what Penn State is looking for in a contracts expert.

"I think that we will move forward in that regard here over the course of the next several months," Frank said on Signing Day in December. "I don't know when that will exactly take place. But I think we are interested in someone who could have relationships with agents, who knows how to deal with contracts, who knows how to deal with the negotiations. If you look at NFL organizations, typically, they've got one, two, three or four people in the salary cap world. Those folks will help with those negotiations. ... Obviously coach [Franklin], myself, the whole staff will be involved in how we allocate the resources. But I think having someone who has some familiarity with with contracts, with talking to agents [is important]."

Dealing with agents will be a critical component. Alan Zemaitis, a former Penn State All-American who now is a recruiting coordinator for personnel, said on Signing Day that agents are connected to multiple high school players, particularly regionally. "You feel like, in some recruiting situations, that you talk to [agents] more than you talk to the actual parents," Zemaitis said.

Frank said that Penn State will continue to recruit with a relationship-based approach, though revenue sharing requires additional consideration."Having someone who's got some experience with dealing with the agents and dealing with the contracts, I think that will help our overall organization," Frank said.

Added Franklin on his radio show, "... we're going to have to find someone in that [financial] role, either working specifically with the football program or even with the athletic department, because there’s going to be a lot of programs who are going to need a similar [manager]. So Andy [Frank] does a really good job for us in the current model, but we’re going to have to expand on it with what’s coming in college football."

More Penn State Football

What they're saying about Jim Knowles, Penn State's new defensive coordinator

Report: Penn State to retain co-DC Anthony Poindexter