Luke Fickell's buyout looks easy to swallow compared to James Franklin

The cost of firing Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell pales in comparison to what Penn State has to pay James Franklin

Oct 4, 2025; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell on the sideline in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Disastrous losses continue to pile up for the Wisconsin Badgers under Luke Fickell. In Fickell's third season at the helm of the Wisconsin football program, UW is at a crossroads. Following a 37-0 loss at home to the Iowa Hawkeyes, fans' calls for a change at head coach are growing louder.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, the Penn State Nittany Lions have made a coaching change of their own. Despite PSU entering the season with national title aspirations, it sits at the bottom of the conference standings, alongside Wisconsin, without a win against a Big Ten foe. After consecutive losses to the UCLA Bruins and Northwestern Wildcats, two other programs near the bottom of the conference, Penn State has made a coaching change.

The Nittany Lions fired James Franklin on Sunday, as announced by the Penn State athletic department and first reported by ESPN's Pete Thamel. Franklin is owed a tremendous amount of money as a result of his termination, and the number completely dwarfs Fickell's potential buyout.

Related: Who would be Wisconsin Badgers interim head coach if Luke Fickell is fired in-season?

Luke Fickell's buyout only half of fired Penn State football head coach James Franklin's

He'd be owed about twice as much as Luke Fickell if both were fired today.

Franklin's buyout is $56mil per CBS Sports. Fickell's is roughly $28mil. #Badgers https://t.co/lI97P0FtOw

— Kedrick Stumbris (@KedrickStumbris) October 12, 2025

A previous report by CBS Sports tabbed Franklin's buyout at $56 million if he were to be fired without cause before the end of this season. ESPN's Pete Thamel, the first to report Franklin's firing, indicated the coach, who had been under contract through 2031, would be owed upwards of $49 million.

Back in Madison, some may be mulling a, undoubtedly significant, but much smaller buyout for Fickell. According to his contract, Fickell would be owed 80% of the remaining money on his initial employment and compensation agreement. That puts his damages owed by the Wisconsin Badgers at roughly $28 million at the time of this article's publication.

Before 2023, no college football coach had ever been paid a buyout of $25 million or greater. Texas A&M shattered that threshold, paying Jimbo Fisher over $75 million as part of his termination. Franklin's buyout now becomes the second-largest of all time, second only to Fisher's.

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