James Geoffrey Franklin (born February 2, 1972) is an American college football coach who is the head football coach at Virginia Tech. He previously served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University from 2011 to 2013 and at Pennsylvania State University from 2014 until 2025.
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Early life and education
James Geoffrey Franklin was born in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1972, to James Oliver and Jocelyn "Josie" Franklin.
He attended Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, and then attended East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, where he played as a quarterback all four years. In that position, he set seven school records and was a Division II player of the year nominee in 1994. Sports Illustrated named him a "National Player of the Week" that season. In 1995, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. Franklin was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity while at East Stroudsburg.
Coaching career
Franklin began his coaching career in 1995, coaching wide receivers at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. The following season, he took over as the coach of the defensive secondary for his alma mater, East Stroudsburg. That year, he was also the offensive coordinator for the Roskilde Kings of the Danish American Football Federation. In 1997, he became wide receivers coach at James Madison, and, the following year, became tight ends coach at Washington State. Franklin completed a master's degree in educational leadership at Washington State in 1999.
In 1999, he served as wide receivers coach at Idaho State. That year, the Bengals recorded 29 touchdowns, 258 receptions, and in excess of 3,300 passing yards for one of the best statistical seasons in school history. Idaho State ranked ninth nationally in total offense that year.
Franklin has also held internships at several National Football League (NFL) franchises, including the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, and Minnesota Vikings.
Maryland
Franklin first served at the University of Maryland as the wide receivers coach starting in 2000. In November 2000, head coach Ron Vanderlinden was dismissed and replaced by Ralph Friedgen, a Maryland alum and former Georgia Tech offensive coordinator. Friedgen retained Franklin as the wide receivers coach, one of only two assistants to be kept on the new coaching staff (running backs coach Mike Locksley was the other).
In 2003, Franklin's duties expanded to include the position of recruiting coordinator. Since then, he has been considered a top recruiter. His geographic areas of concentration for recruiting were Baltimore, Prince George's County, Maryland, Charles County, Maryland, and public schools in Washington, D.C. In 2005, Franklin departed Maryland to serve as the wide receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL.
In 2008, Franklin returned to Maryland as the offensive coordinator, assistant head coach, and head coach in waiting. Shortly before coach Ralph Friedgen was fired in December 2010, Franklin accepted the head coach position at Vanderbilt.
Kansas State
Franklin served at Kansas State University as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He joined head coach Ron Prince as the first coaching staff to follow the legendary Bill Snyder. During his tenure at K-State, Franklin nurtured record setting offensive talent, including the future NFL starters quarterback Josh Freeman and All-America wide receiver Jordy Nelson. Despite impressive wins over a top 5 team and an appearance in the inaugural Texas Bowl, the Wildcat program was a far cry from the title contending teams fielded during the Snyder era. Franklin left the Wildcat coaching staff prior to Ron Prince's 2008 dismissal, and subsequent return of Coach Bill Snyder.
Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt considered Franklin a candidate for its head coaching position vacated with the forced resignation of interim coach Robbie Caldwell after the 2010 season. The Washington Post reported other candidates for the job were Al Golden of Temple and Larry Coker of UTSA (and formerly Miami), and that Franklin was not the frontrunner. After Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn turned down the job, Vanderbilt began talks to hire Franklin as its head coach. On December 17, Vanderbilt announced Franklin had been hired as head coach. Franklin was the first African American to be head coach of a major sport at Vanderbilt, and the third to be a head football coach in the Southeastern Conference (after Sylvester Croom, formerly at Mississippi State, and former Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips).
Franklin led Vanderbilt to a bowl game in all three of his seasons as head coach, a team that had never previously participated in a bowl game in consecutive seasons, making him the only football coach in program history to do so.
Franklin finished the 2011 regular season with an overall record of 6–6 and a mark of 2–6 in conference play, finishing in a tie with Kentucky for fourth place in the SEC East. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they were defeated by Cincinnati 31–24 to finish the season 6–7 in 2011. The 2011 seniors for the Vanderbilt football team became the first class in program history to qualify for two bowl games while at the school. Vanderbilt had only been to four bowl games in school history. After starting the season with three wins and then three losses, the third to Georgia in a close game (33–28) that proved they could be competitive. The last three regular season losses were close games — to No. 8 Arkansas 31–28, at Florida 26–21, and at Tennessee in overtime 27–21. They then lost their bowl game to Cincinnati, 31–24. The team's only losses by more than seven points were at No. 12 South Carolina 21–3 and at No. 2 Alabama 34–0. Vanderbilt's six wins were by an average margin of 24 points. Even with a losing record, the 2011 team outscored its opponents 347 to 281.
In his second season (2012), the Commodores finished 9–4 and ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today end-of-season coaches' top 25 for the first time since 1948 (and the first ranking in any week since 2008). It was only the third nine-win season in school history, also was the first time since 1935 that Vandy won five SEC games in a year and the first time in 30 years that they won at home against Tennessee.
Penn State
On January 11, 2014, the Athletic Department at Penn State announced the appointment of Franklin as the head football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State agreed to pay $1.5 million that Franklin owed Vanderbilt for early termination of his contract, Penn State disclosed this information January 24, 2014, according to USA TODAY Sports. He received a six-year contract, which paid him $4.3 million for the 2014 season, including a $300,000 retention bonus payable if he was Penn State's coach on December 31, 2014. He had an annual guaranteed pay increase of $100,000 along with retention bonuses, plus performance incentives each year. During his first few press conferences, he had said how he wanted Penn State to again be the most dominant school in recruiting in Pennsylvania.
Announcing Franklin's hire, 5 months after the arrest of four Vanderbilt football players for gang rape and while sanctions resulting from the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal were still in effect, required extreme vetting by replacement administrators at Penn State. President Rodney Erickson and Director of Athletics Dave Joyner applied a deep background search and intense interviewing to protect all stakeholders from further harm.
In his first season with the Nittany Lions, Franklin led the team to a 6–6 regular season record. The season ended with a 31–30 victory over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Franklin led the Nittany Lions' to a 7–5 regular season record. The season ended with a 24–17 loss to Georgia in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
Penn State started the 2016 season 2–2, but Franklin rallied his team to win the next eight games, winning the Big Ten's East Division, followed by a victory over Wisconsin in the 2016 Big Ten Football Championship Game. For his team's turnaround, Franklin was named the Dave McClain Coach of the Year in the Big Ten.
On August 18, 2017, Penn State announced that Franklin signed a six-year contract extension worth $5.738 million a year. That deal includes retention bonuses paid at the end of each year of the contract.
"My family and I are very thankful to be a part of the Penn State community," Franklin said in a statement. "I am pleased with the progress our program has made in the community, in the classroom and on the field. I look forward to diligently working with President Barron and Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour on implementing a plan that puts our University and our student-athletes in the best position to compete on the field and in life."
Virginia Tech
On November 17, 2025, Franklin was named the 36th head coach at Virginia Tech, replacing his former defensive coordinator Brent Pry.
Personal life
While serving as the tight ends coach at Washington State, Franklin met his wife, Fumi (then a student at Washington State), in 1998. Franklin was a graduate assistant coaching tight ends and pursuing a master's degree in educational leadership. They were reintroduced when Franklin was coaching at Maryland several years later. They began a long-distance relationship that led to an engagement in Green Bay, where Franklin worked in 2005. The Franklins have two daughters, Addy and Shola.
Philanthropy
James Franklin was named Penn State's 43rd Annual Renaissance Fund honoree in 2019. The Renaissance Fund dinner was held on October 30, 2019, at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State. The dinner raised over $287,600 for endowed scholarships at Penn State.
Since arriving at Penn State, his teams have devoted hundreds of hours each semester to service, including an annual team trip to the Penn State Children's Hospital at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to visit with young children battling pediatric cancers. Franklin has spoken at every THON since 2014, and the Franklin family has generously supported THON through annual gifts including a $10,000 gift made in honor of football players Charlie Shuman, Nick Scott.
Franklin has also been an ardent supporter of "Be the Match," encouraging community members to join the national bone marrow registry.
Prior to Penn State's 2019 appearance in the Cotton Bowl, James Franklin matched a $10,000 donation from Goodyear to the Children's Medical Center Dallas.
Head coaching tree
Seven of Franklin's assistant coaches have become NCAA head coaches:
Manny Diaz – Duke (2024–present)
Charles Huff – Marshall (2021–2024), Southern Miss (2025), Memphis (2026–present)
Joe Moorhead – Mississippi State (2018–2019); Akron (2022–present)
Gerad Parker – Troy (2024–present)
Brent Pry – Virginia Tech (2022–2025)
Ricky Rahne – Old Dominion (2020–present)
Terry Smith – Penn State (2025)