James Franklin buyout: What it would cost Penn State to fire struggling coach after ugly loss to Northwestern

After years of being one of the best teams in the second tier of college football contenders, Penn State expected to make the leap into that elite tier in 2025 and compete for a national championship. Six games into the season, and the Nittany Lions' dreams of a playoff appearance, much less making it all the way to the national title game, have vanished. 

After consecutive losses to UCLA and Northwestern as more than 20-point favorites -- the first FBS team to do so in over 30 years -- James Franklin's Nittany Lions, now 3-3, have hit a low point in his tenure as coach. The only sub-.500 season in Franklin's 11 previous seasons at Penn State was going 4-5 in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, as he has otherwise raised Penn State's floor to a perennial strong Big Ten performer.

Entering this season, the frustration with Franklin was his inability to win the big game after three straight seasons with 10-plus wins, but consistently falling short against top 10 foes. That continued with a loss to Oregon at home in double overtime this year. On the heels of that heartbreaking loss, things have now spiraled to where Penn State is also not taking care of business against lesser competition. 

That has changed the conversation about his job status tremendously in Happy Valley. The once vocal minority that expressed frustrations with Franklin's inability to win the big one has steadily grown to now include most of the fan base. After shrugging off those frustrations in recent years, Franklin will have a much tougher time quieting the noise after a pair of brutal losses in 2025 -- and a difficult schedule ahead that includes games against No. 1 Ohio State in Columbus and No. 7 Indiana at home.

Penn State becomes first FBS team in last 30 years to lose consecutive games as at least a 20-point favorite

Cameron Salerno

What is James Franklin's contract buyout at Penn State? 

Franklin's current contract with Penn State pays him $8 million annually through the 2031 season -- plus a $500,000 retention bonus paid on December 31 each season and various other performance bonuses. His buyout is the full remaining amount on his contract, not including the retention bonus. 

That means to fire him during this season, Penn State would need to pay him $56 million (including what he's already been paid to this point). If the school chooses to wait until after this season, but still wanted to fire him prior to the 2026 campaign, it would have to pay him $48 million.

That makes Franklin one of the most expensive coaches in college football to fire, and would require Penn State to fundraise a massive amount of money to both pay Franklin's buyout and hire another coach to what figures to be a similar contract. 

What Penn State fans are more hopeful for is that Franklin looks to get out on his own and tries to find a soft landing in the form of a different job. The buyout on his side is just $1 million after this year. And if Franklin (now 104-45 at Penn State) feels his time at Penn State has run its course, he's still got a resumé that makes him highly coveted around the nation and would be a top candidate for any big jobs that come open. 

In the meantime, all parties will be hoping that the Nittany Lions can turn around what has become a disastrous 2025 season -- unless Penn State boosters have $56 million ready to go right now.