James Franklin
Followed Bill O'Brien. James Franklin moved Penn State from Power Program II to Power Program I in 12 seasons.
In his own words
He will not be available by NCAA perspective this weekend
You guys all remember that Virginia Tech
Even before the job was open, Virginia Tech I think had realized that what we had been doing for the last nine or 10 years hadn't worked
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Power Program in his 4th career season — faster than 37% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #215 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
10–17 against his rivals. Winless in 6 tries against Ryan Day.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
6th-best Virginia Tech tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Brent Pry (2022–2025).
A portal-built roster.
Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.
2nd-best Penn State tenure of 8 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and outperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Bill O'Brien (2012–2013).
| Season | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||||
| Record | 7–6 | 7–6 | 11–3 | 11–2 | 9–4 | 11–2 | 4–5 | 7–6 | 11–2 | 10–3 | 13–3 | 4–3 | |
| Postseason | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | W CFP | L bowl | W bowl | — | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #24 | #14 | #20 | #15 | #6 | #12 | #15 | #21 | #6 | #14 | #15 | #15 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||||||||
| Pass rate | 52.4 | 48.7 | 42.0 | 50.4 | 42.3 | 41.7 | 43.2 | 52.7 | 46.3 | 44.4 | 41.6 | 41.6 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||||||||
| OC | John Donovan | John Donovan | Joe Moorhead | Joe Moorhead | Ricky Rahne | Ricky Rahne | Kirk Ciarrocca / Tyler Bowen | Mike Yurcich | Mike Yurcich | Ja'Juan Seider / Mike Yurcich / Ty Howle | Andy Kotelnicki / Ja'Juan Seider / Ty Howle | Andy Kotelnicki / Ty Howle | |
| DC | Bob Shoop | Bob Shoop | Brent Pry / Tim Banks | Brent Pry / Tim Banks | Brent Pry / Tim Banks | Brent Pry / Tim Banks | Brent Pry / Tim Banks | Brent Pry / Anthony Poindexter | Manny Diaz / Anthony Poindexter | Manny Diaz / Anthony Poindexter | Tom Allen / Anthony Poindexter | Jim Knowles / Anthony Poindexter | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||||||
| Offense | 4 | 31 | 92 | 94 | 50 | 78 | 67 | 33 | 80 | 85 | 97 | 85 | |
| Defense | 97 | 63 | 68 | 62 | 85 | 73 | 73 | 92 | 97 | 98 | 98 | 74 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 53.4 | 47.1 | 38.0 | 46.0 | 45.4 | 37.0 | 39.4 | 48.8 | 39.3 | 41.1 | 39.0 | 41.3 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 46.7 | 54.4 | 37.5 | 41.4 | 29.8 | 29.3 | 40.2 | 60.0 | 40.0 | 43.9 | 38.5 | 26.5 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 14.0 | 22.9 | 25.5 | 28.2 | 25.5 | 31.7 | 50.0 | 38.0 | 46.2 | 38.9 | 40.5 | 50.0 | |
Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.
Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.
A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.
70 NFL Draft picks: Allen Robinson (2014), DaQuan Jones (2014), John Urschel (2014), Donovan Smith (2015), Adrian Amos (2015), Jesse James (2015), Austin Johnson (2016), Christian Hackenberg (2016) + 62 more
5 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Jaquan Brisker (2021), Olu Fashanu (2023), Abdul Carter (2024), Tyler Warren (2024), Olaivavega Ioane (2025)
AI Narratives — “Penn State's 7-6 Season: A Mixed Bag” and 13 more on the team page.
6th-best Vanderbilt tenure of 20 by the numbers.
Followed Robbie Caldwell (2010–2010) · succeeded by Derek Mason (2014–2020).
7 NFL Draft picks: Casey Hayward (2012), Tim Fugger (2012), Zachary Stacy (2013), Ryan Seymour (2013), Jordan Matthews (2014), Wesley Johnson (2014), Dre Hal (2014)