James Franklin's contract as Penn State head football coach is worth up to $4.5 million annually, making him the Big Ten's second-highest paid coach, according to ESPN.
Franklin's hefty salary places him behind only Ohio State's Urban Meyer as the league's highest paid and is nearly a million more than that of former Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien, who resigned to jump to the NFL and the Houston Texans. ESPN adds Franklin earned about $3 million as head coach at Vanderbilt.
Penn State has scheduled a news conference for Saturday afternoon, where Franklin's hiring is expected to be formally announced. The Penn State compensation committee is scheduled to meet in a closed session earlier that day to approve Franklin's deal.
Vanderbilt had hoped to keep Franklin in Nashville, and as recently as 2012 granted him a contract extension and a sizeable pay increase. But after meeting with Penn State officials in Florida Wednesday night, ESPN reports Franklin made the decision to make the jump.
The Nittany Lions settled on Franklin from a list of finalists that included Miami coach Al Golden, former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Munchak and San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
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