James Franklin

James Geoffrey Franklin (born February 2, 1972) is an American football coach and former player.

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 went to college at 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.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology in 1995.

Franklin was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity while at East Stroudsburg.

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.

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.

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.

In 2008, he returned to Maryland as the offensive coordinator, assistant head coach, and head coach in waiting.

Franklin left the Wildcat coaching staff prior to Ron Prince's 2008 dismissal, and subsequent return of Coach Bill Snyder.

Shortly before then coach Ralph Friedgen was fired in December 2010, he accepted the head coach position at 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.

Franklin has served as the head football coach at Penn State University since 2014 and served in the same position at Vanderbilt University from 2011 to 2013.