James Franklin's deal with Virginia Tech is for five years and $41.75 million. However, it's backloaded with salaries averaging $13 million in the final two years so the coach can receive around a reported $9 million in buyout money from Penn State on the front end.
Virginia Tech released terms of the contract on Friday afternoon, outlining the following yearly compensation when combining base pay and supplemental compensation:
- Nov. 17 through Dec. 31, 2025: $6 million pro rata (around $750,000)
- 2026: $6 million
- 2027: $5 million
- 2028: $4 million
- 2029: $12.75 million
- 2030: $13.25 million
Penn State reportedly negotiated Franklin's buyout down from $49 million to $9 million earlier this month. He had a duty to mitigate in his contract, which would offset future earnings from what the Nittany Lions owed.
Franklin's average annual salary for the deal at Virginia Tech will be $8.35 million, nearly double the $4.75 million Brent Pry was making in his final season as the Hokies' coach. Add in the money he'll get from Penn State and Franklin will make an average of over $10 million in the next five years.
Additionally, Franklin will have a good deal of cash with which to go after coaches, with $9.5 million allocated for the 10 on-field assistants. That figure would put the Hokies fourth among public schools in 2024 assistant coach salaries. (The 2025 data has not yet been published by USA Today.)
On top of that, there's a $6 million budget for support staff, including the creation of new positions, if applicable. Outlined in the contract, those positions include but are not limited to analysts/quality control, recruiting, operations, strength and conditioning, data analysts, NIL outbound sales, creative media, nutrition, video, player engagement, sports science and front-office type personnel.
Both the pools for assistants and support staff increase by a minimum of 3 percent each year.
It's a major increase from previous spending levels. Tech sat at $5.5 million in assistant salaries and $3.4 million for support staff, according to the figures athletic director Whit Babcock presented to the Board of Visitors in August.
Franklin will also have a $3 million annual budget for recruiting. That's more than double its reported figure of $1.2 milllion in 2024.
Franklin's buyout, should he leave for a different job, starts at $8 million before July 15, 2026, and decreases over the life of the contract as follows:
- Before July 15, 2026, or $8 million
- Before Dec. 15, 2026, or $6 million
- Before Dec. 15, 2027, or $4 million
- Before Dec. 15, 2028, or $2 million
- Before Dec. 15, 2030 $1 million
If Franklin were to be fired without cause before 2030, Virginia Tech would owe him the remainder of his contract. There is offset language should he get another coaching job. He would be required to make reasonable efforts to find one.
Bonuses are available based on the number of wins the Hokies achieve in a given season. They extend from the head coach to on-field assistants to the support staff. They are:
Additionally, bonuses can be achieved for reaching and/or winning the ACC championship game and advancing to certain rounds of the College Football Playoff.
With viewership being an important component in the ACC's revenue calculations, Franklin can also receive bonuses for the team reaching certain benchmarks there. They include:
- 5th in ACC football viewership: $50,000; or
- 4th in ACC football viewership: $100,000; or
- 3rd in ACC football viewership: $200,000; or
- 2nd in ACC football viewership: $400,000; or
- 1st in ACC football viewership: $800,000
If he is named the conference's coach of the year, he can earn another $50,000. He would be due a $100,000 bonus if he wins one of nine different national coach of the year honors.
Other fringe benefits for Franklin include a suite for every home football game in Lane Stadium, which includes 18 standard tickets and up to 10 standing-room-only tickets, plus six parking passes. For away regular-season games, it's eight priority-level tickets. That number is bumped up to 16 for postseason games. He will have six tickets and two parking passes for every men's and women's basketball game at Cassell Coliseum, too.
Franklin will also receive a courtesy car, and his 10 full-time assistants and head strength coach will receive an annual car stipend of $9,750, paid in two annual installments â May and December. Moreover, he'll have a membership at the Blacksburg Country Club, along with other standard employee benefits, to accompany a moving and relocation bonus of $65,000.