Virginia Tech Releases James Franklin's Contract Details

The devil is always in the details. In this case, however, there is no devil.

Virginia Tech shared the details of James Franklin's five-year contract on Friday, giving fans and media alike insight into Franklin's deal to coach the Hokies. And for fans, there's a lot to love.

Salary & Compensation

Franklin is set to earn $41.75 million over five-plus years (Nov. 15, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2030). Here's how that money is spread out over the life of Franklin's deal.

• 2025: $6 million (prorated)
• 2026: $6 million
• 2027: $6 million
• 2028: $5 million
• 2029: $12.75 million
• 2030: $13.25 million

Franklin's contract is considerably backloaded, in part because of his negotiated lump-sum buyout of $9 million from Penn State.

It's important to note that if Franklin wins to any serious degree, he'll likely be in line for a contract extension, meaning these numbers are likely to change down the road.

There are additional incentives built into the deal, reliant on Franklin winning a certain number of games or accomplishing other feats. For example, Franklin would be due a $250,000 bonus if Virginia Tech were to win 12 games. Franklin also has an incentive based on TV viewership in ACC games, incentivizing him to get the Hokies in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

Assistant and Staff Salary Pool

As part of his contract, Franklin is allotted $9.5 million to spend on his 10 full-time assistant coaches and $6 million to spend on additional support staff. Additionally, Virginia Tech is giving Franklin a $3 million recruiting budget.

Each of those numbers is a considerable increase from past salary pools. Based on Whit Babcock's Board of Visitors presentation earlier this year, Virginia Tech is increasing its assistant coach pool by $4 million, support staff pool by $2.6 million, and recruiting budget by $1.8 million.

These are significant increases. As important as it was to get Franklin in the door, it's just as important to get qualified assistants and support staff to join him. Virginia Tech has made gradual increases to these pools over the years, but had not made this kind of commitment until now.

Buyouts

Franklin's contract is fully guaranteed. If Virginia Tech chooses to terminate Franklin without cause, "...the University will continue to pay your total remaining base salary plus supplemental compensation on an equal montly basis throughout the stated Term as if you had not been fired."

A fully guaranteed contract provides Franklin significant security, but not so much that it would break Virginia Tech should they decide to fire Franklin in a couple years. It's a lot of money, but it isn't Jimbo Fisher-level money.

Turnabout is fair play. Should Franklin leave Virginia Tech before his deal is up, he will owe Virginia Tech the following amounts:

• Before July 15, 2026: $8 million
• Before Dec. 15, 2026: $6 million
• Before Dec. 15, 2027: $4 million
• Before Dec. 15, 2028: $2 million
• Before Dec. 15, 2029: $1 million

Final Thoughts

Based on these numbers, Virginia Tech has hired one of the best college football coaches in the country for a nominal average annual salary $8.35 million. Not only did the Hokies hire a great coach, they equipped him with considerable financial resources to hire an elite-level staff. We don't know exactly what Virginia Tech is spending on the roster, but all parties have said it's quite a lot.

Franklin's contract confirms what we already knew — Virginia Tech is making a large, necessary financial commitment to its football program, elevating the Hokies to the upper echelon when it comes to resources. Tech isn't spending the most money, but they're much closer to the top than they've ever been.