Penn State football closed its fifteen spring practice sessions last week with three assistant coaching positions either unfilled or operating under interim arrangements, according to people familiar with the staff structure. Head coach James Franklin addressed reporters in State College, confirming the spring evaluation cycle is complete while declining to name specific coordinators under consideration for open roles.
The practice window ran from late March through mid-April, standard timing for Big Ten programs. Franklin's staff evaluated 127 scholarship players, including 19 spring enrollees who arrived in January and February through early signing commitments. The spring game drew 43,000 attendees to Beaver Stadium on April 12, down from 52,000 in 2024, a decline athletic department officials attributed to weather forecasting rather than enthusiasm trends.
The assistant openings matter because Penn State operates on a $112 million annual athletics budget, third in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan. Franklin's staff salary pool sits at approximately $7.8 million, competitive but not elite in a conference where Michigan pays coordinators north of $2 million annually. Two of the open slots are position coach roles—one on the defensive line, one with tight ends—while the third involves a quality control analyst position that has turned over twice since January. Quality control hires typically earn $60,000 to $90,000 and serve as pipeline auditions for future coordinator tracks.
The delayed hires create scheduling friction. Penn State's summer camp circuit begins June 2, a six-week window where assistant coaches run position-specific instruction for high school recruits who pay $175 per session. Camps generate approximately $1.2 million in gross revenue and serve as unofficial evaluations for uncommitted 2026 prospects. Running those sessions without permanent staff means Franklin and his coordinators cover gaps, limiting their availability for off-campus recruiting visits during the brief June contact period.
Meanwhile, Penn State's NIL collective—Success With Honor—continues negotiating retention deals for key upperclassmen. The collective raised $14 million in pledged commitments for the 2025 fiscal year, but actual cash inflows lag pledges by an average of 90 days, according to collective board meeting minutes reviewed by multiple local outlets. That timing mismatch complicates spring retention because portal windows close before money clears. Penn State lost four scholarship players to the transfer portal during the April cycle, including a starting safety who signed with Oregon after his NIL ask reportedly exceeded $250,000 annually. Success With Honor does not publicly disclose individual athlete payments, but donor briefings reviewed by local beat writers suggest the collective's median deal sits near $75,000 per player for starters.
Franklin's contract runs through December 2031 at $8.5 million per year, making him the Big Ten's fifth-highest-paid coach. His extension, signed in November 2024, includes performance escalators tied to playoff appearances—$500,000 per College Football Playoff quarterfinal, $1 million for semifinals. Penn State reached the quarterfinals in January 2025 but lost to Notre Dame 24-17, triggering the lower-tier bonus. Athletic director Patrick Kraft told donors in a February call that Franklin's staff budget will increase by $1.2 million annually starting in fiscal 2026, funded by a combination of Big Ten media rights revenue growth and a new apparel deal with Nike worth $7.6 million per year.
The next hiring deadline is June 1, when summer camp schedules must be filed with the Big Ten office. Franklin typically announces assistant moves in clusters rather than one-off statements, a pattern he has followed since arriving at Penn State in 2014. Coordinator searches often extend into late May as candidates finish spring obligations at current schools or wait for NFL assistant contracts to expire. One name circulating among State College beat reporters: a defensive line coach currently with the Las Vegas Raiders whose contract includes a June 15 opt-out window for college opportunities.
Penn State's 2025 schedule includes seven home games and a season opener against West Virginia in Morgantown, where Franklin is 4-0 lifetime. The Nittany Lions open as consensus top-10 preseason picks in early betting markets, with championship futures hovering near +2500 at major sportsbooks. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki returns for his second season after leading Penn State to the nation's 12th-ranked scoring offense in 2024, a program high since 2017.
Franklin's staff turnover rate sits at 1.8 assistants per year over his tenure, slightly above the Power Five average of 1.5 but below programs like Florida State (2.9) and Texas A&M (3.1). The churn reflects both upward mobility—Penn State assistants have landed 11 FBS coordinator jobs since 2018—and Franklin's willingness to reset position groups when performance lags expectations. His last defensive line coach departed in January after three seasons to take a lateral role at Tennessee, a move that surprised internal staff given the lack of obvious promotion upside.
The summer evaluation window closes August 5, when preseason camp begins. Between now and then, Franklin will finalize assistant hires, manage NIL retention conversations, and oversee unofficial visits from 23 committed 2026 recruits whose signatures are not binding until December.
The takeaway
Penn State enters June camps with assistant slots unfilled while managing NIL retention gaps that cost them portal targets in April.
penn statejames franklinbig tennil collectivescoaching hiresspring practice
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