The tug of war between Vanderbilt and Penn State over head coach James Franklin apparently is complete.
On Friday afternoon, Penn State announced that university president Rodney Erickson and athletic director Dave Joyner would have a major announcement on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.
That announcement is expected to be the hiring of Franklin as the Nittany Lions’ next head coach as reported the past 24 hours or so.
In fact, Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com reported what Franklin's contract at Penn State likely will be. He tweeted: "James Franklin expected to receive contract worth up to $4.5M/year at Penn State, source told @ESPN. Bill O'Brien made $3.82M"
The Tennessean newspaper and other media outlets reported Friday night that Franklin will meet with Vandy players Saturday morning: "Source: #Vandy team meeting at 8.a.m. Saturday."
On Thursday, as reports surfaced that Franklin would be the next Penn State coach, Vanderbilt AD David Williams said Franklin was still his coach. Williams admitted that Franklin and Penn State had discussions, but that he’d spoken with his head coach who had not accepted the Penn State or any other job.
Franklin will replace O’Brien, who left Penn State to become head coach of the Houston Texans in the NFL.
Franklin lifted the Commodores to rare heights for Vanderbilt football. In three seasons, Vandy was 24-15 under Franklin and reached three consecutive bowl games.
MALZAHN WRAPS IT UP
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn is focusing on recruiting and getting his team ready for spring practice.
But the first-year Tigers coach admits that it’s tough getting past how close Auburn came to winning the BCS championship.
“It’s pretty tough if you get that close,” Malzahn told reporters in his wrap-up press conference Friday. “You’ve got to find a way to move on, but the future’s bright, and we’re looking forward.”
The Tigers lost two of their top players in RB Tre Mason and LT Greg Robinson to early entry into the NFL draft. But Auburn returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense — they lose both kickers — and 37 players on the two-deep depth chart are back.
Next season will also mark the first time Malzahn will have his starting quarterback for a second season — and the potential progression of Nick Marshall is exciting to the head coach.
“His upside is high,” Malzahn said.
Marshall rushed for 1,068 yards and passed for 1,976. Malzahn said opponents can expect more throwing from Auburn next season. Returning players account for 90 percent of Auburn’s receptions and 89.3 percent of its receiving yards.
Plus, Auburn signed the nation’s top junior college player in WR D’haquille Williams, a 6-3, 215-pound receiver from Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. Williams is already on campus for the Tigers.
Malzahn also announced that former Auburn tight end Ricky Parks has returned to the team as a walk-on and that Kiehl Frazier is transferring in hope of playing quarterback somewhere.
WKU PROMOTES BROHM
Western Kentucky didn’t have to look hard for Bobby Petrino’s replacement.
On Friday, the Hilltoppers announced that Jeff Brohm, who was assistant head coach and offensive coordinator last season for WKU, is the team’s next head coach.
“Yes, I’m a new head coach, but we’ll give you everything we got on a daily basis,” Brohm said after being introduced.
Brohm played quarterback at Louisville from 1989-93 and bounced around in the NFL for seven seasons. He was an assistant at Louisville from 2003 through 2008. He moved on to Florida Atlantic (2009), Illinois (2010-11) and UAB (2012) before moving to Western Kentucky prior to this season.
In 2013, Western Kentucky (8-4) had the 30th-ranked offense in the nation with 458.5 yards per game — up from 386.8 in 2012 — including 261.7 through the air and 196.8 yards per game on the ground.
First-year starting quarterback Brandon Doughty completed 246 of 374 passes for 2,857 yards, 14 TDs and 14 interceptions. Antonio Andrews ran for 1,730 yards and 16 touchdowns.
The 42-year-old Brohm has coached four quarterbacks who have moved onto the NFL: Stefan LeFors, Brian Brohm, Hunter Cantwell and Rusty Smith.
“Coach Brohm was very influential in my football career,” Cantwell said in a statement through the university. “Looking back, he was a big part of my success at Louisville and in the National Football League. He is not just a good coach in the X’s and O’s, but he is a great mentor to me. He is a phenomenal coach. He is very smart and is a great players’ coach. Those guys are going to go to war for him every play.
“Western Kentucky couldn’t have made a better hire than Coach Brohm.”
GEORGIA SOUTHERN NAMES COACH
Georgia Southern on Friday named Sam Houston State coach Willie Fritz to lead the Eagles into their new era as a Football Bowl Subdivision team.
Fritz, who was 40-15 in four years with Sam Houston State, will succeed Jeff Monken, who was named Army's coach on Dec. 24.
Fritz, 53, led Sam Houston State to the Football Championship Subdivision championship game in 2011 and 2012, losing both years to North Dakota State. He moves to Georgia Southern, which has a rich tradition on the FCS level and now is moving up to the FBS as a new member of the Sun Belt Conference.
Georgia Southern won six FCS (formerly Division I-AA) national championships.
Fritz said he was attracted to Georgia Southern by "the opportunity to compete at the highest level and to be at the ground level" of the move to FBS.
"We want to continue the success at FCS at the highest level of college football," Fritz said. "I want to be involved in that type of situation."
Georgia Southern has achieved most of its success while running the triple-option, and Fritz said he will bring his version of that offense to Statesboro.
"We're a triple-option type team," Fritz said. "We do it a different way than you have been doing it here. ... We've rushed for a lot of yards. We're the leading scoring offense in FCS the last three seasons."
Georgia Southern president Brooks Keel said Fritz is a "perfect fit for this program."
Fritz has a 176-67-1 record in 21 years as a head coach. He was named coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association in 2011, when Sam Houston State finished 14-1.
FORMER IOWA STATE PLAYER KILLED
A former standout football player for Iowa State was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds this week in his East Texas home, a police official said Friday.
The body of 28-year-old Jason Thomas Berryman was found Wednesday by family members who were visiting a relative living nearby, Jefferson police Chief Joe C. Hall said. Police have released few details about the investigation, but Hall said no suspects have been identified.
"We're running down several leads but we don't have anything we're ready to talk about yet," Hall said.
Hall and Iowa State officials confirmed that Berryman played for the Cyclones, a career marked by stellar play but off-field arrests and jail time. The police chief said that in Jefferson, about 160 miles east of Dallas, Berryman "was a person that we were all familiar with" because of both his police run-ins and familiarity of a small town.
Berryman played during the 2003 and 2005 seasons at Iowa State before he was dismissed from the team. But in 2003, during his freshman year, he was the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year and an All Big 12 honorable mention. He recorded 110 tackles along with three sacks, and was named a freshman All-American.
He was named top defensive player of the Houston Bowl in 2005, according to Mike Green, spokesman for the university's athletics department. He had 72 tackles that year and led the team with 7.5 sacks.
"He was a difference maker on defense, and I know that he's going to be missed by the Cyclone family," Green said. "It's just a horrible tragedy what happened."
Berryman's time at Iowa State was marred by a 2004 conviction for first-degree theft and assault causing injury. He had punched a fellow student and robbed him of $4, then took a cellphone from another student. He spent about eight months in jail.
Berryman later signed a two-year contract with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals but was waived in 2007. He also played for the Iowa Barnstormers, a professional arena football team.
He was arrested again in 2008 at an apartment in Ames, Iowa, on charges of contempt of court and possession of a controlled substance.
Contributors: Ken Bradley, The Associated Press
