Maryland offensive coordinator and head coach-in-waiting James Franklin. Photo by Adam Fried/The Diamondback

USA Today is running a series on the rising salaries of college football coaches across the country.

Yesterday, on its website, the paper put together a database of salary rankings for all head coaches and assistants from the 120 schools of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Terp assistant James Franklin can make up to $468,954 this year, with a base salary of $303,954. That number isn’t particularly surprising, considering Franklin was named the official head coach-in-waiting last winter and serves as the team’s offensive coordinator and No. 2 man.

This number is: That $468,954 total ranks seventh among all assistant coaches in the FBS.

Currently, the Terps are 2-7. The offense which Franklin directs is ranked 99th out of 120 teams in total offense. The Terps are ranked 92nd in scoring offense, 59th in passing offense, 107th in rushing offense and 103rd in sacks allowed.

Another Franklin, Tony Franklin, the offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee, makes $103,000. Franklin was fired mid-season last year at Auburn. Now, the Blue Raiders are 6-3, ranked 27th in the nation in total offense and have a September win at Byrd Stadium under their belts.

Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, who like James Franklin serves as an offensive coordinator with a head coach-in-waiting distinction, rakes in $629,000 per year in total, though his base salary comes in lower than Franklin’s at $215,000.

Perhaps it’s unfair to criticize Franklin this season. The offense is inexperienced, in particular the offensive line, which was a major source of consternation for the Terp coaching staff since the spring. Those worries have become the reality.

The personnel to succeed just isn’t there.

But at some point — and it’s safe to assume Franklin understands this — he’s going to have to prove himself as a coach. Otherwise, observers are going to question the considerable investment, both this year and in the future, coach Ralph Friedgen and the Administration have put in him.

Aaron Kraut is The Diamondback’s sports editor. He can be reached at akrautdbk@gmail.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Football, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.