Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Stockstill brings Franklin back as OC
1/22/2016 1:29:00 PM | Football
Considered one of the top offensive minds in the game
MURFREESBORO – Middle Tennessee Head Coach Rick Stockstill announced today the hiring of Tony Franklin as the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Franklin, who served as the OC at MT in 2009, takes over for Buster Faulkner.
Franklin, who was previously the Cal Bears offensive coordinator the past three years, is considered one of the top offensive minds in the business as his offense has ranked in the top 10 nationally the last four years in passing, twice in total offense and twice in scoring.
Franklin's hiring is pending full approval by the Tennessee Board of Regents.
"As soon as we had the opening, Tony and I had conversations and he expressed his interest in coming to Middle Tennessee so we immediately started figuring out a way to make it work," said Stockstill. "I am extremely excited about working with Tony again. He did a great job here the last time and I know our players will love playing for him.
"I know our offensive players will be eager to learn from Tony because he is one of the top three or four offensive coordinators in the business with a proven track record. Everywhere he has coached, his offenses have been one of the most productive in the country and I can't wait for him to get here and start putting his plan into place."
Franklin won't be empty handed as the Blue Raiders return seven offensive starters off the most prolific unit in school history, including freshmen all-American's Brent Stockstill and Richie James.
"When Laura and I decided to move back East in order to be closer to our families we were thrilled to have a chance to join Rick Stockstill's staff and the Blue Raider family," said Franklin. "Our one season with the Blue Raiders in 2009 was one of our favorite journeys. We look forward to helping Coach Stock and the Blue Raider family achieve unprecedented success."
MT quarterback Brent Stockstill is also excited about the new addition.
"I am excited about the opportunity to play for Coach Franklin and can't wait to get started and learning his offense," said Brent.
Franklin's offense was a record-setting group that broke 12 single-season school or modern-era school records and was among the nation's best during his tenure at Cal.
Cal set new single-season school marks in 2015 on the offensive side of the ball for passing yardage (4,892), passing touchdowns (44), total offense (6,879), total yards per game (529.2), passing yards per game (376.3), and first downs (341). The Bears set a single-game team record with 760 yards of total offense and 36 first downs vs. Oregon State.
Cal finished 2015 ranked third nationally in passing, eighth in total offense, 14th in third down conversions and 17th in scoring.
Junior Jared Goff, projected to be a high NFL Draft pick in April, became the first Cal quarterback to earn first-team All-Pac-12 honors since Aaron Rodgers in 2004 and was a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. Goff was ranked as high as No. 3 on the USA Today Heisman Hot List and tied for No. 6 on ESPN's Heisman Watch after the team's 5-0 start.
Goff started all 13 games in 2015 and surpassed his own single-season records for passing yards (4,719), touchdown passes (43) and total offense (4,711) while becoming the ninth quarterback in Pac-12 history to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a campaign.
Goff led the Pac-12 and ranked third nationally in touchdown passes in 2015, while ranking second nationally in passing yards per game; third in passing yards, fifth in total offense and ninth in passing efficiency.
The Bears set or equaled nine single-season school or modern-era school records on the offensive side of the ball in 2014 in their second season under Franklin's leadership. Cal established single-season records for passing yards (4,152) and passing touchdowns (37) that were broken in 2015, as well as marks for total yards per game (495.2 ypg) and first downs passing (188). Cal also set modern-era school records for points (459), scoring average (38.2 ppg) and touchdowns (61) that were second all-time behind the 1920 team (510 points, 56.7 ppg, 72 touchdowns), while tying modern-era records for PAT (56) and PAT attempts (57). Cal's 5,942 yards of total offense in 2014 also ranked third in school history. In addition, the Bears became the first Cal team in the modern era to score 55 or more points in a game three times including 40 or more five times and 30 or more on 10 occasions.
Cal ranked in the top 25 nationally in a total of seven offensive categories in 2014 including passing offense (6th, 346.0 ypg), scoring offense (10th, 38.3 ppg), total offense (13th, 495.2 ypg), fourth-down conversion percentage (14th, 67.9%, 19-28), first downs offense (19th, 319), third-down conversions (23rd, 46.1%) and team passing efficiency (24th, 145.77).
Franklin's first offensive unit at Cal in 2013 set single-season school records for passing yards (3,977), pass completions (368) and total plays (1,046). The passing offense finished third in the Pac-12 and 10th in the nation with an average of 331.4 yards per game.
Franklin served in the same role for Dykes at Louisiana Tech from 2010-12. In his final campaign with the Bulldogs, Louisiana Tech posted a 9-3 record and led the nation in scoring offense (51.50 points per game) and total offense (577.92 ypg) to make Franklin a nominee for the Broyles Award given annually to the college football's top assistant coach and one of four finalists for the FootballScoop.com Offensive Coordinator of the Year.
In addition to leading the nation in scoring and total offense with an offense that posted the fifth-highest per-game scoring average ever by a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Louisiana Tech ranked among the NCAA's top 20 in 2012 in passing offense (3rd, 350.75 ypg), fewest sacks allowed (7th, 0.83 spg), turnover margin (10th, +1.08 per game) and rushing offense (18th, 227.17 ypg). The Bulldogs scored more than 40 points in 11 of 12 games and over 50 points on eight occasions.
Quarterback Colby Cameron was named the 2012 Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and earned the Sammy Baugh Award presented to college football's top passer by The Touchdown Club of Columbus. Cameron completed 359-of-522 passes (68.8%) for 4,147 yards and 31 touchdowns with just five interceptions. He ranked third nationally in total offense (360.33 ypg), while he was 22nd in the nation in passing efficiency (153.19). Cameron also set a new NCAA record for most consecutive passes without an interception over his first 428 attempts in 2012 and totaled 444 going back to the previous season.
Second-team AP All-American Quinton Patton, now a member of the San Francisco 49ers, was Cameron's top receiver and a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist in 2012 with 104 catches for 1,392 yards receiving and 13 touchdown receptions. Patton led the WAC in both per-game receiving yards (116.00 ypg) and receptions (8.67 rpg), with those numbers ranking fourth and fifth nationally.
On the ground, running back Kenneth Dixon was tabbed the WAC Freshman of the Year and earned Freshman All-American honors after breaking Marshall Faulk's NCAA freshman records for rushing touchdowns (27), total touchdowns (28) and points (168). Dixon led the country in scoring with an average of 14.00 points per game while totaling 1,194 yards on 200 carries. He was also second in the WAC and 33rd nationally in rushing with an average of 106.42 yards per game. Capital One Academic All-America® first teamer Ray Holley, a graduate student pursing a degree in counseling with a 3.50 GPA, added 740 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground over 142 rushes.
During Franklin's second season in Ruston in 2011 he orchestrated an offense that helped lead Louisiana Tech to an 8-5 overall record and a WAC title.
In Franklin's first year on Tech's staff, his spread offense exploded into a high-octane mechanism in the middle of the season resulting with the team scoring 34 or more points in four of the final six contests and 41 or more three times. Running back Lennon Creek was the team's top threat, rushing for 1,181 yards and 10 scores on 212 carries.
Franklin spent the 2009 season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Stockstill at Middle Tennessee prior to his three-year stint at Louisiana Tech. At MT, Franklin's offense generated 421.7 total yards of offense and 32.0 points per game, the fourth and seventh highest totals in school history for a team that posted a 10-3 record that was its best since 1992 and had a seven-game win streak to end the season. The Blue Raiders offense, which produced three All-Sun Belt Conference players, scored 30 or more points nine times, including each of the last five games, and topped the 400-yard mark in total offense on eight occasions. Franklin's 2009 unit set school records at the time in total yards (5,482), passing yards (3,064) and total points (416), with per-game averages that were 23rd nationally in scoring, and 27th in total offense and rushing offense (186.00 ypg).
Middle Tennessee quarterback Dwight Dasher came of age in Franklin's offensive schemes. The second-team All-Sun Belt Conference performer was the MVP of the 2009 New Orleans Bowl, where he broke Vince Young's NCAA record for yards rushing in a bowl game by a quarterback with 201 (since broken by Johnny Manziel in the 2013 Cotton Bowl). Dasher ranked seventh in the nation in total offense (303.31 ypg), threw for a school-record 23 TD passes and was named the SBC Player of the Week three times that season. Dasher finished the season with totals of 2,789 yards passing and 1,154 yards rushing to become only the eighth player in NCAA history to pass for over 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season, and the first quarterback in Middle Tennessee history to rush for 1,000.
Franklin made his way to Middle Tennessee after a brief stint as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn, where he coached the Tigers to an overtime victory over Clemson in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl. He remained in the role six games into the 2008 season, with Auburn adding to his Chick-fil-A Bowl victory in 2007 by sporting a 4-2 record in 2008 before he was released from his duties. The Tigers were 0-5 against Division I teams the remainder of the 2008 campaign following his departure.
Franklin was in the same capacity the previous two seasons at Troy (2006-07) where the Trojans combined to go 16-9 overall and 12-2 in the Sun Belt Conference while collecting two league titles. During that span his offense scored 30 or more points 11 times and on eight occasions in his second season, including games against Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma State. In 2007, his squad led the Sun Belt in scoring offense (34.00 ppg) and total offense (452.83 ypg), with a No. 16 national ranking in the latter.
In addition to helping the Trojans to their first Sun Belt Conference title and a victory in the New Orleans Bowl in his first season at Troy, Franklin helped engineer the second-ranked offensive unit in the Sun Belt just one year after the team ranked last in the league in total offense. The Trojans ranked first in the league in passing offense, again one year after ranking last, despite facing three of the top-20 ranked passing defense teams in the country during the season, and more than doubled their offensive output in conference action to 25.23 points per game.
Franklin spent four years on the football staff at Kentucky from 1997-2000 following 16 seasons as a high school football coach. During his tenure at Kentucky, the Wildcats enjoyed unprecedented success on the offensive side of the ball, setting several NCAA, SEC and school records. After coaching running backs for the first three seasons, Franklin was named offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the 2000 campaign and led the Wildcats to success as the nation's second-best passing offense as well as the country's 11th-best team in total offense.
Franklin's two-back combinations at Kentucky outgained any two-back combinations in the SEC in total yards from scrimmage for three straight seasons. Quarterbacks Tim Couch, Dusty Bonner and Jared Lorenzen each led the SEC in passing during their time as Kentucky quarterbacks, and Couch was the first player selected in the 1999 NFL Draft.
Franklin was also named one of the top 10 recruiters in the South during his four years at Kentucky as he helped lead the Wildcats to their first back-to-back bowl appearances in 15 seasons in 1998 and 1999, including their first New Year's Day Bowl game appearance in 47 years against Penn State in the Outback Bowl following the end of the 1998 campaign.
Franklin also spent one season in 2003 as the general manager and head coach of the Lexington Horsemen of the National Indoor Football League, successfully leading the team to a first-round playoff game and a 9-5 regular-season record as an expansion franchise in its inaugural season. The team paced the Atlantic Division in scoring, averaging 53.1 points per game.
In addition to his coaching career, Franklin is the owner of The Tony Franklin Systems that conducts a series of football seminars for coaches emphasizing winning solutions. USA Today took notice of Franklin's football coaching and teaching abilities in a feature story in 2005 which detailed his consulting successes as a nationally sought-after offensive football coach.
Franklin has also written a pair of books and received rave reviews for his second publication, Victor's Victory, which chronicled the tragic death and spectacular life of 15-year-old Hoover High School football player Victor Dionte Hill, who died from sudden cardiac arrest on the football practice field during one of Franklin's consulting sessions. The book has helped to continue the mission of Cheryl Hill, Victor's mother, to make teachers, coaches, and parents aware of the need for automatic external defibrillators (AED) in every school and youth organization in Alabama.
Franklin received his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Murray State in 1979 and 1989, where he was a two-year starter as a running back. He is married to Laura Franklin, and they have three daughters: Chelsea, Caroline and Caitlin.
Tony Franklin File
Birthdate: August 29, 1957
Hometown: Princeton, KY
High School: Caldwell County HS
College: Murray State, 1979, Bachelor's in History; Murray State, 1989, Master's In Education
Family: Wife, Laura; Daughters, Chelsea, Caroline and Caitlin
Collegiate Coaching History
Season: School – Position
1997: Kentucky – Running Backs
1998: Kentucky – Running Backs
1999: Kentucky – Running Backs
2000: Kentucky – Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
2006: Troy – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2007: Troy – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
*2008: Auburn – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2009: Middle Tennessee – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2010: Louisiana Tech – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2011: Louisiana Tech – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2012: Louisiana Tech – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2013: Cal – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2014: Cal – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2015: Cal – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Running Backs
*Also coached Auburn in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl
Bowl History (7 Games)
Season: School – Bowl
1998: Kentucky – Outback Bowl
1999: Kentucky – Music City Bowl
2006: Troy – New Orleans Bowl
2007: Auburn – Chick-fil-A Bowl
2009: Middle Tennessee – New Orleans Bowl
2011: Louisiana Tech – Poinsettia Bowl
2015: Cal – Armed Forces Bowl
*Season in which bowl/playoff was played
Franklin, who was previously the Cal Bears offensive coordinator the past three years, is considered one of the top offensive minds in the business as his offense has ranked in the top 10 nationally the last four years in passing, twice in total offense and twice in scoring.
Franklin's hiring is pending full approval by the Tennessee Board of Regents.
"As soon as we had the opening, Tony and I had conversations and he expressed his interest in coming to Middle Tennessee so we immediately started figuring out a way to make it work," said Stockstill. "I am extremely excited about working with Tony again. He did a great job here the last time and I know our players will love playing for him.
"I know our offensive players will be eager to learn from Tony because he is one of the top three or four offensive coordinators in the business with a proven track record. Everywhere he has coached, his offenses have been one of the most productive in the country and I can't wait for him to get here and start putting his plan into place."
Franklin won't be empty handed as the Blue Raiders return seven offensive starters off the most prolific unit in school history, including freshmen all-American's Brent Stockstill and Richie James.
"When Laura and I decided to move back East in order to be closer to our families we were thrilled to have a chance to join Rick Stockstill's staff and the Blue Raider family," said Franklin. "Our one season with the Blue Raiders in 2009 was one of our favorite journeys. We look forward to helping Coach Stock and the Blue Raider family achieve unprecedented success."
MT quarterback Brent Stockstill is also excited about the new addition.
"I am excited about the opportunity to play for Coach Franklin and can't wait to get started and learning his offense," said Brent.
Franklin's offense was a record-setting group that broke 12 single-season school or modern-era school records and was among the nation's best during his tenure at Cal.
Cal set new single-season school marks in 2015 on the offensive side of the ball for passing yardage (4,892), passing touchdowns (44), total offense (6,879), total yards per game (529.2), passing yards per game (376.3), and first downs (341). The Bears set a single-game team record with 760 yards of total offense and 36 first downs vs. Oregon State.
Cal finished 2015 ranked third nationally in passing, eighth in total offense, 14th in third down conversions and 17th in scoring.
Junior Jared Goff, projected to be a high NFL Draft pick in April, became the first Cal quarterback to earn first-team All-Pac-12 honors since Aaron Rodgers in 2004 and was a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. Goff was ranked as high as No. 3 on the USA Today Heisman Hot List and tied for No. 6 on ESPN's Heisman Watch after the team's 5-0 start.
Goff started all 13 games in 2015 and surpassed his own single-season records for passing yards (4,719), touchdown passes (43) and total offense (4,711) while becoming the ninth quarterback in Pac-12 history to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a campaign.
Goff led the Pac-12 and ranked third nationally in touchdown passes in 2015, while ranking second nationally in passing yards per game; third in passing yards, fifth in total offense and ninth in passing efficiency.
The Bears set or equaled nine single-season school or modern-era school records on the offensive side of the ball in 2014 in their second season under Franklin's leadership. Cal established single-season records for passing yards (4,152) and passing touchdowns (37) that were broken in 2015, as well as marks for total yards per game (495.2 ypg) and first downs passing (188). Cal also set modern-era school records for points (459), scoring average (38.2 ppg) and touchdowns (61) that were second all-time behind the 1920 team (510 points, 56.7 ppg, 72 touchdowns), while tying modern-era records for PAT (56) and PAT attempts (57). Cal's 5,942 yards of total offense in 2014 also ranked third in school history. In addition, the Bears became the first Cal team in the modern era to score 55 or more points in a game three times including 40 or more five times and 30 or more on 10 occasions.
Cal ranked in the top 25 nationally in a total of seven offensive categories in 2014 including passing offense (6th, 346.0 ypg), scoring offense (10th, 38.3 ppg), total offense (13th, 495.2 ypg), fourth-down conversion percentage (14th, 67.9%, 19-28), first downs offense (19th, 319), third-down conversions (23rd, 46.1%) and team passing efficiency (24th, 145.77).
Franklin's first offensive unit at Cal in 2013 set single-season school records for passing yards (3,977), pass completions (368) and total plays (1,046). The passing offense finished third in the Pac-12 and 10th in the nation with an average of 331.4 yards per game.
Franklin served in the same role for Dykes at Louisiana Tech from 2010-12. In his final campaign with the Bulldogs, Louisiana Tech posted a 9-3 record and led the nation in scoring offense (51.50 points per game) and total offense (577.92 ypg) to make Franklin a nominee for the Broyles Award given annually to the college football's top assistant coach and one of four finalists for the FootballScoop.com Offensive Coordinator of the Year.
In addition to leading the nation in scoring and total offense with an offense that posted the fifth-highest per-game scoring average ever by a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Louisiana Tech ranked among the NCAA's top 20 in 2012 in passing offense (3rd, 350.75 ypg), fewest sacks allowed (7th, 0.83 spg), turnover margin (10th, +1.08 per game) and rushing offense (18th, 227.17 ypg). The Bulldogs scored more than 40 points in 11 of 12 games and over 50 points on eight occasions.
Quarterback Colby Cameron was named the 2012 Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and earned the Sammy Baugh Award presented to college football's top passer by The Touchdown Club of Columbus. Cameron completed 359-of-522 passes (68.8%) for 4,147 yards and 31 touchdowns with just five interceptions. He ranked third nationally in total offense (360.33 ypg), while he was 22nd in the nation in passing efficiency (153.19). Cameron also set a new NCAA record for most consecutive passes without an interception over his first 428 attempts in 2012 and totaled 444 going back to the previous season.
Second-team AP All-American Quinton Patton, now a member of the San Francisco 49ers, was Cameron's top receiver and a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist in 2012 with 104 catches for 1,392 yards receiving and 13 touchdown receptions. Patton led the WAC in both per-game receiving yards (116.00 ypg) and receptions (8.67 rpg), with those numbers ranking fourth and fifth nationally.
On the ground, running back Kenneth Dixon was tabbed the WAC Freshman of the Year and earned Freshman All-American honors after breaking Marshall Faulk's NCAA freshman records for rushing touchdowns (27), total touchdowns (28) and points (168). Dixon led the country in scoring with an average of 14.00 points per game while totaling 1,194 yards on 200 carries. He was also second in the WAC and 33rd nationally in rushing with an average of 106.42 yards per game. Capital One Academic All-America® first teamer Ray Holley, a graduate student pursing a degree in counseling with a 3.50 GPA, added 740 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground over 142 rushes.
During Franklin's second season in Ruston in 2011 he orchestrated an offense that helped lead Louisiana Tech to an 8-5 overall record and a WAC title.
In Franklin's first year on Tech's staff, his spread offense exploded into a high-octane mechanism in the middle of the season resulting with the team scoring 34 or more points in four of the final six contests and 41 or more three times. Running back Lennon Creek was the team's top threat, rushing for 1,181 yards and 10 scores on 212 carries.
Franklin spent the 2009 season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Stockstill at Middle Tennessee prior to his three-year stint at Louisiana Tech. At MT, Franklin's offense generated 421.7 total yards of offense and 32.0 points per game, the fourth and seventh highest totals in school history for a team that posted a 10-3 record that was its best since 1992 and had a seven-game win streak to end the season. The Blue Raiders offense, which produced three All-Sun Belt Conference players, scored 30 or more points nine times, including each of the last five games, and topped the 400-yard mark in total offense on eight occasions. Franklin's 2009 unit set school records at the time in total yards (5,482), passing yards (3,064) and total points (416), with per-game averages that were 23rd nationally in scoring, and 27th in total offense and rushing offense (186.00 ypg).
Middle Tennessee quarterback Dwight Dasher came of age in Franklin's offensive schemes. The second-team All-Sun Belt Conference performer was the MVP of the 2009 New Orleans Bowl, where he broke Vince Young's NCAA record for yards rushing in a bowl game by a quarterback with 201 (since broken by Johnny Manziel in the 2013 Cotton Bowl). Dasher ranked seventh in the nation in total offense (303.31 ypg), threw for a school-record 23 TD passes and was named the SBC Player of the Week three times that season. Dasher finished the season with totals of 2,789 yards passing and 1,154 yards rushing to become only the eighth player in NCAA history to pass for over 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season, and the first quarterback in Middle Tennessee history to rush for 1,000.
Franklin made his way to Middle Tennessee after a brief stint as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn, where he coached the Tigers to an overtime victory over Clemson in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl. He remained in the role six games into the 2008 season, with Auburn adding to his Chick-fil-A Bowl victory in 2007 by sporting a 4-2 record in 2008 before he was released from his duties. The Tigers were 0-5 against Division I teams the remainder of the 2008 campaign following his departure.
Franklin was in the same capacity the previous two seasons at Troy (2006-07) where the Trojans combined to go 16-9 overall and 12-2 in the Sun Belt Conference while collecting two league titles. During that span his offense scored 30 or more points 11 times and on eight occasions in his second season, including games against Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma State. In 2007, his squad led the Sun Belt in scoring offense (34.00 ppg) and total offense (452.83 ypg), with a No. 16 national ranking in the latter.
In addition to helping the Trojans to their first Sun Belt Conference title and a victory in the New Orleans Bowl in his first season at Troy, Franklin helped engineer the second-ranked offensive unit in the Sun Belt just one year after the team ranked last in the league in total offense. The Trojans ranked first in the league in passing offense, again one year after ranking last, despite facing three of the top-20 ranked passing defense teams in the country during the season, and more than doubled their offensive output in conference action to 25.23 points per game.
Franklin spent four years on the football staff at Kentucky from 1997-2000 following 16 seasons as a high school football coach. During his tenure at Kentucky, the Wildcats enjoyed unprecedented success on the offensive side of the ball, setting several NCAA, SEC and school records. After coaching running backs for the first three seasons, Franklin was named offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the 2000 campaign and led the Wildcats to success as the nation's second-best passing offense as well as the country's 11th-best team in total offense.
Franklin's two-back combinations at Kentucky outgained any two-back combinations in the SEC in total yards from scrimmage for three straight seasons. Quarterbacks Tim Couch, Dusty Bonner and Jared Lorenzen each led the SEC in passing during their time as Kentucky quarterbacks, and Couch was the first player selected in the 1999 NFL Draft.
Franklin was also named one of the top 10 recruiters in the South during his four years at Kentucky as he helped lead the Wildcats to their first back-to-back bowl appearances in 15 seasons in 1998 and 1999, including their first New Year's Day Bowl game appearance in 47 years against Penn State in the Outback Bowl following the end of the 1998 campaign.
Franklin also spent one season in 2003 as the general manager and head coach of the Lexington Horsemen of the National Indoor Football League, successfully leading the team to a first-round playoff game and a 9-5 regular-season record as an expansion franchise in its inaugural season. The team paced the Atlantic Division in scoring, averaging 53.1 points per game.
In addition to his coaching career, Franklin is the owner of The Tony Franklin Systems that conducts a series of football seminars for coaches emphasizing winning solutions. USA Today took notice of Franklin's football coaching and teaching abilities in a feature story in 2005 which detailed his consulting successes as a nationally sought-after offensive football coach.
Franklin has also written a pair of books and received rave reviews for his second publication, Victor's Victory, which chronicled the tragic death and spectacular life of 15-year-old Hoover High School football player Victor Dionte Hill, who died from sudden cardiac arrest on the football practice field during one of Franklin's consulting sessions. The book has helped to continue the mission of Cheryl Hill, Victor's mother, to make teachers, coaches, and parents aware of the need for automatic external defibrillators (AED) in every school and youth organization in Alabama.
Franklin received his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Murray State in 1979 and 1989, where he was a two-year starter as a running back. He is married to Laura Franklin, and they have three daughters: Chelsea, Caroline and Caitlin.
Tony Franklin File
Birthdate: August 29, 1957
Hometown: Princeton, KY
High School: Caldwell County HS
College: Murray State, 1979, Bachelor's in History; Murray State, 1989, Master's In Education
Family: Wife, Laura; Daughters, Chelsea, Caroline and Caitlin
Collegiate Coaching History
Season: School – Position
1997: Kentucky – Running Backs
1998: Kentucky – Running Backs
1999: Kentucky – Running Backs
2000: Kentucky – Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
2006: Troy – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2007: Troy – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
*2008: Auburn – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2009: Middle Tennessee – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2010: Louisiana Tech – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2011: Louisiana Tech – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2012: Louisiana Tech – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2013: Cal – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2014: Cal – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2015: Cal – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Running Backs
*Also coached Auburn in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl
Bowl History (7 Games)
Season: School – Bowl
1998: Kentucky – Outback Bowl
1999: Kentucky – Music City Bowl
2006: Troy – New Orleans Bowl
2007: Auburn – Chick-fil-A Bowl
2009: Middle Tennessee – New Orleans Bowl
2011: Louisiana Tech – Poinsettia Bowl
2015: Cal – Armed Forces Bowl
*Season in which bowl/playoff was played
Players Mentioned
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