College football's most powerful man, and college football's most powerful collective of agents, have gotten even more powerful on the national landscape.
Multiple sources confirm to FootballScoop Monday night that Jimmy Sexton and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) have been tabbed to direct the representation of college football powerhouse coach James Franklin.
The Penn State coach, a prime candidate for the University of Southern Cal vacancy and leader of a Nittany Lions' program that's spent the first half of this season in College Football Playoff contention, previously was represented by Trace Armstrong of Athletes First.
Sexton's client list is a veritable Who's Who of college coaches, including but not limited to Alabama's Nick Saban, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin, Florida coach Dan Mullen, Georgia's Kirby Smart, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and formerly Hall of Fame Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, among myriad others.
Sexton's colleagues at CAA also represent some of the brightest young, up-and-coming coaches in the game including Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, Arkansas' Kendal Briles and Notre Dame defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, among others who are expected to be viable head coaching candidates in the upcoming 2021-22 coaching cycle.
Already, a half-dozen Football Bowls Subdivision jobs are open or imminently coming open, including the aforementioned USC, LSU, Texas Tech, UConn, Georgia Southern, Washington State and Florida International, which is expecting Butch Davis to retire at season's end with a contract that expires in mid-December.
Franklin's name has been among the top candidates for the USC job since the firing last month of embattled Trojans coach Clay Helton. Though Franklin's persistently sought to keep focus on his Nittany Lions, who were undefeated until a road loss at then-No. 2 Iowa and suffered a stunning, nine-overtime loss last weekend against Illinois.
Armstrong negotiated Franklin's last extension at Penn State, which established an escalating salary that was set to peak in 2025 with base compensation of approximately $6.5 million, per public records.
Franklin's buyout to exit Penn State for another position dropped this year to $4 million.
Earlier today we released an update on USC's search.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest coaching news.