Tony Franklin (coach)

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Tony Franklin

Title Offensive coordinator
Quarterbacks coach
College Auburn
Sport Football
Conference SEC
Born August 29, 1957 (1957-08-29) (age 50)
Place of birth Princeton, KY
Career highlights
Playing career
1976-1977 Murray State
Position Running back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997-2000
2003
2006-2007
2007-present		 Kentucky (RB 97-99, OC/WR)
Lexington Horsemen (NIFL)
Troy (OC)
Auburn (OC/QB)

Tony Franklin (born August 29, 1957(1957-08-29) in Princeton, Kentucky) is an American college football coach. Franklin is currently the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator of the Auburn University football team. Franklin is known for his expertise in the spread offense and for developing quarterbacks. Under his guidance, quarterbacks Tim Couch, Dusty Bonner, and Jared Lorenzen each led the SEC in passing, with Couch becoming the first player selected in the 1999 NFL Draft.

Contents

[edit] Coaching career

Franklin began his career as a high school coach in 1979, and continued in this capacity until he was hired by Hal Mumme in 1997 to coach runningbacks at Kentucky. After serving as runningbacks coach for three seasons, Franklin was named offensive coordinator for the 2000 season and led the Wildcats to the nation’s 2nd best passing offense[1], as well as the nation’s 11th best team in total offense (445 yards per game).[2] He helped lead the Wildcats to their first back to back bowl appearances in 15 years and their first New Year’s Bowl game appearance in 50 seasons. During his tenure at Kentucky, Franklin was named one of the top 10 recruiters in the South. In 2003, Franklin was chosen as general manager and head coach of the expansion franchise Lexington Horsemen of the National Indoor Football League, successfully leading the team to the playoffs in their inaugural season by scoring 53.1 points per game.

In 2006, Franklin was hired by Larry Blakeney to serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Troy University. In his first season at Troy, Franklin turned the teams stuttering offense around from the last placed offensive unit in the Sun Belt Conference prior to his arrival, to leading the league in passing and ranking second in overall offense. This remarkable turnaround helped the Trojans win their first Sun Belt Conference title as well as the school's first bowl win, with a victory in the New Orleans Bowl. Prior to Franklin's arrival, Troy hadn't ranked better than 109th nationally in total offense in the previous four seasons.[3] In 2007, the Trojans ranked 16th nationally in total offense (453 yards per game)[4] and 25th nationally in scoring offense (34 points per game)[5], helping the team win back to back Sun Belt Conference titles.

After spending two seasons with the Trojans, Franklin was hired on December 12, 2007 by Tommy Tuberville to serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn University.[6] Franklin implemented his new spread offense with only 8 days of practice prior to the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl. The new system proved quite effective as Auburn bested their season average in all offensive categories, posting 423 yards of offense (233 passing / 190 rushing), had 24 first downs and ran an 11-year high 90 offensive plays, all despite playing against the #6 defense in the nation.[7].

[edit] Instruction

Franklin is well known for owning and operating The Tony Franklin System Seminar. His copyrighted offensive system has been implemented by roughly 275 high school and college programs throughout the nation[8], grossing over $170,000 annually from his consulting services.[9] Pro Football Hall of Famer John Hannah says of the system "If both teams have players who are equal in talent, this offense is impossible to stop".[9].

Besides his offensive consulting work, Franklin has written a pair of football related books. In 2001, Franklin authored a nationally acclaimed book titled Fourth Down and Life To Go (ISBN 9780971428003), which chronicled his experiences with coaching football in Kentucky. The book detailed the inner workings of the Kentucky football program and effectively blacklisted him from coaching from 2001-2005 until he was hired at Troy.[10] He authored a second book in 2005 titled Victor’s Victory (ISBN 9780971428010), which dealt with the sudden death of 15 year old Hoover High School football player Victor Dionte Hill, who died from a cardiac arrest during one of Franklin’s consulting sessions. The book has helped bring awareness of the need for automated external defibrillators in every school and youth organization.

[edit] References

  1. ^ IA National Team Report - Passing Offense. NCAA (2001). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  2. ^ IA National Team Report - Total Offense. NCAA (2001). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  3. ^ Troy brings new offensive scheme to NU. The Grand Island Independent (2006). Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  4. ^ FBS National Team Report - Total Offense. NCAA (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  5. ^ FBS National Team Report - Scoring Offense. NCAA (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  6. ^ Auburn names Tony Franklin offensive coordinator. NBC Sports (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  7. ^ Auburn offers glimpse of future in bowl win. Sporting News (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  8. ^ Auburn hopes to score points with recruits. The Birmingham News (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
  9. ^ a b Former college coach becoming prep offense guru. USA Today (2005). Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  10. ^ College coordinators partying like jock stars - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Al Borges		 Auburn University Offensive Coordinator
2007–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent