Nearly everyone who closely follows college football agrees that James Franklin is a good coach—myself included. In an industry where nothing is a sure thing, Franklin is perceived to be as close as you can get to the often-referenced “home run hire.” Penn State believes in Franklin so much that they reportedly signed him to a six-year contract worth more than $4.5 million per year. To put that figure in context: He will make nearly as much as Urban Meyer and more than Les Miles.

Franklin rose to such lofty heights by leading the Vanderbilt Commodores to three straight bowl appearances. There’s no denying he had unprecedented success at Vanderbilt, but a close examination of his time with the Commodores and his previous stops at Maryland and Kansas State as offensive coordinator suggests that the legend of Franklin doesn’t align with the facts.

For starters, Franklin made a name for himself as an offensive coordinator at Kansas State and Maryland. Combining his time as an OC and head coach, he has eight seasons of guiding a college offense under his belt. How did his offenses fare? Unremarkably.

National Rankings of James Franklin’s Offenses

2006 Kansas State: Total offense – 85th Scoring offense – 69th
2007 Kansas State: Total offense – 40th Scoring offense – 18th
2008 Maryland: Total offense – 68th Scoring offense – 92nd
2009 Maryland: Total offense – 102nd  Scoring offense – 98th
2010 Maryland: Total offense – 80th Scoring offense – 29th
2011 Vanderbilt: Total offense – 98th Scoring offense – 61st
2012 Vanderbilt: Total offense – 91st Scoring offense – 63rd
2013 Vanderbilt: Total offense – 91st Scoring offense – 55th

In 2006, his first year as the offensive coordinator at Kansas State, his team ranked 85th nationally in total offense and 69th in scoring offense. Those numbers took a massive leap in 2007 and the 07 Kansas State offense ranks as his most prolific. He used that season to land the Maryland OC job, where, in his third year, the Terrapins managed to crack the top-30 in scoring. In three years at Vanderbilt, his offenses never ranked higher than 91st in total offense or 55th in scoring.

All told, in eight years running an offense either as a coordinator or head coach, Franklin’s teams averaged a national finish of 82nd in total offense and 60th scoring offense. Considering there are 124 FBS teams this year, that’s slightly below average. No matter how you spin it, he’s no offensive guru.

One of Franklin’s undeniable strengths is his ability to recruit. Vanderbilt’s 2013 recruiting class, Franklin’s last, ranked 19th according to Rivals while VU’s 2012 class finished inside the top-30. He certainly increased the level of talent from top to bottom at Vanderbilt, yet it’s worth noting that he was not responsible for recruiting Vandy’s best players.

Jordan Matthews, Zac Stacy, Jordan Rodgers and Chris Boyd? They were in Nashville pre-Franklin.

This year four Commodores were named to the AP All-SEC team. They all preceded Franklin’s time at Vanderbilt. In fact, during his three years in Nashville a commendable eight different players earned spots on an AP All-SEC team; yet Franklin didn’t recruit a single one of them.

Make no mistake Penn State fans you’re getting an energetic recruiter. But you’re also getting a coach who won primarily with players he didn’t recruit and whose own recruits remain largely unproven at the college level.

No discussion of Franklin would be complete without bringing up his record against teams with a winning record.

Franklin took over a Commodore team that had won just four games the prior two seasons combined. In his first year anchoring Vanderbilt (I had to) his squad improved to 6-7 (2-6 in the SEC). Their two SEC wins came over teams with a combined two SEC wins. In 2012, VU went 5-3 in the SEC and 9-4 overall, remarkable by Commodore standards, but who did they beat?

Their five SEC wins came over Auburn and Kentucky (who combined for zero conference wins), Tennessee (one SEC win), Missouri (two SEC wins), and Ole Miss (three SEC wins). The 2012 campaign saw the Commodores knock off two teams that finished the year with a winning record—Ole Miss (7-6) and NC State (7-6). In 2013, Vanderbilt picked up two more wins over teams with a winning record (8-5 Georgia and 8-5 Houston).

Though Franklin leaves Vanderbilt with a respectable (though sub-.500) SEC record (11-13), he beat just two SEC teams with a winning record—8-5 Georgia in 2013 and 7-6 Ole Miss in 2012. Franklin’s 11 SEC wins came over teams that went a combined 18-70 in conference play.

Look, I get it. It’s Vanderbilt. They’re not supposed to beat the big dogs. The problem with that is Bobby Johnson, who most remember more for looking like Steve Martin than for his coaching abilities (see pic below), managed to compete with the SEC elite as recently as 2008. Johnson’s 2008 Commodores went 7-6 with a victory over No. 24 South Carolina, a road win at Ole Miss (who finished 9-4 and ranked No. 14), a win over No. 14 Auburn, and a win at Kentucky (who finished 7-6). They also knocked off Boston College in the Music City Bowl, a team that went 9-5, for their first bowl win since 1982.

In 2008 alone Johnson’s team managed five wins over opponents with winning records. Franklin had four such wins during his three years at Vanderbilt. Johnson’s squad downed three ranked teams in 2008, No. 8 South Carolina on the road in 2007, and No. 14 Georgia on the road in 2006—giving him five wins over ranked teams in a three-year period at Vanderbilt. Franklin notched one win over a ranked opponent in his three-year run with the Commodores.

Franklin may have won more games in a three-year span, but Vanderbilt certainly had more success against quality opponents under Johnson. Unlike Franklin, Johnson’s tenure also came at a time when traditional powers Florida and Tennessee weren’t mired in historically bad stretches and while Kentucky was winning eight games instead of recording consecutive winless seasons in conference play.

In order for Penn State to reclaim its spot among college football’s elite, Franklin will have to improve his record against ranked and bowl-eligible opponents. The Nittany Lions face five teams in 2014 which finished the 2013 season over-.500, so he will get a chance to prove himself immediately. For now, Penn State is paying a coach with one win over a ranked foe Urban Meyer-level money.

Without a doubt, Franklin is a good coach who accomplished remarkable things at Vanderbilt. But the next time someone tries to tell you he’s a home run hire, ignore the hype and point them to the facts that he still has a long was to go toward justifying his $4.5 million salary.