Carl Franks (born December 1, 1960) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player. He currently serves as the

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

s coach at

Bethune–Cookman University Bethune–Cookman University (BCU or Bethune–Cookman) is a private historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune–Cookman University is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The primary administration building, Wh ...

. Franks served as the head football coach at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

from 1999 to 2003, compiling a record of 7–45. He played football at Duke where he was an Academic All-ACC selection.

Coaching career

Franks was as an assistant coach under Steve Spurrier for 12 years. He served as Spurrier's

s coach with the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal o ...

in 1985, at Duke from 1987 to 1989 and at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

from 1990 to 1992 and again from 1995 to 1998, serving as the position coach for future

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

er Fred Taylor. He was Florida's

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

s coach in 1993 and inside

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

s coach in 1994. Franks then served as the 19th head coach of his alma mater, Duke, from 1999 to 2003. Appointed as head coach on his 38th birthday, he was dismissed five years later after amassing a 7–45 record, including 0-11 seasons in 2000 and 2001. Despite the poor record, Franks was lauded for the academic success of his players, and his program won the Academic Achievement Award from the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

in 2003. Franks was the running backs coach at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

from 2004 to 2012 under head coaches

Jim Leavitt James Pierce Leavitt (born December 5, 1956) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head coach at the University of South Florida from the football program's inception in 1997 until 2009, compiling a record of 95–57. ...

and

Skip Holtz Louis Leo "Skip" Holtz Jr. (born March 12, 1964) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). Previously, he was the head coach for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (201 ...

. He was the Bulls' interim head coach for six days in January 2010, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the program, between the firing of

and the hiring of

. After Holtz's firing in December 2012, new head coach

Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football college coach. He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs: Western Kentucky (2009 to 2012 seasons); South Florida (2013 to ...

did not retain Franks on his staff. After spending the 2013 season out of coaching, in 2014, Franks was named running backs coach at Bethune-Cookman.

Head coaching record

*Final 5 games coached by

Ted Roof Terrence Edwin Roof Jr. (born December 11, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Oklahoma. He previously served as a defensive analyst at Clemson Univers ...

References

External links

Bethune–Cookman profile

South Florida profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franks, Carl 1960 births Living people American football running backs Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football Duke Blue Devils football players Duke Blue Devils football coaches Florida Gators football coaches South Florida Bulls football coaches VMI Keydets football coaches United States Football League coaches