Jethro Fitzgerald Franklin (born October 25, 1965) 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 who most recently was the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

coach for the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fro ...

Playing career

Franklin was born in

St. Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, while his father was stationed in the US military. He grew up in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, attended

Yerba Buena High School Yerba Buena High School is a public, comprehensive four-year high school located in the East San Jose area of San Jose, California, USA. Its athletic teams are well-known, and the school has the Engineering MAGNET program and the Green Construction/ ...

. He attended

San Jose City College San José City College (SJCC) is a public community college in San Jose, California. Founded in 1921, SJCC is located in the West San Jose neighborhood of Fruitdale. History The college was founded in 1921, opening its doors to students in Sept ...

, a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

, where he played both years and earned junior college All-American honors in 1985. He transferred to

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

, where he played for two seasons. While playing for the Bulldogs he earned All-American second-team honors both seasons, set a then-school record with 19.5 sacks his junior season, and was the Pacific Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Fresno State's MVP as a 1987 senior. He graduated from Fresno State with a bachelor's degree in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

in 1988. In the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Marq ...

, Franklin was drafted in the 11th round (298th overall) by the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

. He did not play for the Oilers, but played defensive line for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

in the 1989 season. He then was the No. 1 draft choice of the

San Antonio Riders The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas S ...

of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

in 1991, but instead opted to begin his coaching career.

Coaching career

Fresno State

Franklin returned to Fresno State to coach the defensive line from 1991–1998, this term included a pair of NFL coaching fellowships, working with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

in the summer of 1994 and the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in the summer of 1995.

UCLA

In 1999, he coached the interior defensive line for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Green Bay Packers

He then served as Defensive Line Coach for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

from 2000–2004.

USC

He coached the defensive line for USC during the 2005 season. He coached for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in 2006.

Houston Texans

He was a member of the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

from 2007 to 2008.

USC

Franklin returned to USC as the defensive line coach in 2009.Gary Klein
Pete Carroll promotes Rocky Seto to defensive coordinator
''Los Angeles Times'', January 8, 2009, Accessed January 8, 2009.

Temple University

He moved to coach the Defensive line at

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 18 ...

University of Miami

In 2011, he moved with

Al Golden Alfred James Golden Jr. (born July 4, 1969) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He is a former head coach at Temple from 2006 to 2010. He has also served for five years as defensive ...

to the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

Oakland Raiders

On February 6, 2015, he joined the Oakland Raiders.

Seattle Seahawks

On January 31, 2018, Franklin joined the

as assistant defensive line coach.

References

External links

Miami Bio Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Jethro 1965 births Living people American football defensive linemen Fresno State Bulldogs football players Seattle Seahawks players Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Green Bay Packers coaches USC Trojans football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Houston Texans coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches Players of American football from San Jose, California