[2] Franklin was previously the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator of the Auburn University football team, before being fired from that position on October 8, 2008.
While a running back in college at Murray State in 1977, Franklin was a teammate of fellow future coach Bud Foster, who later came to prominence as the Virginia Tech defensive coordinator.
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.
In 2006, Franklin was hired by Larry Blakeney to serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Troy University.
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.
Auburn started the season with a somewhat disappointing 4–2 record, losing to LSU and Vanderbilt and having close calls against two struggling teams in Mississippi State and Tennessee.
[12] On February 5, 2009, Franklin was hired to fill the vacant position of offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State University.
Quarterback Dwight Dasher finished the season ranked 7th in the nation in total offense, threw for a school record 23 TD passes, and was named the SBC Player of the Week three times.
On February 17, 2010, Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Dykes announced the hiring of Franklin as offensive coordinator.
His copyrighted offensive system has been implemented by over 351 high school and college programs in 44 states across the nation,[26][27] grossing over $170,000 annually from his consulting services.
[28] Several college coaches including Sonny Dykes at Arizona, Chris Hatcher at Murray State and Ed Argast at Fordham consult with Franklin about their offenses.
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".
[28] After taking the offensive coordinator job at Auburn, Franklin was forced to sell the ownership of his football consulting business to partners because of a SEC rule prohibiting coaches from participating in a clinic not on the institution's premises.
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 to 2005 until he was hired at Troy.