James Franklin might still be chasing his first college football national championship but the Penn State head coach already owns a Mermaid Bowl trophy.
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After a year as receivers coach at Kutztown University, the 24-year-old Franklin hopped the pond to become offensive coordinator of the Roskilde Kings of the Danish American Football Federation.
"I got done at Kutztown and I accepted a position to be the quarterback and offensive coordinator in Roskilde, Denmark," he recalled. "I did that. My contract ran till the end of the season. They never had a whole lot of success. We ended up making it to the national championship game.”
The Kings knocked off six-time champion Copenhagen in the Mermaid Bowl, 62-48, for their first-ever title, and Franklin immediately returned to the United States.
MORE: Why Would Franklin Leave Penn State?
“I had already agreed to start my graduate assistant position [at East Stroudsburg],” Franklin said. “I actually flew back from Denmark at the end of the season, went to school for a week at East Stroudsburg, flew back to Denmark for the weekend, we won the championship, and I flew back and was at school on Monday. That’s why I have no sympathy or excuses for our players missing class.”
Twenty-one years later, Franklin is the fourth-year head coach of the Nittany Lions whose résumé includes Vanderbilt, Kansas State, the Green Bay Packers and the Roskilde Kings.
Here are eight more current FBS head coaches that have coached for teams you've never heard of.
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Jeff Brohm
Team: Louisville Fire
League: AF2
Jeff Brohm called it quits on his playing career after a one-year stint with the Orlando Rage of the XFL in 2001. He immediately became head coach of the Louisville Fire, a second-year team in the AF2, the Arena Football League's development league.
The 31-year-old Brohm went 2-14 and left to be the quarterbacks coach at Louisville, his alma mater.
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Paul Chryst
Team: San Antonio Riders
League: World League of American Football
Paul Chryst got his first full-time coaching job in 1991 when San Antonio Riders' head coach Mike Riley hired him to be an offensive assistant for their inaugural season.
The Riders played in the World League of American Football (NFL Europe) for two seasons before shutting down. Chryst coached at four different teams over the next four years before linking up with Riley again in 1997 as Oregon State offensive coordinator.
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Mike Leach
Team: Pori Bears
League: American Football Association of Finland
Twenty-eight-year-old Mike Leach — following a year apiece as an assistant at Cal Poly (1987) and College of the Desert (1988) — became head coach of the Pori Bears of the American Football Association of Finland in 1989.
He left the Bears — who still exist but have since changed leagues multiple times — a year later to become offensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyan.
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Mike MacIntyre
Team: Deggendorf Black Hawks
League: Bayernliga
Mike MacIntyre had just one year of experience as a full-time coach (defensive coordinator at Davidson) when he became the 27-year-old head coach of the Deggendorf Black Hawks (now the Platting Black Hawks) in Germany in 1992.
He returned to the United States a year later as defensive coordinator at UT-Martin.
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Joe Moglia
Team: Omaha Nighthawks
League: United Football League
Joe Moglia became the unlikely head coach of the Omaha Nighthawks — likely the most recognizable team on this list — in 2011 after two years as a volunteer assistant at Nebraska.
The Nighthawks played three seasons in the United Football League before it folded after the 2012 season. Moglia went 1-3 in his only season as head coach. He took the Coastal Carolina job in December 2011.
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Mike Neu
Teams: Nashville Kats, Augusta Stallions, Carolina Cobras, New Orleans Voodoo
League: AFL and AF2
Mike Neu bounced around the AFL and AF2 for more than a decade as an assistant for the Kats (1998) and Cobras (2001) and head coach for the Stallions (2000), Cobras (2001-02) and VooDoo (2004-08).
The former arena player coached current Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester with the Cobras in 2001. Leu spent time with the New Orleans Saints and Tulane before returning to his alma mater, Ball State, in 2016.
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Gary Patterson
Team: Oregon Lightning Bolts
League: Professional Spring Football League
Just six years before Gary Patterson became head coach at TCU, he was the 32-year-old head coach of the Oregon Lightning Bolts — though he never coached a game.
The Professional Spring Football League was scheduled to begin in 1992 but it folded before any games were played. Patterson immediately became an assistant at Utah State and — after stops at Navy and New Mexico — head coach of the Horned Frogs in 1998.
MORE: Patterson Almost Left TCU for Minnesota 11 Years Ago
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Mark Whipple
Team: Arizona Wranglers
League: United States Football League
Twenty-seven-year-old Mark Whipple led the Arizona Wranglers to a 10-8 record and playoff berth in 1984, his lone season with the team. After losing the USFL Championship to the Philadelphia Stars, the Wranglers became the Outlaws after merging with the Oklahoma Outlaws.
Whipple was named New Hampshire offensive coordinator in 1985, which was also the final year of existence for the USFL, and is in his second stint as UMass head coach.
