Jethro Franklin


Jethro Franklin is an American football coach and former player who is the assistant defensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League.

Playing career

Franklin was born in St. Nazaire, France, while his father was stationed in the US military. He grew up in San Jose, California, attended Yerba Buena High School. He attended San Jose City College, a junior college, where he played both years and earned junior college All-American honors in 1985. He transferred to Fresno State University, 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 in 1988.
In the 1988 NFL Draft, Franklin was drafted in the 11th round by the Houston Oilers. He did not play for the Oilers, but played defensive line for the Seattle Seahawks in the 1989 season. He then was the No. 1 draft choice of the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football 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 in the summer of 1994 and the Cleveland Browns in the summer of 1995.

UCLA

In 1999, he coached the interior defensive line for UCLA.

Green Bay Packers

He then served as Defensive Line Coach for the Green Bay Packers from 2000–2004.

USC

He coached the defensive line for USC during the 2005 season. He coached for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2006.

Houston Texans

He was a member of the Houston Texans from 2007 to 2008.

USC

Franklin returned to USC as the defensive line coach in 2009.

Temple University

He moved to coach the Defensive line at Temple Owls.

University of Miami

In 2011, he moved with Al Golden to the Miami Hurricanes.

Oakland Raiders

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

Seattle Seahawks

On January 31, 2018, Franklin joined the Seattle Seahawks as assistant defensive line coach.