Penn State's athletics department has announced the school's athletic director and president have an announcement to make Saturday.

According to ESPN and several other sources, the school will announce the hiring of James Franklin as the Nittany Lions head football coach. The coach confirmed the news himself Saturday in a statement.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to come home," Franklin said Saturday. "I grew up watching Penn State football and now to be at the helm of such a storied program is a tremendous honor. It's important to me to be a part of a university that strives for excellence in everything they do.

"When football student-athletes come to Penn State, they have a unique opportunity to receive a premium education while playing at the highest level of competition."

Unnamed sources said earlier in the week that Franklin accepted the offer and it would be officially announced Saturday.

CLICK HERE for a live stream of Penn State's press conference, reportedly to announce James Franklin's hiring.

Penn State's athletics department tweeted at 2:30 p.m. Friday that school president Rodney Erickson and athletic director Dave Joyner will make a "major announcement" on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.

Penn State spokesman Lisa Powers told ESPN there will be a closed meeting Saturday morning to discuss compensation for a certain person, whom unnamed sources said was Franklin. Sources also told ESPN Franklin did not officially accept the offer until it was approved.

Franklin may earn as much as $4.5 million per year, which would put him right behind Ohio State's Urban Meyer. Comparatively, Franklin reportedly made $3 million at Vanderbilt and Bill O'Brien made $3.82 million while at Penn State.

Franklin will be leaving a Vanderbilt program that he led to 24 wins in three season and a bowl game in each one, including two straight postseason wins. However, Vanderbilt athletic director David Williams said on Tennessee radio show the First Quarter that he and Franklin were going to meet Friday. The Tennessean reported Thursday that Franklin told Williams he had not accepted any offer.

While that seems to be technically true, reports from ESPN and CBS Sports and Penn State's announcement seem to point to James Franklin becoming the next head football coach of the Nittany Lions.

Also Thursday night, interim head coach Larry Johnson, who expressed interest in the permanent job, said his status had not yet changed. It is not clear if he will go back to being the team's defensive line coach, although he has been with the Nittany Lions for 18 years and a change of scenery may not be imminent.

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