By Grace Raynor
Nov. 17, 2025
Updated 4:36 pm EST
-The Athletic
Five weeks after his stunning exit at Penn State, James Franklin appears to have landed his next coaching job.
Virginia Tech is finalizing a deal to hire the 53-year-old, according to a person briefed on the negotiations.He will replace Brent Pry, who was Franklin’s defensive coordinator with Vanderbilt and Penn State for over a decade and went 16-24 with Virginia Tech before being fired on Sept. 14. ESPN and CBS first reported the news.
Franklin had been at Penn State since the 2014 season and took the Nittany Lions to a College Football Playoff semifinal just a season ago. His Penn State teams infamously struggled to win games on the biggest stages, going 4-21 against top-10 teams and 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams. But 2025 was projected to be the season the Nittany Lions put everything together to make a legitimate run at a national title. Instead, everything fell apart by mid-October after the Nittany Lions dropped three consecutive games to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern. The Oregon loss was not expected to end the Nittany Lions’ Playoff hopes, but losing to the previously winless Bruins on the road and the Wildcats at home rapidly tanked the season. Athletic director Pat Kraft fired him Oct. 12.
Six days after he was fired, Franklin went on ESPN’s “College GameDay” and made it clear he wanted to coach again. Franklin spoke like someone confident that everything was still in front of him, despite him never getting over the hump at Penn State. He takes over a Virginia Tech program that has not won more than eight games since 2017 and is on pace to finish with its fifth losing record in the past six seasons.
“We’re just going to go win the national championship somewhere else now,” he said a week after being fired.
Virginia Tech enlisted an eight-member search committee to hire its next head coach. Super Bowl-winning coach Bruce Arians (a Virginia Tech grad), former defensive coordinator Bud Foster and former star wide receiver Eddie Royal were all on the committee.
Franklin to Virginia Tech makes sense for both parties.
In Blacksburg, Franklin won’t be under the same level of pressure and scrutiny that he was in State College, but he would still have a path to the Playoff if the Hokies were to win the league. With traditional powers Clemson and Florida State both down this year, the ACC is wide open, and Franklin is a proven builder. In his second season at Vanderbilt in 2012, he delivered the Commodores the program’s first nine-win season since 1915.
Virginia Tech has also proven that it is willing to compete financially, with the Board of Visitors approving a $229 million addition to the budget plan over the next four years intended to make the Hokies’ athletic programs among the most competitive in the league. Not to mention, Franklin has significant recruiting ties to the state, including the Hampton Roads area around Virginia Beach — the state’s most fertile recruiting ground. As recently as the 2023 recruiting class, Penn State signed six of Virginia’s top 10 prospects.
The Hokies won their first two games under interim coach Philip Montgomery after Pry was fired and held a 16-7 halftime lead over No. 16 Louisville in early November before fading in the second half.
Virginia Tech hiring Franklin marks the first major hiring of the coaching carousel. LSU, Florida, Penn State, Auburn, Arkansas, UCLA and Oklahoma State are among the schools with vacancies.
Nov. 17, 2025
Updated 4:36 pm EST
-The Athletic
Five weeks after his stunning exit at Penn State, James Franklin appears to have landed his next coaching job.
Virginia Tech is finalizing a deal to hire the 53-year-old, according to a person briefed on the negotiations.He will replace Brent Pry, who was Franklin’s defensive coordinator with Vanderbilt and Penn State for over a decade and went 16-24 with Virginia Tech before being fired on Sept. 14. ESPN and CBS first reported the news.
Franklin had been at Penn State since the 2014 season and took the Nittany Lions to a College Football Playoff semifinal just a season ago. His Penn State teams infamously struggled to win games on the biggest stages, going 4-21 against top-10 teams and 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams. But 2025 was projected to be the season the Nittany Lions put everything together to make a legitimate run at a national title. Instead, everything fell apart by mid-October after the Nittany Lions dropped three consecutive games to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern. The Oregon loss was not expected to end the Nittany Lions’ Playoff hopes, but losing to the previously winless Bruins on the road and the Wildcats at home rapidly tanked the season. Athletic director Pat Kraft fired him Oct. 12.
Six days after he was fired, Franklin went on ESPN’s “College GameDay” and made it clear he wanted to coach again. Franklin spoke like someone confident that everything was still in front of him, despite him never getting over the hump at Penn State. He takes over a Virginia Tech program that has not won more than eight games since 2017 and is on pace to finish with its fifth losing record in the past six seasons.
“We’re just going to go win the national championship somewhere else now,” he said a week after being fired.
Virginia Tech enlisted an eight-member search committee to hire its next head coach. Super Bowl-winning coach Bruce Arians (a Virginia Tech grad), former defensive coordinator Bud Foster and former star wide receiver Eddie Royal were all on the committee.
Franklin to Virginia Tech makes sense for both parties.
In Blacksburg, Franklin won’t be under the same level of pressure and scrutiny that he was in State College, but he would still have a path to the Playoff if the Hokies were to win the league. With traditional powers Clemson and Florida State both down this year, the ACC is wide open, and Franklin is a proven builder. In his second season at Vanderbilt in 2012, he delivered the Commodores the program’s first nine-win season since 1915.
Virginia Tech has also proven that it is willing to compete financially, with the Board of Visitors approving a $229 million addition to the budget plan over the next four years intended to make the Hokies’ athletic programs among the most competitive in the league. Not to mention, Franklin has significant recruiting ties to the state, including the Hampton Roads area around Virginia Beach — the state’s most fertile recruiting ground. As recently as the 2023 recruiting class, Penn State signed six of Virginia’s top 10 prospects.
The Hokies won their first two games under interim coach Philip Montgomery after Pry was fired and held a 16-7 halftime lead over No. 16 Louisville in early November before fading in the second half.
Virginia Tech hiring Franklin marks the first major hiring of the coaching carousel. LSU, Florida, Penn State, Auburn, Arkansas, UCLA and Oklahoma State are among the schools with vacancies.