After his firing from Penn State in October, James Franklin has found his next stop.
Virginia Tech hired Franklin on Monday to be its new head coach following Brent Pry’s firing in September.
“I’m honored and humbled to join the Hokie family,” Franklin said in a statement. “My vision is simple: to restore unmatched excellence, to build something that lasts, and to serve this University, the Commonwealth of Virginia and our amazing fan base with honor, integrity, and passion. I look forward to getting to work with our players, our staff, and the entire Virginia Tech community.”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the two sides were “finalizing” a contract.
There was plenty of speculation about Franklin going to Virginia Tech in the weeks following his firing, and it became more than just speculation when Thamel reported on College GameDay on Saturday that there was “mutual interest” and the two sides were in the “early stages” of talks.
Franklin, 53, was the head coach of the Nittany Lions from 2014 until 2025, leading the team to six seasons with 10 or more wins, a Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff appearance.
His best season with the Nittany Lions came in 2024, when they reached the CFP Semifinal game but lost to Notre Dame to cap off a 13-3 season.
Franklin and Penn State started the season 3-0 and had championship hopes, but lost three consecutive games, including major upsets against UCLA and Northwestern, before Franklin was fired.
Though Franklin found plenty of success before his exit, Penn State athletic director Patrick Kraft said it was “the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships.”
Before his time at Penn State, Franklin was Vanderbilt’s head coach, and he led the Commodores to back-to-back nine-win seasons after decades of struggle.
Franklin has won wherever he’s been, and he’ll now look to do that with Virginia Tech as he searches for his first national championship.
Pry was Virginia Tech’s head coach from 2022 to 2025, but never won more than seven games. The Hokies decided to move on from him after starting the season 0-3 with losses to South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Old Dominion.
With Pry out of the picture, Virginia Tech is currently 3-7 on the season.
While Franklin has proven to find success in the past, he has his work cut out for him in Blacksburg. The Hokies haven’t been nationally relevant for a while, with their last 10-win season coming in 2016 and their last conference title coming in 2010. Virginia Tech isn’t exactly a recruiting powerhouse, either.
But the Hokies now have an established coach who will be able to lure talent in the transfer portal as well as in recruiting, and things could be looking up for Virginia Tech soon.