Earlier in the season, the Virginia Tech Hokies fired Head Coach Brent Pry after an embarrassing start to the season. When the Hokies fired Brent Pry, there was a ton of questions around who they'd be able to attract as a head coach. When the move was made, no one ever could've imagined that they'd hire Penn State head coach James Franklin.
Flash forward, and James Franklin has since been fired at Penn State, and hired by the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Sources: Virginia Tech and James Franklin are finalizing an agreement for him to become the school’s next coach. Franklin has won 128 games over 15 seasons as the head coach at Vanderbilt and Penn State. He led Penn State to the CFP semi-finals last year. pic.twitter.com/Pr4TyLBB9N
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 17, 2025
The Virginia Tech Hokies were able to land their top pick of head coaches before the coaching carousel even truly opened marking a massive win for the program.
Virginia Tech has finally found Frank Beamer's replacement
Ever since Frank Beamer retired, the Virginia Tech Hokies have been searching for that stablizing figure that the program can count on. It took a few tries for the Hokies to nail the hire, but James Franklin is the perfect hire.
While James Franklin never reached the mountain top at Penn State, the Nittany Lions were constantly in contention to win the conference, and compete for the College Football Playoff. Given the current state of the ACC with Florida State and Clemson reeling, James Franklin should be able to build the Hokies up just like he did at Penn State.
James Franklin's only below .500 season at Penn State came during the pandemic when his team went 4-5 which is excusable given the circumstances. Franklin has built a winner where it's hard to compete with back-to-back 9 win seasons at Virginia Tech.
Franklin will get to recruit the same area he was able to succeed in while coaching Penn State which should let this program recruit at a higher level than it has. Hiring Franklin already proves that the program is invested in winning and they should see a solid return on investment.
The question long term will be if Franklin views Blacksburg as a home or a stepping stone as it'll determine if he ever reaches the level of love Frank Beamer received at Virginia Tech.