When Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry in September after an 0-3 start and an embarrassing loss at home to Old Dominion, it didn't come as a surprise. It was the first of what turned out to be several coaching changes that were about to come. It turned into a crazy coaching carousel.
After Pry was fired, the one thing that everyone knew was that this was a hire that the school needed to get right. They couldn't afford to strike out with a third straight hire. It would set the program back even further than it already was since Frank Beamer retired.
A month after Pry was fired, Penn State fired James Franklin, making him the top coach on the open market. In mid-November, he agreed to be the next head coach of the Hokies, and he has hit the ground running. Brad Shepard of Bleacher Report ranked the best coaching hires, head and assistant, this year, and he had a take that was unsurprising on Virginia Tech and Franklin.
CFB writer lists Virginia Tech's hiring of James Franklin as one of the best coaching hires
"From Day 1, the best fit was at Virginia Tech – a sleeping giant with an incredible recruiting base that Franklin routinely raided during his days in Happy Valley. Now, he'll bring that acumen to lure top-tier talent to Blacksburg, at a place starved for a winner,'' wrote Shepard. "Ironically, he reunited with his old defensive coordinator, Brent Pry, who left PSU to become the head coach at Tech. Franklin is replacing him, but Pry is back to lead the defense. It seems like a perfect match and a place Franklin can stay for a long time.''
There is no doubt that Virginia Tech is a sleeping giant waiting to be woken up. If there is someone who could wake it up, it's Franklin. Bringing back Pry as his defensive coordinator was surprising, but they had a ton of success together at Penn State before Pry left for Blacksburg. We'll see how long it will take Franklin to turn things around with the Hokies.