Ten weeks through the college football season, and Virginia Tech is sitting at 3-6 overall after a 28-16 loss to Louisville on Saturday afternoon. They enter a bye this upcoming weekend and have three games remaining before all eyes turn toward 2026.
When they turn toward 2026, they will have a new head coach, hopefully, replacing Brent Pry, who was fired back in September. There have been several names thrown around for the opening, including former Penn State coach James Franklin, but everything is just that, rumors. Let’s take a look at the program’s top potential replacement and power rank them.
Virginia Tech head coach candidate power rankings
This continues to be a name that is floated around the Hokies program. Charles Huff has plenty of experience and has been having success at Southern Mississippi after a good run at Marshall. He is a very good recruiter and thrives with in-game management. He already has his Golden Eagles bowl eligible this season.
This is another name from a Group of 5 schools that keeps popping up. Bob Chesney has the Dukes roling this year after a very good first year that saw them knock off North Carolina. Everywhere he has been, including Holy Cross before JMU, he had built a winner in a short amount of time. This would be a very god hire from a Group of 5 school.
The Gamecocks responded to a difficult loss against Alabama two weeks ago by giving Ole Miss a battle on the road before falling. With each passing week, it appears that South Carolina's season will end without a bowl game. That will not sit well in Columbia. Out of all the candidates, Shane Beamer makes the most sense and could end up being the next coach if he decides to bolt from South Carolina.
I was in the Dan Mullen group a couple of years ago, before Pry turned things around and got a comfortable seat in Blacksburg with the string finish to the 2023 season. Now with the job open, Mullen is quickly becoming a favorite of the fanbase and one of the top options. His work through the Transfer Portal in Year 1 at UNLV proves that the right choices are huge and he could quickly turn things around.
Franklin's name continues to come up around the Virginia Tech program, but with Auburn opening on Sunday and three other SEC jobs open, it could be getting dicy in terms of Franklin landing in Blacksburg. His recruiting success in the area and ability to build a winner would be the quickest turnaround hire the committee could make. If this is going to get done, it needs to get done as quickly as possible.