Virginia Tech has a search committee in place to hire the next football coach after Brent Pry was fired last month. Just where the committee goes in search of its next coach remains to be seen.
Last Sunday, a wrinkle in the coaching search was thrown at the committee when Penn State fired James Franklin. That moved the Nittany Lions right up to the top of the list for an opening this coaching cycle.
This Sunday could be an eventful day in terms of coaching moves, with several coaches on the hot seat, and that was the case with another job opening in the SEC when Florida fired Billy Napier. Is that a better job than Penn State? No, but it certainly moves ahead of Virginia Tech in the pecking order of available jobs.
Florida firing Billy Napier moves the SEC school ahead of Virginia Tech
Again, this move pushes Florida past Virginia Tech in the pecking order of jobs. Is it going to swipe Virignia Tech's committee's top choice? Highly unlikely, however, there will be dominoes that fall from it in terms of where coaches end up.
Just like Penn State, there are going to be several names linked to this job, including South Florida coach Alex Golesh. That would be a fascinating move after the Bulls went into Gainesville and took down the ranked Gators back in September.
It would not be out of the question that Franklin is linked to this job, as his going back to the Big Ten would seem unlikely, and Arkansas, which opened up last month, too, seems like a destination for Franklin. There is also word that Florida State could open up at some point, as well as Auburn. Those would be two more schools that would certainly make the coaching search more difficult.