After two months and weeks of rumors, Virginia Tech has found their next football coach.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on College GameDay on Saturday that former Penn State coach James Franklin and Virginia Tech were in early discussions to become the next head coach, replacing his former defensive coordinator, Brent Pry. Truth be told, conversations were going on for the last couple of weeks. On Monday, it appears that after weeks of negotiations, the end is near.
Thamel reported on Monday afternoon that Virginia Tech and James Franklin were finalizing a deal to become the school's next head coach.
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
Virginia Tech hires James Franklin as school's next football coach
This is an absolute home run hire for the Virginia Tech search committee. As soon as Penn State fired Franklin, he was the top choice for the committee. They went after him hard and met a lot of the demands he had for money for not only him, but also his assistant coaches.
During his time at Penn State, he turned the Nittany Lions into a national powerhouse and led them to the 12-team College Football Playoff semifinals. He has won 128 games between Vanderbilt and Penn State in 15 years. His 2025 teams started off 3-0 before three straight losses led to his dismissal.
There are a number of reasons why this is a home run hire. He will turn the Hokies into an ACC Championship contender and a CFP team. He will also strike it big recruiting in the Commonwealth, an area that really fell off under Justin Fuente. Pry tried rekindling relationships, but truth be told, Franklin and Penn State were coming in and plucking recruits out from under Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech hosts Miami this weekend in their final home game of the 2025 season, and a lot of recruits should be on campus to take everything in. It's going to be a busy couple of months in Blacksburg around the program. Recruiting and money will talk, and it won't take Franklin long to get Blacksburg back on the college football map.