It has been noted several times over the last couple of weeks, when you are a high-profile college football program, if you are going to fire a successful coach, you better have a backup plan in place. That seems to be the case with Penn State.
Athletic director Pat Kraft fired James Franklin in October after a third straight loss. The Nittany Lions lost to Oregon at home in overtime, then dropped a Big Ten game a week later at UCLA, before coming home and losing to Northwestern. Less than a year removed from a loss in the College Football Playoff semifinal, Franklin was ousted.
As soon as he became available, Virginia Tech's search committee swooped in and started working on getting Franklin to come to Blacksburg to replace Brent Pry. In mid-November, it was announced that he was the next head coach at Virginia Tech.
Meanwhile, back in State College, Kraft is still looking for Franklin's replacement, as Early Signing Day came with just four recruits remaining in the Class of 2026 who remain committed. At Virginia Tech, Franklin has been poaching the class he had committed to Penn State. It's fair to say that Kraft might be regretting this decision, and Virginia Tech is leaving no stones unturned to troll Franklin's former school.
Virginia Tech trolls Penn State on Early Signing Day
Earlier this week, it was reported that BYU coach Kalani Sitake was a target of Penn State's as a Franklin replacement. As soon as word broke Monday night, Jason McGowan, the CEO of Crumbl Cookies, and a BYU grad, sprang into action to make sure Sitake remains with the Cougars. McGowan called Sitake "not replaceable" and vowed to "get off the sidelines and get to work" to keep the coach at BYU on his X account.
His drive on social media appeared to have worked as Sitake informed Kraft and Penn State that he was remaining at BYU for the foreseeable future. On Tuesday, he agreed to an extension with the Cougars. That means it's back to the drawing board for Kraft and Penn State.
On Wednesday morning at Virginia Tech's early signing day, Andy Bitter of Tech Sideline posted on X an image of a crumbl cookie box on a table in Blacksburg.
Coincidental dessert choice at the #Hokies’ signing day ceremony put on today by James Franklin? pic.twitter.com/eQKPQ9CsbB
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) December 3, 2025
I mean, that's the ultimate troll job, to be honest. Franklin was clearly not happy about being fired, and he shouldn't be, but knowing that his replacement isn't in place on Early Signing Day and the latest candidate turning them down as Franklin plucks the Nittany Lions recruits makes it even better.