Fired Penn State coach James Franklin was hired by Virginia Tech on Monday.
is a home-run hire just weeks after his stunning collapse and dismissal from Penn State. Funny how the college football coaching cycle turns on its head.last month after 11-plus seasons at the helm, was formally announced as Virginia Tech’s new head coach on Monday night.
. That’s the good news for the Lions. The good news for the Hokies is they just landed a coach capable of bringing them back to national relevance. Now, before we go any further, it’s worth acknowledging that it’s impossible to know for sure how anything in college football will pan out, especially coaching carousel moves. But Monday is a day worth celebrating for Virginia Tech fans.the Hokies would get this done. We all saw the smoke coming from Blacksburg over the last couple of weeks. But I thought Franklin would hold out for Florida State to open or a high-level SEC job. Turns out, the Seminoles kept Mike Norvell for another week , and Virginia Tech’s patience paid off.For all his faults — and Penn State fans know them well — Franklin is a program builder. He did it at Vanderbilt. He did it at Penn State. And Virginia Tech is hoping he can do it in Blacksburg, too. Penn State head coach James Franklin celebrate the 33-30 overtime win over USC with his daughter Addy on Oct. 12, 2024. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com PennLiveWhen Franklin took over at Vanderbilt, the Commodores were coming off back-to-back two-win seasons and had only one winning season in the previous 29 years. Franklin took Vanderbilt to a bowl game in his debut 2011 season and then won nine games in both 2012 and 2013. In the days before Diego Pavia, that was inconceivable at Vandy. The Nittany Lions saw that and snatched Franklin up. Bill O’Brien steadied the ship in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal. But Penn State was still dealing with NCAA sanctions, including scholarship reductions and a bowl ban. Franklin took the job, and the Nittany Lions took off after a couple average seasons. Franklin won the Big Ten championship in 2016. He rattled off six seasons with at least 10 wins. He had 59 players drafted. In January, he was a few points away from coaching for a national championship — thanks in part to him and his staff successfully recruiting the state of Virginia.The Nittany Lions failed to get over the Oregon loss in late September. Then they did the thing Franklin’s teams rarely did: they lost to unranked opponents. And they did so in embarrassing fashion, first at UCLA, then to Northwestern in front of an angry Beaver Stadium crowd. That prompted Franklin’s justified dismissal on Oct. 12. For some, Franklin’s legacy at Penn State will be about what he didn’t do. He didn’t win big games. Franklin’s 4-21 record against top-10 opponents — and his 1-10 record against Ohio State, specifically — loomed over Penn State’s program for the entirety of his tenure. Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft joins head coach James Franklin after the 38-25 loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Ga. Dec. 30, 2023. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comBut fortunately for the Hokies, they don’t share a conference with Ohio State. They don’t share a conference with Oregon, Michigan and Indiana . Clemson, Miami and Florida State are the ACC’s traditional powers. But those programs are a combined 10-11 in conference play this season. The ACC is currently led by Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pitt and SMU. It’s wide open to win — which means, at least theoretically, the path to the College Football Playoff is easier to envision than it is at, say, Arkansas. That had to be the biggest selling point to Franklin. There’s no reason why Virginia Tech, a football school in a basketball-dominated conference, can’t compete. And while Franklin’s relentless presence will breathe life into a frustrated fan base, the pressure to win and win now won’t be nearly as high as it was in State College — or as high as it would be in the SEC. Because let’s be honest: Virginia Tech hasn’t been nationally relevant for a long time. Frank Beamer went 238-121-2 from 1987-2015. Under Justin Fuente, Beamer’s successor, and Brent Pry, Fuente’s successor, the Hokies went 59-55. The last time Virginia Tech played in a BCS/New Year’s Six game was the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3, 2012 — before O’Brien was even introduced as Penn State’s head coach. It’s been that long.Gone were the days of Beamer Ball. The Fuente and Pry eras were failures, and a big reason why is the Hokies weren’t spending like other top programs. That commitment changed in September when Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors approved a plan to add $229 million to the school’s athletic department budget over the next four years. How exactly will that money be split up? That remains to be seen. Will Franklin end up asking for even more resources? Of course he will. But that cash infusion was a statement of intent from the Hokies. And so was Monday’s move to hire Franklin.But Franklin appears to be a perfect fit for what Virginia Tech wants and needs. And it’s going to be fascinating for those who follow Penn State to watch it play out.Penn State’s Terry Smith on a freshman who excelled vs. MSU: ‘The moment’s not too big for him’Johnny covers the Philadelphia Eagles and Penn State football for PennLive. He has covered college football and Penn State professionally since 2016, with stops at the Centre Daily Times and Pittsburgh...If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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