James Franklin’s year has not gone as expected.
Entering the 2025 season, Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions were viewed as title contenders, but after dropping three straight games early in the year, he was instead let go by the school where he had spent the past decade.
But Franklin didn’t have to wait long to find his next spot on the coaching carousel, as Virginia Tech was quick to make their interest clear and lock down the veteran coach as the leader of their program for 2026 and beyond.
On Saturday, Franklin stepped into the booth alongside commentators Bob Wischusen and Louis Riddick during Virginia Tech’s game against Miami and spoke about what brought him to the Hokies.
“The first thing is, they were very aggressive from the beginning. They had a plan in place. It wasn’t like, let’s work through this together. They already had a plan in place which I think was very helpful in the process,” Franklin said. “And at the end of the day, it’s what you see around here. There’s great passion and support for this place. Has been for a long time. And now it’s my job and our job to get this program back to where everybody wants it to be.”
Franklin further explained why he felt it important to call legendary VT coach Frank Beamer and ask for his blessing before ultimately taking the job.
"There's great passion and support for this place ... and now it's my job and our job to get this program back to where everybody wants it to be."
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) November 22, 2025
James Franklin on his decision to become the head coach of @HokiesFB. pic.twitter.com/WA2mQT0KfO
As for the plan that Franklin spoke of, he’s probably referring to the assurances he got from the school in terms of funding to help build the Hokies back into a powerful program.
Included in the details of his reported contract earlier this week was a note that the athletic department committed to increasing staff salary for Franklin's assistants to $15.5 million, nearly doubling that of Brent Pry's assistant coaching salary pool this season. That commitment also speaks well to the amount of NIL money the school seems confident it will be able to put up to help build out its roster.
Franklin is one heck of a recruiter, and seems ready to hit the ground running for Virginia Tech. If “Enter Sandman” hasn’t given college football fans the chills it once did the past few years, it might again in the very near future.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as James Franklin Opens Up About What Made Virginia Tech Job So Appealing.
