Though we are still right in the thick of the 2025 college football season, there have already been a few major firings at some of the top schools. Virginia Tech fired head coach Brent Pry after three games. Three weeks later, Penn State moved on from long-time head coach James Franklin. But don’t worry about either of them.
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The latest reports suggest that the Hokies and Franklin have entered into the early stages of discussion to bring the Pennsylvania native to Blacksburg for the 2026 campaign. Virginia Tech is conducting a “full search”, but there is reportedly “mutual interest” on both sides.
It was also reported that the Hokies are likely to make an announcement on their decision sooner rather than later. For what it’s worth, Alabama legend Nick Saban gave the potential hire his seal of approval during ESPN’s College Gameday on Saturday morning.
“This would be a great hire for Virginia Tech. They would get a class guy and a class coach who would be very successful, I’m sure,” Saban said.
They're ALL IN at Virginia Tech..
James Franklin would be a GREAT hire#CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/Y4R6NJZprS
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 15, 2025
Franklin had been at Penn State for 12 seasons when he was fired. So, what led to the sack? The Nittany Lions started this campaign encouragingly at 3-0, but a double-overtime loss to Oregon in Week 4 kicked off a losing streak that convinced the administration that Franklin had run his course there.
Franklin had lost three straight when he was handed his papers. But since then, Penn State has lost three more straight to bring the skid to six.
On the other hand, Virginia Tech started 0-3, which prompted the firing of Pry, who was in his fourth season with the Hokies. The program is starting to look like it could turn a corner here as well. They have not been ranked since 2017 and haven’t had a double-digit win season since 2016. But as Pat McAfee said on Gameday, the Hokies administration is “committed” and is pouring money into the program over the next few years.
“They’ve committed. They’ve said they’re going in like $250 million, I think over the next few years in sports. We have Coach Bruce Arians on the program, he’s one of the advisors for that entire thing. They’re trying to go all in there,” the former Colt said.
Of course, with Gameday set up at the No. 9 Notre Dame vs. No. 23 Pitt game in Pittsburgh on Saturday, McAfee had to play to the crowd a bit, especially since the crew was discussing the former coach of the hometown program.
“What I think about immediately and I think if you ask the Pitt people this: James Franklin now in the ACC if he goes to Virginia Tech, is gonna be forced to play Pitt. Like Penn State chooses not to play Pitt I guess right. (Cheers) They’re scared. Penn State’s scared of Pitt, bro. That’s what Pitt says. Pitt people say Penn State’s scared of Pitt.”
The Keystone Classic was played every year between Pitt and Penn State during the 20th century. However, since 2000, it has largely been shelved. There was a short pre-COVID revival from 2016-2019, but there are no plans to make it happen again anytime soon.
