The college football coaching carousel continues to turn as the season hits the middle of November. In a massive move that took the 2025 coaching carousel to new heights, Penn State made the move to fire James Franklin on October 12. Franklin was in his 12th season in Happy Valley and entered the 2025 season with a loaded roster that had National Championship aspirations.
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But after suffering an overtime loss to Oregon at Beaver Stadium on September 27, the Nittany Lions would then fall to UCLA and Northwestern in a pair of shocking upsets that proved to be too detrimental to keep Franklin any longer. Just over a month later, it is now being reported that Franklin has already found his new gig.
According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Franklin is finalizing an agreement to become the next head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies. Virginia Tech fired Brent Key earlier this season on September 14 following an 0-3 start. Pry ended his Virginia Tech tenure with an overall record of 16-24 and 10-13 mark in ACC play over 3+ seasons. Both Arkansas and Virginia Tech were pursuing Franklin heavily, with the Hokies ultimately landing him.
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
James Franklin at LSU never would have worked
As names for Brian Kelly's replacement were floating around on social media, Franklin's name would make an appearance every now and again. However, Franklin was never really linked to the LSU job directly, and Tiger fans are fine seeing him go elsewhere. Franklin continuously struggled against top teams at Penn State, which ultimately played a part in his firing.
Franklin finished his Penn State tenure with a measly 4-21 record against top-10 opponents. According to ESPN Research, his .160 winning percentage against AP top-10 teams is tied for the third-worst record by a coach (minimum 25 games) at a single school since 1936. That is not what Tiger fans want in a head coach. Dropping big games was a problem for Brian Kelly as well, and LSU fans were ready to move on. Kelly finished his LSU career with a less-than-ideal 5-11 record against ranked opponents, which like Franklin, played a role in his firing.
As LSU's coaching search continues, all eyes are on Lane Kiffin this week. Kiffin's family reportedly visited Gainesville on Sunday and Baton Rouge on Monday as Ole Miss tries to desperately keep him in Oxford. With Kiffin still undecided on his future, it's shaping up to be a wild week in the college football coaching carousel.