Virginia Tech opted to fire Brent Pry after an 0-3 start to his fourth season at the helm of the Hokies. The landscape of college football as a whole has been afflicted by numerous coaching changes since, and Pete Thamel can see a different recently fired coach taking over in Blacksburg.
According to Thamel via ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, there’s a bit of mutual interest between Virginia Tech and former Penn State head coach James Franklin. A bit ironic, considering Franklin’s former defensive coordinator in Happy Valley was Pry, but that’s not scaring away the Hokies.
“Everything’s always fluid when it comes to the carousel, but one thing to watch in upcoming days is that sources tell me there’s been early signs of interest between James Franklin and Virginia Tech,” Thamel reported. “There’s been some urgency from Virginia Tech specifically to get something done early.
“Look, this is a big game of musical chairs right now, and there’s a lot of aggression from these schools to try to get someone in the house, as opposed to waiting as you go down the line. With the specter of both Florida State and Auburn potentially opening, there’s really going to be just a fascinating crush to try to get this limited pool of candidates.
“I think the big development from this week is that we’ve seen now three really high-end potential candidates go off the board. [Curt] Cignetti got a huge extension from Indiana a couple weeks ago. Matt Rhule got one earlier this week. Rhett Lashlee got his finalized last night.
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“So all of a sudden, you have eight major jobs open, maybe ten in the next coming weeks. That number is only going to continue to domino, and the number of qualified coaches who can have that championship-level pedigree are getting to be limited.”
Alas, Franklin was able to build Penn State into a perennial contender, but they were never able to break through their glass ceiling and reach their national title dreams. In the time since he’s been fired, Franklin has reiterated that he’s far from done coaching, and his main goal remains winning a national title.
Perhaps he believes he can build a contender at Virginia Tech, and reach the pinnacle he was never able to in the ACC. There’s still some legendary programs in the conference, but the competition might not be as stiff as it was in the Big Ten, where Franklin couldn’t figure out a way to beat teams like Ohio State and Michigan consistently.
The Hokies and James Franklin, potentially a match made in heaven. We’ll see if it comes to fruition, but Pete Thamel is reading the tea leaves at the moment, and it sounds like there’s a chance.
