Virginia Tech Hires Franklin, Penn State Gets $40M Buyout Break

Virginia Tech is hiring James Franklin as its next football coach, the school announced Monday night. Franklin will be introduced at a press conference in Blacksburg on Tuesday morning.

The move will give Penn State a $40 million discount on the buyout money it owes to Franklin, who was fired just 36 days ago on Oct. 12, following a 3–3 start to the season for the Nittany Lions. 

Franklin, who coached at Penn State from 2014 until his firing last month, had a buyout at Penn State of $49.7 million, which would have been the third largest of all time in college football. However, Penn State and Franklin negotiated his buyout down to $9 million, according to multiple reports. That settlement will remove the offset language in his contract, which would have called for Penn State to pay Franklin the difference between what it would have owed him and his new salary, if it were lower.

Financial terms of Franklin’s new contract with Virginia Tech have not been released. His most recent salary in Happy Valley was $8.5 million.

Virginia Tech is 3–7 this season, and it has been under the leadership of interim head coach Philip Montgomery, after firing Brent Pry on Sept. 14, following an 0–3 start. Pry, who was hired ahead of the 2022 season, was owed a buyout of roughly $6 million.

Bigger Budget in Blacksburg

In September, Virginia Tech approved $229 million of new funding for the athletic department over the next four years, after AD Whit Babcock said the school was lacking sufficient funding.

Of note, Virginia Tech is a longtime Nike school. Penn State is switching from Nike to Adidas in 2026, and that move led to questions about Adidas potentially wanting Penn State to fire Franklin, although those claims remain unconfirmed.

Franklin is the first major hire of what will be a busy hiring season in college football, with prime vacancies still unresolved at LSU, Florida, and Penn State, among others.