Sources: Virginia Tech finalizing deal to hire James Franklin - ESPN

Virginia Tech is finalizing a deal to make James Franklin the school's next head coach, sources told ESPN on Monday. The deal is expected to be completed in the near future.

Franklin is the former coach at both Penn State and Vanderbilt, where he went 128-60 over 15 seasons. He brings a resume that includes winning more than 68% of his games, an appearance in the semi-finals of the 2024 College Football Playoff and a Big Ten championship in 2016.

He'll replace his former defensive coordinator, Brent Pry, who was fired in September after an 0-3 start and a 16-24 record through four seasons.

Franklin's arrival in Blacksburg will give the Hokies their most accomplished coach since Hall of Famer Frank Beamer, who retired in 2015 after 29 seasons at the school. Since that time, Tech has endured the underwhelming tenures of Justin Fuente and Pry as the school struggled to assimilate to modern college football.

After firing Pry, Tech's Board of Visitors passed a plan to add $229 million to the athletics budget over the next four years. The move was to help make Tech a more attractive job and attract a candidate that could revive the school's lagging football fortunes.

In Franklin, they get an established coach whose availability on the open market wasn't even considered a possibility at the start of the 2025 season. Penn State began the season ranked No. 2 in the country.

Franklin's teams endured three-straight losses to open the season, including a double-overtime loss to No. 6 Oregon when they were ranked No. 3 in September.

After losses to UCLA and Northwestern, Penn State fired Franklin. They were originally on the hook for $49 million for his contract, but that number is subject to off-set and should end up being