When Penn State fired James Franklin in October, he became the top name on a lot of schools' lists to be their next head coach. Six days after being fired, Franklin went on College GameDay and said that he wanted to return to coaching despite his massive buyout. Franklin's firing came a month after Virginia Tech fired its head coach, Brent Pry.
Pry's firing was coming sooner rather than later, and after an embarrassing Week 3 home loss to Old Dominion, the move was made. As soon as Virginia Tech assembled a search committee, Franklin became its top target.