James Franklin

Head coach · Virginia Tech
1st season · since 2026 · Penn State before

At school6-2since 2026 · 6-2 this seasonHot seatCool0% · 108th of 132 jobsLast gameW 20-16at Clemson · Oct 24Nextat SMUFri Nov 6 · 7 pm ET · ESPN
This week · as of Wed Nov 4

6-2, won 2 straight, on track for 8-4 in the regular season.

Now

Career arc

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerFBS medianVanderbiltPenn StateVirginia TechTennesseeTennesseeOhio StateOhio StateDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelVanderbilt when he took over: 17.7 (Regional Program III), its final 2010 readingVanderbilt, 2011: 6-7, Regional Program IIVanderbilt, 2011: 6-7, Regional Program II2011Vanderbilt, 2012: 9-4, Regional Program IVanderbilt, 2013: 9-4, National Program IIIVanderbilt, 2013: 9-4, National Program III2013+10.0Penn State when he took over: 54.0 (Power Program II), its final 2013 readingPenn State, 2014: 7-6, Power Program IIPenn State, 2014: 7-6, Power Program II2014Penn State, 2015: 7-6, Power Program IIPenn State, 2016: 11-3, Power Program IIPenn State, 2017: 11-2, Power Program IPenn State, 2018: 9-4, Power Program IPenn State, 2019: 11-2, Power Program IPenn State, 2020: 4-5, Power Program IPenn State, 2021: 7-6, Power Program IPenn State, 2022: 11-2, Power Program IPenn State, 2023: 10-3, Power Program IPenn State, 2024: 13-3, Power Program IPenn State, 2025: 3-3, Power Program IPenn State, 2025: 3-3, Power Program I2025+8.0Virginia Tech when he took over: 37.6 (National Program I), its final 2025 readingVirginia Tech, 2026: 6-2, National Program IVirginia Tech, 2026: 6-2, National Program I2026-0.3best: 2024gray dashed: rival programs · ○ the program when he took over · Dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Bowls and playoffs: 8-7

Vanderbilt’11L’12W’13WPenn State’14W’15L’16L’17W’18L’19W’21L’22W’23L’24W’24W’24L

Show all 15 games
Vanderbilt2011Liberty BowlL 24-312012Music City BowlW 38-242013BBVA Compass BowlW 41-24Penn State2014Pinstripe BowlW 31-302015TaxSlayer BowlL 17-242016Rose BowlL 49-522017Fiesta BowlW 35-282018Citrus BowlL 24-272019Cotton Bowl ClassicW 53-392021Outback BowlL 10-242022Rose BowlW 35-212023Peach BowlL 25-382024CFP first roundW 38-102024 QFFiesta BowlW 31-142024 semiOrange BowlL 24-27

This week Wed Nov 4

  • Last gameW 20-16 at Clemson Sat Oct 24
  • This season6-2 won 2 straight
  • On track for8-4 regular season
  • Nextat SMU Fri Nov 6
  • Stature42nd of 138 FBS programs

Friday: at SMU

Fri Nov 6, 7 pm ET ESPN · SMU is 6-2 · Franklin vs. Rhett Lashlee: 1-0 · Virginia Tech’s chance to win: 30% (the site’s model)

His week

Virginia Tech Athletics · 10,548 views by Wednesday

More of him this week

Media session, SMU weekMon Nov 2 · Virginia Tech Athletics · 7,385 views by WednesdayPress conference, SMU weekTue Nov 3 · Virginia Tech Athletics · 1,895 views by Wednesday

Many stories this week →

The headlines, Oct 25–Nov 4 from many outlets

Offense: 37th of 138 per play. Defense: 92nd.

Offense, per play37thPassing offense22ndDefense, per play92ndDefense, big plays allowed134thWorstBest
Offense, per play37th of 138Passing offense22nd of 138Defense, per play92nd of 138Defense, big plays allowed134th of 138WorstBest
Through 8 games. Each tick is an FBS team, adjusted for opponent strength (CFB Zeitgeist model); the dot is Virginia Tech. The other two rows are where Virginia Tech stands furthest from the middle. Early-season numbers move a lot.

4 games left

  1. Fri Nov 6at SMU (6-2)ESPN30%
  2. Sat Nov 14vs. Stanford (4-5)85%
  3. Sat Nov 21at Miami (8-0)10%
  4. Sat Nov 28vs. Virginia (4-5)64%

Percent: Virginia Tech’s chance to win, from the site’s model. Records are through today. Networks as announced; the rest are set closer to kickoff.

How the season got here

Where Virginia Tech stood among 138 FBS programs by stature after each game (1st is the highest; the CFB Zeitgeist ledger).

34th40th46thPreseason41stVMI W 73-3VMI W 73-3W 73-3VMI40thOld Dominion W 44-21Old Dominion W 44-21W 44-21Old Dominion40thMaryland W 35-26Maryland W 35-26W 35-26Maryland40thBoston College W 21-14Boston College W 21-14W 21-14Boston College40thPittsburgh L 33-35Pittsburgh L 33-35L 33-35Pittsburgh40thCalifornia L 20-25California L 20-25L 20-25California40thGeorgia Tech W 34-24Georgia Tech W 34-24W 34-24Georgia Tech41stClemson W 20-16Clemson W 20-16W 20-16Clemson41st
  1. Oct 26–Nov 1No game14 headlines · 37th of 138James Franklin uses off week to watch Virginia Tech RB commit in action USA Today
  2. Oct 19–25W 20-16 at Clemson23 headlines · 21st of 138What Dabo Swinney, James Franklin said about each other before Clemson vs Virginia Tech The Greenville News
  3. Oct 12–18W 34-24 vs. Georgia Tech14 headlines · 25th of 138James Franklin Postgame Press Conference (10/17/26) Virginia Tech Athletics
  4. Oct 5–11L 20-25 at California11 headlines · 35th of 138Virginia Tech Postgame Quotes That Matter From James Franklin After 25-20 Loss to California Sports Illustrated
  5. Sep 28–Oct 4L 33-35 vs. Pittsburgh33 headlines · 13th of 138Mistakes, missed FG sink James Franklin's Virginia Tech in loss to Pitt USA Today“They want to know what they're committing to”James Franklin explains taking Penn State transfers at Virginia Tech, Oct 2
  6. Sep 21–27 · rebuiltW 21-14 at Boston College11 headlines · 37th of 138Virginia Tech Starts 4-0 in the James Franklin Era After Gritty Win Over Boston College! Yahoo Sports

Each week as this page showed it at the time. Weeks marked rebuilt came before this page existed: they were built afterward from only what was known by the end of that week.

Watch the biggest plays from Virginia Tech’s games, ranked by how much each moved the chance to win.

Hot seat

See every job →

This season

<1%chance he’s out by the end of this seasonCool108th-hottest of 132 FBS jobs
0%50%+

Our hot-seat model, on his record so far, the win chances for every game he has left, and his contract (a bigger buyout, relative to pay, makes a change costlier). Ranked against the 132 FBS head coaches with 3+ games this season.

His first rated season here.

His hot seat, week by week

The chance he’s out by the end of that season, as it stood after every week of his tenure here, by today’s model.

BoilingHotWarmCool20262026, week 3 (3 games in): <1%, 121st-hottest of 133 FBS jobs2026, week 4 (4 games in): <1%, 121st-hottest of 137 FBS jobs2026, week 5 (5 games in): <1%, 118th-hottest of 137 FBS jobs2026, week 6 (6 games in): 1%, 107th-hottest of 137 FBS jobs2026, week 7 (7 games in): <1%, 110th-hottest of 137 FBS jobs2026, week 8 (8 games in): <1%, 113th-hottest of 137 FBS jobs2026, week 9 (8 games in): <1%, 113th-hottest of 137 FBS jobs2026, week 10 (8 games in): <1%, 108th-hottest of 132 FBS jobsnow

What drives his number

The biggest factors, each against the typical FBS job today.

  • ▼ Cooler
    Year 1 · tenure, which this model overrates
    (why?)

    Tenure is one of this model’s strongest inputs, but its weight was set when retirements like Nick Saban’s and Bob Stoops’ still counted as being pushed out, so it overstates how much tenure matters.

  • ▼ Cooler
    No previous seasons here to judge him on

What happened to coaches like him, 2004–2025

A different comparison: past coaches, not today’s, grouped by one fact at a time. Neither line knows the games he has left or his contract, so they can sit above or below his chance.

Were 6-2 after 8 games
2% pushed out over results · of 389 coaches
Were in year 1, after 8 games
1% pushed out over results · of 521 coaches
The outcome
Pushed out over results — a firing, forced resignation, mutual parting or non-renewal, each read case by case. Leaving for a better job, or retiring on his own terms, doesn’t count.
Buyout
No figure on file for this coach. The salary database predates the last coaching carousel; a name mismatch is suppressed rather than misattributed.

How good is this number? Checked on every FBS coach from 2010 to 2025, with its percentages calibrated each season on earlier years only: they track what happened — coaches it put near 25% were out about a quarter of the time — and a version pricing the games left with the previous season’s ratings ranked jobs as well as the ranking this page used before. Each week it learns from coaches who were still on the job at that point, so a firing during the season counts. In the Boiling zone it has run a few points high. Every job, and the method.

Poach watch

This winter

1%chance he leaves this winter for a head-coaching job elsewhere, or an NFL coordinator jobSettled82nd-highest of 132 FBS head coaches
0%50%+

Our poach model, on his record so far, the win chances for every game he has left, his program, his pay and his background. Ranked against the 132 FBS head coaches this season. The zone words describe the market’s interest; none of them says he is leaving.

What drives his number

The biggest factors in his profile, each against the typical FBS head coach today. The games he has left are priced into the number, not listed here.

  • ▼ Lower
    His first season at Virginia Tech
  • ▲ Higher
    No record for him here before this season · his first year in the job
How good is this number? It ranks a head coach who leaves for another head-coaching job ahead of one who stays 78 to 82% of the time, and its average came within a point of the share who actually left. What it can’t do

Tested on every FBS head coach from 2012 through 2025, each season scored by a model fit only on the seasons before it. From three games on, given one coach who left for a head-coaching job elsewhere or an NFL coordinator job and one who stayed, it ranked the one who left ahead 79 to 82% of the time; in a season’s first two games, 78%. Its average chance came within a point of the share who actually left. It counts a move a coach makes while he still holds the job; when his school ends it, that doesn’t count, even if another school then hires him.

  • The live number prices the games he has left with the power model’s ratings from this season. The test priced them with each team’s rating from the season before, because ratings made during past seasons were not kept, so this live version could not be replayed.
  • Programs new to FBS have no FBS record before this season in the data it reads, so their coaches are scored without one.
  • It is frozen: it learns nothing from 2026 until a deliberate refit.
  • A coach hired in December needs his background (age, alma mater, the state he was born in) added before his first game, or he shows as not rated.