Smith questions Franklin's Va Tech coaching job

Nor did his new position take long to become a topic of national media attention.

Just a month after being fired as Penn State football coach, the 53-year-old coach landed a new position at Virginia Tech, which was announced on Monday, November 17. This will be Franklin's third head coaching position, having now coached in the SEC (at Vanderbilt), Big Ten, and ACC.

The day after Franklin's hiring at Virginia Tech, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith questioned on "First Take" whether Franklin could wait for another job or simply "relax a little," given his buyout of approximately $50 million.

"Just (with what) happened at Penn State, you almost find yourself, I could be wrong, you almost find yourself saying, ‘You got a $49 million buyout, and Penn State stunk, could you take a year off?’ Smith said. "$49 million. $49 million. I’m just looking at that and thinking, ‘Yo, could you take some time off. Could you take a breather?’

"But who am I to say somebody shouldn’t take a job opportunity if  the opportunity’s available to them, and it wasn’t like he was going to get an even bigger-time opportunity after what happened at Penn State, so it just didn’t knock me off my socks.”

Penn State fired Franklin on October 12, a day after the Nittany Lions lost to Northwestern, making it three consecutive losses after a 3-0 start to the season. After hiring Franklin from Vanderbilt, Penn State compiled an overall record of 104-45 in 12 seasons under Franklin's leadership. Smith

Smith offered his opinion on how Franklin would mesh with the Hokies, who may offer easier competition than the Big Ten.

"Just because what happened to him at Penn State in the end here doesn’t mean by and large he hasn’t been a damn good coach," Smith said. "He couldn’t win the big game. He can’t be in the Big Ten. He can’t beat Ohio State, he can’t beat Michigan. Going 3-17 against the both of them. Can’t do that, you understand what I’m saying. That’s absolutely true, OK. This year, stuff nose-dived because of the money they threw in into the program, you understand, the offseason, and you got the defensive coordinator from Ohio State, and the highest paid coordinator in the game.

"You gotta win. You gotta win. You got them to spend that money, the NIL, the transfer portal, you gotta win! And he didn’t do that. But in the same breath, I’m looking at, no shade on Virginia Tech, but I mean when you think about the powerhouses of college football, you know, it’s a little bit different. It’s not a bad thing, James Franklin’s resume says he deserves it, and there’s a 12-team playoff now and obviously you can be in the picture, I get it."