James Franklin’s been in the spotlight for all the right reasons… and a few blown coverages of his own. Fresh off his Penn State exit, the former Nittany Lions head honcho rolled into Virginia Tech like a coach ready to flip a rebuild into a playoff push with a squad full of gridiron wizards, ready to call the shots from the sidelines. Meanwhile, the Hokies handed him a program itching to get back to big-ticket Saturdays.

But before Blacksburg, Franklin had Penn State humming like a well-oiled two-minute drill. In his first eight seasons as a college head coach, he helped 68 players secure their spot in the NFL, and sent hundreds more off to become leaders beyond the hash marks. Under his watch, the Nittany Lions achieved an 82% graduation rate and had a number of Academic All-Big Ten sel

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