New Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin made former Hokies head coach Brent Pry his defensive coordinator over the weekend. Pry and Franklin go back a long time, with Pry serving on Franklin’s staff
at Vanderbilt and Penn State. On Tuesday, Franklin found his first offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech: Ty Howle.
Howle, 34, is considered perhaps the best tight end coach in college football. A former offensive lineman and team captain at Penn State from 2009-13, Howle began his coaching career in 2014 at N.C. State as a graduate assistant. After two years with the Wolfpack, Howle was named offensive line coach at Western Carolina for two seasons, before adding the titles of co-offensive coordinator and assistant head coach for two additional seasons.
In 2020, Franklin hired Howle as an analyst at Penn State. In 2021, Howle was named tight ends coach. In 2023, Howle added the title of co-offensive coordinator, while remaining tight ends coach.
Howle will call plays for the Hokies, something he didn’t do with the Nittany Lions.
During his five seasons overseeing Penn State’s tight ends, Howle oversaw the development of Pat Freiermuth, Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson, and Tyler Warren — all of whom are now in the NFL. Warren was a first-round pick in 2025 and is a contender for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Warren won the John Mackey Award as college football’s top tight end in 2024.
The first thing that comes to any Virginia Tech fans’ mind is Tyler Bowen. Bowen was VT’s former offensive coordinator under Pry for three seasons, but left in February to become the offensive line coach at Ohio State. Much like Howle, Bowen was a former Penn State TE coach and co-offensive coordinator. While there are similarities that regard, fans should let it play out.
Howle is viewed as not only an outstanding coach, but an incredible recruiter.
The Hokies were also considering ECU offensive coordinator John David Baker for the role. With Howle heading to Blacksburg, Baker is now headed to Ole Miss.
We’ll have more reactions to Virginia Tech’s coordinator hires this week.
