James Franklin is the head coach who can resurrect Virginia Tech 

The college football head-coaching carousel is wilder than it has ever been. It got even wilder on Sunday when LSU parted ways with Brian Kelly.

LSU, Florida and Penn State are all open at the same time. UCLA is, too, along with Oklahoma State. 

Virginia Tech is another. However, for the right head coach, it's one of the best jobs available. The Hokies used to be a perennial power in the ACC, even reaching the BCS National Championship game when Michael Vick was the quarterback. 

Since Frank Beamer retired, the program has been stuck in the abyss. At one point during Beamer's reign, the Hokies had 11 double-digit-win seasons in 13 years. Since his retirement, Virginia Tech has had one, which came the year after Beamer stepped down.

It's gone downhill fast. In five of the past seven seasons, Virginia Tech has had a losing record. The Hokies are 3-5 this season. The program needs a jolt of energy, and luckily enough, James Franklin is available to provide it.

James Franklin has the perfect pedigree for Virginia Tech 

The recently fired Penn State football head coach has one of the best resumes of any active college football coach. Franklin has won 68 percent of his games in 14 seasons as a head coach, which makes him one of three active coaches to do that.

Penn State finished in the top 12 of the College Football Playoff rankings in seven of the past nine seasons. He's won five playoff games/New Year's Six bowl games.

The resume is impressive. Maybe he didn't beat enough ranked teams in Happy Valley, but if he could replicate that success in Blacksburg, he'd be a legend. And if you think Franklin can't win in Blacksburg at a program like Virginia Tech, think again.

The reason Franklin got the opportunity to coach Penn State was his unprecedented success at Vanderbilt. In three seasons under Franklin, the Commodores never missed a bowl game. They actually went 9-4 in his last two seasons, giving him a 24-15 record at Vanderbilt. 

If you can win there, you can win anywhere in college football. Especially nowadays, as revenue share and NIL have evened the playing field somewhat.

Beyond the wins, Franklin can recruit. Penn State is Penn State. But he still landed players like Saquon Barkley and Micah Parsons. He coached 59 NFL Draft picks with Penn State. Recruits will pay attention to that. 

Speaking of recruiting — the lifeblood of any program — Franklin should be able to take advantage of the strong recruiting pipeline that is the DMV. Penn State often recruited from that area.

Maryland has cleaned up in recent years, but with a big-name coach like Franklin at Virginia Tech, the Hokies would be better positioned to get some of that elite talent. Virginia Tech would be in a better spot for NIL, too. Franklin is proven. He could get fans and donors excited. 

People would talk about Virginia Tech again, plus, as Georgia Tech and SMU have shown, there is a path to the College Football Playoff in the ACC. Franklin might not be able to win the whole thing, but if there is one head coach who could get the Hokies to the College Football Playoff, it's him. Pete Nakos of On3 has reported that there is interest, and frankly, it makes too much sense not to happen.