Virginia Tech's first staff under James Franklin is slowly coming together with Penn State co-OC/TEs coach Ty Howle following Franklin to Blacksburg as VT's offensive coordinator and playcaller according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Sources: Virginia Tech is expected to hire Penn State co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Ty Howle as the school’s new offensive coordinator. He’s expected to be the school’s play caller as well. pic.twitter.com/6EEowrQPba
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 9, 2025
Howle is only 34 years old and will be one of the youngest Power 4 offensive coordinators next season, taking over the OC role for the first time in his career. He has primarily coached TEs and the offensive line after playing offensive line at Penn State, with it being reasonable to expect that Howle will coach one of those two groups if he has a designated position group.
Here's a rundown of Howle's previous stops and roles.
- NC State GA - 2014-15
- Western Illinois OL coach - 2016-17
- Western Illinois AHC/Co-OC/OL coach - 2018-19
- Penn State GA - 2020
- Penn State TEs coach - 2021-22
- Penn State Co-OC/TEs coach - 2023-25
Howle is the first offensive coordinator hire for Virginia Tech who has has never been a lead offensive coordinator at any level before since Frank Beamer promoted Bryan Stinespring was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2002. This is also at least the third-straight time that Virginia Tech's new head coach has hired his first offensive coordinator to be someone who has not been an OC at the FBS level after Tyler Bowen only had one season as lead OC at Fordham and Brad Cornelsen had only thee seasons as a lead OC at Northeastern State.
Howle did take on co-OC responsiblities with Ja'Juan Seider for the final three games of the 2023 season after Franklin fired Mike Yurcich. While it is unclear who took over the playcalling duties, Penn State did averaged 31.3 points per game during that stretch while scoring no fewer than 25 points in any one game.
As a position coach, Howle has done a sensational job at Penn State, as the Nittany Lions have had a tight end drafted in each of the past three seasons; all of whom are current NFL starters in Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson, and Tyler Warren. He coached Warren to a Mackey Award winning season last year while also having three tight ends this season who had at least 14 receptions.
He has also been a tremendous recruiter especially of his position group, landing five four-star tight ends while also helping PSU land other standouts like former five-star DE Dani Dennis-Sutton.
There's no doubt that you are always taking a risk anytime you hire someone to be a first-time offensive coordinator, especially at this level. Tech fans know that well with the struggles that Brent Pry had with a pair of first-time Power 4 coordinators early in his tenure along with the rough tenure of Brad Cornelsen. However, there are plenty of first-time offensive coordinator who prove to be more than ready for the opportunity with Franklin clearly believing that Howle will be up to the task.
One thing that's also clear from Franklin's history with offensive coordinators is that if he proves not to be up to the task, Franklin won't wait long to make a change, even one that comes midseason.
