Franklin was fired this season after a 3-3 (0-3 conference) start with Penn State. He spent 12 years as the head coach of the program and left with a 104-45 record.
The 53-year-old will be replacing former Hokies head coach Brent Pry, who was fired after a 0-3 start to the season.
Pry is a former colleague of Franklin. He was the defensive coordinator for Penn State from 2016 to 2021 before behind hired by Virginia Tech in 2021 for his first head coaching gig.
After four years with Virginia Tech, Pry's time with the program amounted to just a 16-24 record.
Franklin was fired after losing three straight games to Oregon, a winless UCLA, and a Northwestern team that beat UCLA a week prior. He leaves Penn State with a brutal 4-21 record against Top 25 teams - a stain on Franklin's lengthy career that made him infamous among college football.
The Nittany Lions won the 2016 BIG 10 Championship under Franklin, who eventually led the team to a College Football Playoff birth last season.
Penn State entered the year ranked No. 2 in the AP Preseason Poll - the highest in program history.
Since Franklin was fired, Penn State has gone 1-3 under interim head coach Terry Smith.