Penn State football is losing one of its top assistants to Virginia Tech and James Franklin.
Pete Nakos of On3Sports reported Tuesday morning that Penn State tight ends and co-offensive coordinator Ty Howle will be the offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech.
Howle is an assistant PSU would have liked to keep around, but it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s moving on.
He’s only 34 years old, and already has a polished resume as a position coach. In Howle’s six seasons at Penn State, Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren all developed into NFL talents. Warren, in particular, stood out at Penn State, becoming the school’s first recipient of the John Mackey Award, presented annually to America’s top tight end. Warren became a first-round draft pick, and is already one of the top tight ends in the NFL.
When coaches do well, they get promoted, and that’s what’s happening here.
Now, Franklin has his offensive and defensive coordinators, with his DC being a guy familiar to Penn State fans as well.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Brent Pry was Franklin’s defensive coordinator at Penn State from 2016-21 before leaving to become the head coach at Virginia Tech.
This past December, Pry was fired, and the fact that he’s back at the same school, this time as an assistant, speaks to the relationship he and Franklin have built over the years.
Franklin and Howle also built a bond.
“I don’t think it’s talked about enough,” Franklin said, about Howle’s five seasons as Penn State’s tight ends coach, per Sports Illustrated. “There’s no school in the country, there’s no program in the country, that is doing what we’re doing with tight ends now and really over the last ten years. Ty Howle has come into that position as a Penn State letterman and I think has taken it to a whole other level. We’re recruiting the best tight ends in the country. We’re developing the best tight ends in the country. It’s a competitive room. You’ve got to embrace that.
