The college football coaching carousel starts — and in some cases stops — spinning before the NFL version starts spinning at full speen.

One of the many vacancies in the Power Four conferences has already been filled, by a coach who had already been fired elsewhere.

Via Pete Thamel of ESPN.com, Virginia Tech is finalizing a deal to hire former Penn State coach James Franklin. The move is expected to carve significantly into Franklin’s $49 million Nittany Lions buyout.

It’s unclear whether any current NFL head coaches would have been interested in the position after the current season. It’s possible that backchannels were activated as to one or more potential candidates. It’s possible that other schools with current vacancies are working those same backchannels.

Regardless, the avai

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