Penn State co-offensive coordinator Ty Howle is leaving the Lions for Virginia Tech

Penn State co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Ty Howle is leaving the Lions to go to Virginia Tech. He follows James Franklin there after spending six seasons on his staff in State College. The move was first reported on On3’s Pete Nakos, and Howle is expected to be the Hokies’ offensive coordinator.

Howle is a Lions letterman. That might make his departure surprising to some. But he and Franklin and their families grew close during their time at Penn State. There is also no guarantee that Howle will be retained by whoever the program’s next head coach is. Thus, the move makes sense. Howle will be Franklin’s offensive coordinator.

“I don’t think it’s talked about enough,” Franklin said, referencing Howle’s five seasons as Penn State’s tight ends coach, in 2024, 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.

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“Then you just look at what’s happening after they get done playing at Penn State. They’re all getting their degrees, and they’re all getting drafted, and the majority of them are getting drafted very high.
Then you look at the Tyler Warren situation.

“Tyler Warren had a pretty high draft grade last year, came back, and I think it’s been a win-win. I think he’s going to be the first tight end drafted, is having a great year, is having a ton of fun with his teammates, and that’s what you want, right? You want it to be a great situation for everybody.”

Howle is not the first Penn State staff member to leave State College for Blacksburg. Nine off-field members of Franklin’s former team did so in November. That list includes the following people:

Kevin Threlkel – Chief of Staff

Andy Frank – General Manager of Personnel and Recruitment

Brett Arnold, Assistant Director of Player Relations

Chris Mahon, Recruiting Coordinator for Personnel

Rashad Elby, Assistant Recruiting Coordinator for Personnel

Aeneas Hawkins, Assistant Director of Player Advancement & Revenue Sharing Strategy

Caleb Tyler, Director of Recruiting Content

Tristin Iannone, Director of External Operations

Karsyn Kehler, Assistant Recruiting Coordinator for Operations and Visits