Penn State’s 16th head coach is on the ground in State College.

James Franklin touched down on a private plane from Nashville at the University Park airport moments ago. The now-former Vanderbilt coach said goodbye to his team this morning and hopped on a university charter for a 4:15 p.m. press conference.

Upon landing, Franklin walked over to the airport fence to greet a dozen or so fans and media.

Simultaneous with the goodbye, Penn State’s Board of Trustees compensation committee unanimously approved his contract, which will be made public later today.

Franklin, in his three years as Vanderbilt’s head coach, brought the SEC bottom-feeder Commodores from back-to-back two-win seasons to three of program’s six bowl appearances, ever. He also led Vandy to its first winning seasons since 1982 — following a 6-7 finish in his rookie season, Franklin’s Commodores posted 9-4 records in both 2012 and 2013. He ends his tenure at Vanderbilt with a 24-15 overall head coaching record and an 11-13 record in SEC.

Stay tuned to our Twitter @OnwardState and keep checking back as we keep you updated throughout the day as we welcome Franklin into the Penn State family. At least this time it wasn’t a wild goose chase.