By Derek Lee
USA Today Sports
It’s official. The landing spot for former Penn State head coach James Franklin will be in Blacksburg, Virginia. Virginia Tech hit a home run with this hire as Franklin was one of the most if not the most coveted coaches in the 2025-26 coaching carousel. Excitement and expectations in Blacksburg have not been this high in close to a decade since the Hokies went 10-4 in 2026.
Franklin, 53, comes to Virginia Tech after 11 full seasons as the Penn State head coach where he went 104-45. For most programs, this gives a coach unlimited runway and essentially, full on immunity. But not the Nittany Lions who originally ponied up 49 million dollars to part ways with the head coach. Now that he has taken the job at Virginia Tech, this number has dropped to 9 million due to buyout clauses in his contract. Franklin and Penn State came into the 2025 season with sky high expectations, beginning the season as the number 2 ranked team in the country according to the AP Poll. Franklin, though, was already on the hot seat somehow as fans in University Park were not happy with 6 seasons of double digit wins during his time there. Following a disappointing 3-3 start, the Nittany Lions decided that they had had enough of the program’s second most winning head coach. Penn State fans better be ready for a repeat of some of the dark days during the early 2000s and 2010s because they will be hard pressed to find a coach who can replicate the success that Franklin had there.
Looking forward to Franklin’s tenure in Blacksburg, he begins his new endeavor with a cupcake of a schedule. The non-conference opponents include Virginia Military Institute, Old Dominion, Maryland and James Madison, three pushovers and a sputtering Big 10 opponent who will also be in the first year of a new coaching regime. A 4-0 start is almost guaranteed. Their conference schedule is slightly tougher but is still nothing compared to the gauntlet that Franklin went through year after year at Penn State. Home games include Virginia, Georgia Tech, NC State and Pitt while the away conference games consist of Miami, Clemson, Boston College and Cal. 7 home games with Franklin at the helm with have Lane Stadium shaking during Enter Sandman with the success he is sure to have.
The question remains, how many of Penn State’s current 16 decommits since the firing of Franklin will follow him to Blacksburg. Considering Franklin’s recruiting record (top 25 recruiting class each year at Penn State), some of the decommits are sure to come along with him to his new school. However, in this era of college football, success is demanded immediately, and freshman classes take time to mature and grow. The transfer portal has allowed for complete turnaround of programs in as little as a season or two, a prime example being what Curt Cignetti has done with Indiana. A combination of incoming transfers as well as high school recruits will determine the success that Franklin has at Virginia Tech. However, I believe that transfers and prep recruits alike will flock to Virginia Tech to play for one of the most prominent and successful coaches in today’s college football. Recruits have begun posting offer announcements on X as early as Tuesday morning.
I am joining the Hokie faithful and have high expectations for Franklin at Virginia Tech. In my eyes, anything less than 8 wins in 2026 is a failure for him and I would not be surprised to see the Hokies fighting for a spot in the 2026-2027 college football playoff, especially with the current state of the ACC. Clemson’s chokehold on the conference has ended and I do not expect them to bounce back unless Dabo makes major changes with his transfer philosophy. Miami will always have high expectations but fall short (as proven over the past decade). This leaves Georgia Tech and Pitt as the other 2 competitors for a playoff spot out of the ACC, and neither of these teams have shown consistent success over the past decade. Virginia Tech has a real shot to once again become a national power and could very likely dominate the ACC during Franklin’s time there. As Franklin said on College Gameday October 18th, he will just have to go win a national championship somewhere besides Penn State, this is a very real possibility for him in Blacksburg.