After a disastrous 2025 college football season that saw Virginia Tech fire Brent Pry after a Week 3 loss to Old Dominion and hire James Franklin a couple of months later after he was fired at Penn State. Franklin then brought back Pry as his defensive coordinator for the 2026 season, a position he held under Franklin at Penn State before coming to Blacksburg.
The roster will have a different look to it next season with all the roster turnover that happened following the end of the season, with all the moving parts through the Transfer Portal and the incoming Class of 2026. Bill Connolly of ESPN released his rankings for the 2026 season for the teams with the most returning production. Coming in shockingly high on that list was Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech returns fourth most production in 2026
First and foremost, what is Bill Connolly's returning production, and how is it calculated? Here it is mapped out.
Offensive calculations
- Percent of returning OL snaps: 39.6% of the overall number
- Percent of returning WR/TE receiving yards: 35.0%
- Percent of returning QB passing yards: 22.3%
- Percent of returning RB rushing yards: 3.1%
Defensive calculations
- Percent of returning snaps: 65.9%
- Percent of returning tackles: 19.2%
- Percent of returning tackles for loss: 14.9%
With that said, Virginia Tech returns the fourth most production combined on both sides of the ball in 2026. They only trail Notre Dame, Maryland, and Nebraska. What is even more eye-popping than the Hokies coming in at No. 4 is that their Week 3 opponent, Maryland, is higher than them.
What this proves is that Franklin and his staff are not going to have as bare a cupboard as some might have thought. The Transfer Portal could very well end up being very kind to the Hokies with some of the additions made and the impacts they made for their previous schools, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Let's not overlook the fact that the Hokies also got some key retention from 2025.