Two weeks ago, James Franklin and three of his players made their way to Charlotte for their first ACC Media Days as head coach at Virginia Tech. There are a handful of coaches who were going to have a lot of eyes on them, but maybe nobody more than Franklin.
Coming from Penn State after he was fired to replace his former, but now current, defensive coordinator, Brent Pry, Franklin has turned things around in Blacksburg quickly in terms of the culture, the roster, the staff, and the feeling around the fanbase as they look forward to Year 1 under Franklin. However, Franklin made one statement at the ACC Media Days that caught on and was talked about around the country about the Hokies winning the offseason.
Of course, as you could expect, trolls took the comment out of context and ran with it in a different context. However, he isn't the only one saying that the Hokies have won the offseason. Steve Lassan of Athlon Sports seems to have agreed with the former Vanderbilt and Penn State coach.
Athlon Sports doubles down on Virginia Tech football winning the 2026 offseason
To review, Franklin's meaning behind saying the Hokies won the offseason in terms of getting things in place in multiple areas, but of course, it was a statement that was repeated over and over. Regardless, the writing was on the wall for Franklin; he needs to back up that statement with results on the field in the fall. However, Lassan seems to believe the Hokies' head coach and, well, agrees with him.
"The Hokies made one of the offseason’s top coaching hires by landing James Franklin. Although Franklin’s stint at Penn State ended in his dismissal, he’s a great fit for Blacksburg and should push this program back into contention for a spot in the ACC title game in the near future,'' wrote Lassan.
Those are words for Virginia Tech fans' ears. Contention for the ACC title game in the near future is something that has long been coming. The James Franklin effect is something that is real in terms of retention and the Transfer Portal.
"Virginia Tech also returns the most starters (13) of any team in the ACC this season. Add in transfer quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer (Penn State) and a couple of other portal additions on both sides of the ball, and Franklin already has the right ingredients in place for a quick turnaround from last year’s 3-9 mark,'' added Lassan.
There is no doubt that the ingredients are certainly in place for a turnaround, and a quick one is what Hokies fans are hoping for. Again, Franklin's comments two weeks ago were taken out of context for the most part, but he knows that the results are only going to matter on the field, and getting the success of the offseason he has is a start.
Add us as a preferred source on Google