When Penn State fired former football coach James Franklin, it came as a bit of a shock outside of State College. Nittany Lions fans wanted him out, and it was understandable. After being on the free agent market of head coaches for just over a month, he landed back on his feet at Virginia Tech.
It wasn't surprising that he landed back on his feet so quickly. Landing at Virginia Tech is the perfect fit for both Franklin and the school. The impact that he has already made has been noted in several different areas. You name it, Franklin is reaching new levels in Blacksburg that haven't been seen in years or even a decade.
Whether it's recruiting or plucking talent out of the Transfer Portal, Franklin is cooking at Virginia Tech. Now, that doesn't always mean that the results are going to translate to wins on the field, but you have to think it's only a matter of time before it does. As does every coach, Franklin has his skeletons in his closet where he has struggled. Brad Crawford of CBS Sports asked a legitimate question about Franklin and his future tenure with the Hokies.
CBS Sports asked question that college football and Virginia Tech fans will be asking about James Franklin
Crawford had an article, "College football's 26 mind-blowing stats for 2026: Returning production, trends and hidden insights". His 14th question was "Will James Franklin overcome ranked opponent woes at Virginia Tech?''
"Franklin was fired at Penn State for not beating enough quality opponents. His loss to Oregon last season at home was the Nittany Lions', and his career mark of 2-21 against such opponents is the second-worst by any FBS head coach all time (minimum 20 contests). Later, Penn State became the first FBS team since 1978 to drop consecutive games as a 20-plus-point favorite, leading to his immediate exit. At Virginia Tech, previous coach and current defensive coordinator Brent Pry was 0-6 against ranked opponents over his three-plus-year tenure,'' Crawford wrote.
So Franklin's struggles in games have been noted several times, everywhere. Penn State fans are still completely obsessed over that six months later. Pry's numbers also spoke for themselves. Brent Pry seems like a nice guy, and Virginia Tech fans like him for the most part. If there is one coach who can be fired at a school and come back three months later to be the defensive coordinator, it's Pry. Just look at the success he had under Franklin at Penn State in that role before coming to Blacksburg.
Anyway, yes, Franklin is going to have to overcome those woes with the Hokies, but let's be honest, just how many of those games will he coach? The ACC isn't the Big Ten with what feels like almost a weekly matchup against those opponents. He'll have more games against unranked teams than he will against ranked teams in ACC games. Just looking quickly at the schedule for 2026, Clemson, SMU, and Miami could all be ranked when they show up on the Hokies schedule. Cal? Maybe. Virginia? maybe. Pittsburgh? Maybe. Georgia Tech? Maybe, but those teams are not guaranteed to be ranked when they pop up on Virginia Tech's schedule.
The bar isn't high in terms of beating ranked teams in Blacksburg, but rest assured, Franklin will likely improve on that mark during his time at Virginia Tech.
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