After the Virginia Tech search committee ended up hiring James Franklin as the next football coach in Blacksburg, you just knew that some changes were coming.
Honestly, this was a home run hire, and after Franklin was fired at Penn State, it was the hire that Virginia Tech needed to make. They did, and the memory of a dreadful 3-9 2025 season was suddenly a thing of the past after a season-ending loss to Virginia Thanksgiving Weekend.
Before the ink was dry on his contract after he signed it at Virginia Tech, Franklin hit the ground running in recruiting and evaluating the Hokies' current roster, which got some key retention. After that, the veteran head coach went to work through the Transfer Portal, bringing in several players from other programs, including some from Penn State.
However, before portal activity kicked into high gear, Franklin made some quick moves before signing day in early December. Manny Navarro of The Athletic listed one move by every Power 4 conference school, and his for the Hokies was raiding Penn State's Class of 2026 commits.
CFB writers' favorite offseason move for Virginia Tech was raiding Penn State's Class of 2026 commits
It's been said before and needs to be said again, recruiting in college football, and all college sports in general, is something we have never seen before. Long gone are the days of committing to schools for the sake of playing for the school. It's all about relationships with coaches and NIL and how much money athletes can get nowadays. Franklin's ability to recruit and create relationships was what helped him land nearly a dozen of his Nittany Lions commits to flip to the Hokies. That played a big role in Franklin's moves that Navarro liked.
"James Franklin did more than bring a bunch of former Penn State players and coaches with him to Blacksburg. He also convinced 11 of his former commitments to sign with the Hokies. The best of the bunch is going to be running back Messiah Mickens. Check back in 2027,'' wrote Navarro.
Virginia Tech has some really good running backs returning this upcoming season, but it wouldn't surprise anyone if Mickens saw some time and got some carries. There are some other good players in the Class of 2026 that Franklin was able to flip from State College to Blacksburg as soon as he was hired. Again, nobody should be surprised by what happened.
When it comes to James Franklin, expect the unexpected when it comes to recruiting and flipping a handful of his commits at Penn State to Virginia Tech is just one of the moves he made this offseason that should impress fans. Let's just say, it could be just the start of things to come at Virginia Tech.
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