After hitting the ground running in recruiting after he was hired at Virginia Tech, James Franklin is starting to put his new staff together in Blacksburg.
It has been reported that Franklin is bringing back Brent Pry as his defensive coordinator three months after he was fired as head coach. Talk about an awkward situation. Anyway, he thrived as the DC for Franklin at Penn State before coming to Virginia Tech.
Franklin is also reportedly returning to his Penn State roots for his offensive coordinator in Ty Howle and Danny O'Brien as his quarterbacks coach. Some of Pry's assistants at Virginia Tech have announced that they are leaving, including cornerbacks coach Derek Jones.
There are some other assistants that Franklin could look to retain, and three of them should be no-brainers.
Three Virginia Tech football coaches James Franklin should look to retain
I know this isn't going to be surprising, but three coaches that Franklin should retain are wide receivers coach Fontel Mines, running backs coach Elijah Brooks, and offensive line coach Matt Moore.
Franklin is an elite recruiter, and keeping Mines would only make it that much better. Brooks has done a tremendous job developing running backs, and this year, Marcellous Hawkins broke out, and Jeffrey Overton, Jr. exploded onto the scene after getting healthy.
Why did Hawkins and Overton, Jr. have as good a season as they did? The offensive line play was better than in previous seasons. That has to do with the job that Matt Moore did in his first season in Blacksburg. He oversaw a line that was hit with numerous injuries and had to play some younger players. The play on the offensive line wasn't as bad as some might think.
Penn State's offensive line coach Phil Trautwein is reportedly leaving State College and new coach Matt Campbell to join Jon Sumrall's staff at Florida, which leaves the door open for Franklin to retain Moore, if he chooses to.
There will be more announcements and reports coming out in regards for Franklin staff, but Mines, Brooks, and Moore are three no-brainers to retain.