When James Franklin became available after being fired at Penn State, there was little doubt as to who the Virginia Tech search committee was going to target as the school's next head coach after Brent Pry was fired.
It's not every season that a coach like Franklin is fired and becomes available. Sure, he could have been lured away from State College if he were still there, but that would have been highly unlikely. Instead, the search committee pounced as quickly as it could and had him hired in Blacksburg a little over a month after he was let go by the Nittany Lions.
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With Franklin on board, you knew that there were going to be some big changes around the Hokies program. It didn't take long for some of them to go into effect and Virginia Tech fans, to really no one's surprise, is seeing the results.
ESPN said what Virginia Tech knew would happen under James Franklin
Recruiting was going to be one area where the Hokies were going to start making immediate strides under Franklin. He flipped some of the Class of 2026 recruits from Penn State to Virginia Tech, but he has also hit the ground running in his first season in Blacksburg with the Class of 2027. It has been a Top 10 class at some recruiting outlets, and at ESPN, it is ranked 13th, according to Craig Haubert.
"James Franklin quickly revitalized the Hokies' 2026 class once taking over the program and now has a full year to build the 2027 group. He's moving forward building a future around high-upside athletes with strong developmental potential across key positions,'' wrote Haubert.
Sure, Franklin is doing things in recruiting that Virginia Tech hasn't seen in a while. They landed four-star quarterback Peter Bourque from Massachusetts, who de-committed from Michigan in December after Sherrone Moore was fired. It's not too many times that Virginia Tech gets a Michigan de-commit.
Franklin and Pry, yes, the same Brent Pry who was fired last September and is back as Franklin's defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech, flipped Notre Dame commit, linebacker Amarri Irvin. Again, Virginia Tech flipping a Notre Dame commit?
There are some other key players added to the class as part of the 26 commits to date for the Hokies. It's going to be a couple of seasons before the results are seen on the field, but recruiting was an area where Franklin needed to make strides early, and he is. It should only go up from here.
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