Going into the 2026 college football season, expect the unexpected. Anything is possible, which makes it such a great sport. Who had James Franklin getting fired at Penn State midway through the 2025 season? Most Nittany Lions fans had hoped that would be the case, but who thought it might become reality?
That firing opened the door for Virginia Tech to make a move to land the best free agent coach at the time after they fired his former defensive coordinator, Brent Pry, as head coach in September. By mid-November, Franklin was hired in Blacksburg as the next Hokies' head coach. Now, in eight short weeks, he'll coach his first game at Lane Stadium against VMI, under the lights on Sept. 5.
One thing is for sure going into the 2026 campaign for Virginia Tech: they are facing a daunting backend of the schedule, mainly in November. Road games at SMU and Miami are sandwiched around home games against Stanford and Virginia. If the Hokies are going to get to a bowl game, they are going to have to take care of business on the front end of the schedule. ESPN's FPI likes the Hokies to at least get to a bowl game in Year 1 of James Franklin.
ESPN FPI paints a promising outlook for Year 1 of James Franklin at Virginia Tech
According to ESPN's FPI, Virginia Tech is projected to win seven games this upcoming season. As mentioned above, the schedule on the backend is rather difficult, which means taking advantage of the early part of their schedule is a must. However, let's be honest, would it surprise anyone if they won eight games or six? No. Would it surprise anyone if they won fewer than six and missed another bowl game? Maybe.
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Coming off a dismal 3-9 season that saw some rather big changes all across the board, there really is nowhere to go but up for the Hokies under Franklin. The schedule offers a good start to the season with VMI and Old Dominion at home, followed up with a tough, but winnable road game at Maryland, before ACC play opens at Boston College to close out September.
At worst, coming out of that at 3-1 would be good, but ideally, a 4-0 start is what fans are hoping for. Regardless, Virginia Tech getting to seven wins is something that fans would sign up for in Year 1 of James Franklin, with room to improve and continue to build things to happen over time.
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