James Franklin adds elite and top Transfer Portal target at Virginia Tech

The Penn State to Virginia Tech pipeline is alive and well. Since James Franklin was hired to replace his good friend Brent Pry as the head football coach at Virginia Tech, he has brought a lot of former assistant coaches with the Nittany Lions to Blacksburg. He has also brought a lot of the Class of 2026 commits he got with Penn State and flipped them to Virginia Tech.

Once the Transfer Portal opened, you had to figure that some of the Penn State players who hit the portal were going to seriously consider joining Franklin in Blacksburg. That has been the case, and on Sunday night, Franklin landed the biggest name and portal player with a commitment. It's one that Hokies fans are going to love.

Virginia Tech get commitment from five-star tight end Luke Reynolds

When it was announced that Penn State tight end Luke Reynolds was entering the Transfer Portal, he had a do-not-contact tag. That certainly raised some eyebrows, but it also hinted that he knew where he was going to go. All eyes were on Franklin and Virginia Tech, and that came to fruition when he committed to Virginia Tech Sunday night.

A former five-star recruit in the Class of 2024, Reynolds was the No. 1-ranked tight end in the Transfer Portal, according to 247Sports. It wasn't surprising that he committed to Franklin and the Hokies. In 2025, for the Nittany Lions, he had 26 catches for 257 yards. He's not only following Franklin to Blacksburg, but he's also following his tight end coach at Penn State, Ty Howle, who is now the Hokies' offensive coordinator.

The 6-foot-4, 253-pound Reynolds committing to Virginia Tech might be the least surprising of all the former Penn State players making the jump from the Big Ten to the ACC. Reynolds might not be the last one to join, either. Virginia Tech is setting up to have a dynamic tight end room in 2026.