The Transfer Portal is open, and things are going to get wild in terms of players entering, recruiting, and players bolting to new schools. As far as James Franklin is concerned at Virginia Tech, there is some rebuilding that needs to be done with some key players leaving without eligibility remaining or in the Transfer Portal.
When Franklin was hired, he went back to his Penn State roots to flip several recruits to Virginia Tech in the Class of 2026. He also has dipped into his Penn State routes in terms of adding some assistant coaches, which includes bringing back Brent Pry to Virginia Tech as his defensive coordinator.
Now that the Transfer Portal is open, there are several former Franklin players from Penn State who have hit the portal and been linked to Virginia Tech. One of those players is tight end Matt Henderson, who is a Virginia native that Franklin plucked from the Commonwealth. On Sunday night, Henderson committed to Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech gets commitment from TE Matt Henderson through the portal
You just knew that sooner or later that Franklin was going to get some Penn State players to come to Blacksburg through the portal, and Henderson is the first player to commit. The Powhatan native picked Penn State over Virginia Tech in the Class of 2025 cycle, but Franklin is bringing him home.
Henderson will not only reunite with Franklin, but he will also reunite with his tight ends coach, Ty Howle, who has been hired at Virginia Tech as Franklin's new offensive coordinator. This is a good start in building what could be a good tight end room. This shouldn't be the only portal addition for the tight end position before all is said and done.
Also committing to Virginia Tech through the portal is former Penn State defensive lineman Daniel Jennings. He has four years of eligibility remaining, according to Kolby Crawford of VTScoop.