As expected, when James Franklin was hired at Virginia Tech, he hit the ground running in terms of building his first roster for the 2026 season. One move that was key to building the roster for the upcoming season was retaining former head coach Brent Pry, who was fired in September in Blacksburg, as the defensive coordinator.
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He was able to identify, along with some other coaches retained, the players whom they wanted to keep and other who they could let go in the Transfer Portal. That's what they did, but they also knew that they had to add players from the portal to round out the roster.
Franklin did that by getting several former Penn State players to follow him from State College to Blacksburg. However, there were some players whom Franklin and his staff needed to sell on coming to Virginia Tech. What was that pitch? Franklin explained it on an episode of The Triple Option podcast.
James Franklin reveals the portal recruitment pitch to players about Virginia Tech
"You want to build something with people you know and trust and have a rapport and relationships with,'' Franklin said. "For us, I think it was the same thing for them. They wanted to go somewhere with somebody they trusted, that there was a relationship with them and their high school coach and their parents.
"The pitch also is, you know, we did this in the SEC at Vanderbilt, had a ton of success there. We went to the Big Ten and did something similar, and now we get a chance to do it again, and we're going to need your help to do it. So, I think that those stories I think resonated with some of the families and kids that we didn't know.''
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Putting together a roster with high-end talent is something that really hasn't been a problem for Franklin at his previous stops. There have been other areas where he has struggled that have caught up with him, such as winning the big game. That is another thing that he's looking to change in Blacksburg.
There was an influx of talent brought in by Franklin and his staff, and recruiting is booming in the Class of 2027. The recruiting pitch is being heard, and the future is bright in Blacksburg. Franklin also spoke about Pry staying on, and don't overlook that as key as any player added through the portal this cycle.
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