Since he was hired at Virginia Tech, James Franklin has been discussed about a lot. Whether it's Penn State fans unable to move on or national analyst breaking things down, Franklin trends on social media and trends a lot.
However, he is the type of coach that Virginia Tech fans have been waiting for to potentially wake up a sleeping giant that is the Hokies program. There are different thoeries as to whether or not he'll be able to do that.
Year 1 of James Franklin in Blacksburg begins in a little less than three months against VMI Labor Day Weekend inside Lane Stadium. The Hokies are projected to be a better team that the 2025 team, which isn't saying much. However, just how high the bar goes remains to be seen.
Joel Klatt, who hosts the The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football on FOX Pod, had a take on Franklin and Virginia Tech that is straight to the point.
Joel Klatt says what Virginia Tech fans have been saying about James Franklin
When Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry, Franklin's former defensive coordinator at Penn State, they needed to find the right hire. They had Franklin fall into their laps in October when he was fired by Penn State. The Virginia Tech search committee didn't take long to pursue Franklin and get a deal done. Klatt had a take that even the biggest Penn State trolls would agree with.
"Say what you want about James Franklin and what he did in big games,'' said Klatt. "but truth be told, the guy can coach. He raised the level of Penn State and I believe he's going to raise the level of Virginia Tech. (It's been) four straight seasons without being ranked at any point? I mean come on now, like Virginia Tech should be better than that, we think that they should be better than that. Now James Franklin is in and this guy can coach.''
Does Franklin have some deamons when it comes to coaching in some big games? Yup, he does and he'll be the first to admit it. However, you can't ignore his overall body of work from recruiting, to roster building and his overall coach record. Oh, did we forget the gutsy decision he made, bring Pry back as his DC?
"He retained Brent Pry, who was the prior head coach,'' Klatt said. "Now he's the defensive coordinator. A lot of the offensive coordinators in the Big Ten when I would talk to them would talk about Brent Pry as being the most difficult coordinator that they faced. So now he's back in the role where I think he can excel as a coordinator. James Franklin, clearly a guy that can coach and raise the level of a program just like he did at Penn State. So this is a raise, this is a level up. This is a Virginia Tech buy in the stock watch for 2026.''
Franklin is set up to succeed at Virginia Tech and succeed quickly. Part of the reason for the optisum is the Hokies are in the ACC. It shouldn't take long for the results off the field in terms of recruiting to pay off on the field in terms of results. These quotes are music to Virginia Tech fans ears and it's been a long time coming.
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