Since it was announced that James Franklin was going to be the next football coach at Virginia Tech, most of the reaction from across the country has been positive. Yes, some have expressed their concerns for the job, but the reaction for the most part has been positive.
How could it not be? Franklin had a ton of success at Vanderbilt and Penn State. Now he'll take over a program that is in dire need of being turned around. Let's not overlook Franklin's ability to recruit in the DMV as well as across the country, which is evident by the visitors list he's already put together for Saturday's game against Miami, just days after being hired.
One coach who had many battles with Franklin, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, gave his two cents on the hiring and count him as someone who likes the hire.
Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer like Virginia Tech's hiring of James Franklin
When Urban Meyer was at Ohio State, he matched up against Franklin at Penn State and he explained on the 'Triple Option Podcast' why he's a James Franklin fan.
“I think it’s a great one. I’m a James Franklin fan,” Meyer said. “I coached against him. You know, it’s all well-documented about the top of the food chain. He just couldn’t quite get there. But, you know, a lot of people didn’t. He’s still a quality coach that won a high percentage of his games at a tough spot. I think it’s a great hire.”
The Big Ten conference is tough, but making the move to the ACC could help him accelerate the rebuild in Blacksburg. If he had success and won a lot of games in the Big Ten each year, that was loaded with some of the top teams in the country, then what could he do in the ACC?
In this day and age, quickly rebuilding on the fly with the Transfer Portal is easy to do, and adding in some recruiting success, he can win a high percentage of games. If there is someone who knows about success, it's Meyer.