When James Franklin was hired as football coach at Virginia Tech in mid-November, he went right to work in recruiting with the Class of 2026. He ended up flipping several of his commits at Penn State and got them signed in Blacksburg. He also brought some of his former assistants from Penn State to Virginia Tech, which was going to be huge in terms of recruiting.
Franklin was able to put together a very good first class with the Hokies after he secured several flips from State College, and he was able to retain some of the commitments that former head coach Brent Pry, now the Hokies' defensive coordinator, got before he was fired in September. Virginia Tech's class went from near the bottom of the FBS schools to a Top 25 class early in Franklin's tenure.
Attention is now turning to the Class of 2027, and this is a big upcoming weekend for Franklin at Virginia Tech, where he will be hosting several recruits the next two days and getting ajump start on the next cycle. He will be hosting an in-state recruit that is being heavily recruited by big-time programs, which will put Franklin to the test in retaining the top talent in the Commonwealth.
Virginia Tech hosting in-state recruit Chris Whitehead
The fourth-ranked edge rusher in the Class of 2027, Chris Whitehead of Chesterfield, will be on campus for junior day, 10 days after Franklin visited him. Whitehead is being recruited by Miami, Ohio State, Tennessee, Georiga and other programs.
Virginia Tech has had a long line of good edges come through, and Whitehead could join that list. When Franklin was at Penn State, he would do some serious recruiting damage in the Commonwealth, and he has a chance to secure a big one in Whitehead, but if he's going to do it, he's going to have to do it with several big programs also involved. This is a big weekend, to say the least.