It has been just over 24 hours since it was official that Virginia Tech was hiring James Franklin as the school's next football coach. Given the situation that both Franklin and the school are in, it was a home run hire.
That is the common theme from around the college football world, from experts to insiders. Of course, some doubters think it's a risky move, and then you have people who really have no idea what they're talking about.
When you go down the road of people who are somewhat misinformed and do not really know what they're talking about, you come across Craig Carton of the Craig Carton Show. Carton went on a rant about James Franklin to Virginia Tech. His take is that Virginia Tech landed a coach that nobody wanted in Franklin. This came two weeks after he called out the Virginia Tech fanbase for being "uneducated.''
So what does he do one day after James Franklin is officially hired at Virginia Tech? He tries to do some damage control, but it backfires. Big time.
Craig Carton has a misinformed take on James Franklin to Virginia Tech
On his show on Tuesday, Carton, who rarely talks college sports and it shows said,
“So Virginia Tech was all in on James Franklin… you’re taking a guy on the way down… 4-21 against top 10 teams… never won a title… you got the guy nobody else wanted,'' Carton said.
As if that take wasn't bad enough, he that this take on X. Fans roasted him for this take as well,
"Normally you celebrate hiring an in demand head coach who is killing it somewhere else in a lesser conference but the Virginia Tech fans are celebrating the hiring of a coach who didn't get a single interview request anywhere else, who was 4-21 against top 10 teams, was run out of Happy Valley and is taking a huge step backwards going from PSU to Virginia Tech. He's a good coach but not a guy you have a parade for. Enjoy the Pinstripe Bowl,'' Carton wrote.
If Carton was paying the least bit of attention to college football, then he would understand the history of Virginia Tech, where the program went under Justin Fuente and Pry, to where it could go with Franklin. If Carton took a step back and looked at the overall big picture, the path to the College Football Playoff is easier in the ACC than the SEC or Big Ten. I guess that would require him to pay attention in a little more detail.
Franklin was more sought-after than Carton thinks, but to be fair, when you pay attention to a sport for a minute and discuss it for another minute, then you would have to take the heat he had. We'll see how things end up playing out for Franklin at Virginia Tech, but anyone with a bit of a clue would have a different take than Carton.