When James Franklin was hired at Virginia Tech, there were several things that he needed to turn around. He already started with the roster and brought in a new coaching staff, for the most part, while keeping some of Brent Pry's former assistants. Heck, even Pry is back as the defensive coordinator.
One of the fun things to watch is to see just how long it takes Franklin to turn things around and which areas will be fixed first. Earlier in the spring, ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain said one thing that Franklin needed to focus on early was making it hard for visiting teams to play at Lane Stadium. Make Blacksburg the place that no visiting team wants to go.
That shouldn't be too hard for Franklin to do. EA Sports College Football '27 released its top 25 toughest stadiums to play in. Virginia Tech made the list, but let's just say that Franklin has some work to do to raise the ranking.
James Franklin needs to turn Virginia Tech into tough place to play
Virginia Tech came in at No. 22 in EA Sports' rankings for the upcoming season. Tiger Stadium at LSU, Ohio Stadium at Ohio State was No. 2, and Beaver Stadium at Penn State was No. 3. Nittany Lions' trolls will be out in full force to that into James Franklin's face, even though that is the reason for the ranking.
If Franklin does what he did at Vanderbilt and Penn State and turns things around at Virginia Tech, there is no reason as to why Lane Stadium shouldn't vault up the rankings in the coming years. Hokies' fans show up even when things aren't going well, as we all learned last season. Imagine a James Franklin-coached Virginia Tech team? Buckle up.
Franklin will get two non-conference games to begin his career at Virginia Tech inside Lane Stadium against VMI and Old Dominion. Their four ACC home games in 2026 are Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Stanford, and Virginia. There are at least two, if not three, ACC wins in that group.
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