Why James Franklin to Virginia Tech Could be Bad News For Penn State Football
There has been plenty of smoke picking up for a James Franklin and Virginia Tech pairing happening.
After expressing his “shock” over his firing by Penn State, the former head coach of the Nittany Lions appeared on College Gameday two weeks ago to explain that he “can’t wait for that next challenge” to coach again in college football. Franklin continued, “I don’t know anything else. I don’t have hobbies. I don’t golf or fish. [Coaching] is such a big part of my identity and my family.”
Franklin was clear in his interview that his goals haven’t changed with his firing from Penn State, he wants to get a new job and continue to build a program at the highest level.
“I thought we were going to win a national championship there,” Franklin said on the GameDay set. “That goal hasn’t changed. We’re going to win a national championship somewhere else.”
Now, reading the tea leaves, it seems Franklin might get that chance soon at Virginia Tech.
James Franklin to Virginia Tech Could Be Hokies’ Perfect Hire
Virginia Tech makes a lot of sense for James Franklin for his next college football head coaching job.
Virginia Tech sits in the same recruiting footprint that Franklin was used to recruiting at Penn State.
Picking up a head coaching job for 2026 would also allow Franklin to raid the current Penn State roster to take players with him to Blacksburg to build a roster.
The ACC would also allow Franklin an easier path to the College Football Playoff, without having to play college football heavyweights like Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon year in and year out (where he struggled mightily at Penn State). I’ll break down these three reasons and why each could potentially cause problems for Penn State and the new head coach of the Nittany Lions.
Same Recruiting Footprint
For 12 years as the head coach of the Nittany Lions, James Franklin built a recruiting footprint in the DMV area, securing some of the backbone players for Penn State’s rosters over the years from the area.
If Franklin is to be the next head coach at Virginia Tech, Franklin’s relationships with high schools and staff in the DMV area could serve him well recruiting for Virginia Tech.
While Penn State’s brand still carries more weight than Virginia Tech, if Franklin is even able to steal a handful of potential Penn State prospects on a yearly basis, it could be a blow to Penn State’s recruiting prospects in the area.
Over the past five recruiting classes, Penn State has signed at least three prospects from DC, Maryland, and Virginia in each recruiting class and has averaged 5 prospects out of the DMV, inside of Virginia Tech’s recruiting footprint, per year.
Franklin could also complicate in-state recruiting for the Nittany Lions, with his established relationships with most high schools in Pennsylvania.
Throughout Franklin’s tenure, the Nittany Lions preached a motto of “the best in PA stay in PA” recruiting approach.
However, Franklin could complicate the in-state dominance in recruiting for the Nittany Lions by recruiting Pennsylvania harder than other power conference schools in the region because of his preexisting relationships. Once again, Penn State’s brand will still carry more weight, but in an NIL era, dollars and relationships can go a long way to pulling a kid out of state to play.
Franklin Could Raid the Nittany Lions Roster
As stated above, James Franklin recruited the DMV area well over his tenure at Penn State.
With Penn State’s new head coach still up in the air and the future playing style of the Nittany Lions unclear at the moment, if he is signed soon by Virginia Tech, Franklin could get an early start at backchanneling a raid of Penn State’s current roster.
I will preface this by saying that the transfer portal does not officially open until January 2nd. However, Franklin has a close relationship with the families of every player on the Nittany Lions roster (as evidenced by the amount of support Franklin received from families and players on social media after his firing).
Players like Tony Rojas, Alex Birchmeier, and Anthony Donkoh who are originally from Virginia, and countless others who are from the DMV area, could choose to follow Franklin to Virginia Tech to finish out their college careers with the coach that originally recruited them.
In the transfer portal era, moving programs has never been easier, and the close relationship that Franklin had with the Nittany Lions roster could persuade quite a few players to follow him to Blacksburg.
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ACC is Easier Path to Playoff
One of the biggest issues with James Franklin’s tenure at Penn State that ultimately led to his firing was his performance in the “big” games. Each year, Penn State faced top 5 and top 10 opponents from traditional powerhouse programs like Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon.
Playing in the ACC at Virginia Tech would give James Franklin a much easier yearly schedule without the powerhouse programs standing in the way of the Hokies making the college football playoff on a yearly basis. In the college football playoff era, the only ACC team to even make the title game is Clemson, which has itself been down in the NIL and transfer portal era.
Franklin will get opportunities against solid but far from elite teams to improve his record against top 25 teams, without running into powerhouse B1G teams on a yearly basis to get into the conference championship game or the college football playoff, which could aid Franklin in bringing talent to Blacksburg.
As of right now, this is all hypothetical, because Franklin still has to be offered the job at Virginia Tech. However, if he is offered and accepts the position, it could cause some headaches for Penn State and the Nittany Lions new head coach in a few ways.
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