James Franklin’s move to Virginia Tech has been one of the most fascinating storylines of the college football offseason. And at his first ACC Media Days appearance, the former Penn State coach wasted little time ratcheting up expectations for his new program.
“We’ve been sprinting really since we arrived in Blacksburg,” Franklin said to reporters in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday. “I think I would describe it as we have won the offseason.”
That’s a bold claim and one that prompts the follow-up: Is Franklin right?
There’s no doubt the Hokies had an encouraging offseason and Franklin should elevate things based on precedent from his time leading Vanderbilt and Penn State.
Ethan Grunkemeyer followed Franklin from Penn State to be Virginia Tech’s starting quarterback. Talented tight end Luke Reynolds is also among the dozen transfers who left Happy Valley to join Franklin in Blacksburg. Receiver transfer Que’Sean Brown posted 64 receptions for 846 yards and five touchdowns at Duke in 2025, and Troy cornerback transfer Jaquez White was second-team All-Sun Belt last fall.
“We’ve had a great offseason in terms of implementing our standards and our expectations and our culture,” Franklin also said Wednesday. “We are bigger, we are stronger, we are faster than we have been. There’s no doubt about that.”
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The Hokies’ transfer class ranked No. 20 in The Athletic’s top 25 transfer portal rankings. That is fourth in the ACC behind Miami (fifth), Louisville (No. 14) and Cal (No. 15).
Even though Franklin rallied late in the 2026 recruiting cycle and signed six blue-chip prospects who were committed to him at Penn State – a list that includes four-star quarterback Troy Huhn – Virginia Tech finished No. 30 in 247Sports Composite recruiting rankings.
For those reasons, it’s extremely difficult to proclaim the Hokies this offseason’s winner — especially when other programs that hired new coaches (such as LSU, Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma State) also made significant splashes.
Franklin also serves as a cautionary tale. Penn State was one of the sport’s big winners last offseason. The Nittany Lions were coming off a College Football Playoff semifinals appearance, retained many key veterans from that team and in the portal addressed the one major weakness (receiver) that plagued them the season prior.
The Nittany Lions were No. 2 in the preseason AP Top 25 and had major national championship aspirations. Penn State hosted Oregon in a primetime matchup between top-10 teams and lost a heartbreaker in double overtime, and two weeks later, Franklin was fired and his 11-plus-year tenure in Happy Valley was over.
LSU was another program that made a lot of noise last offseason and flamed out in spectacular fashion, which led to Brian Kelly’s firing and Lane Kiffin’s arrival.
So even though Franklin said Virginia Tech won the offseason, he recognized those words mean only so much right now.
“All that’s great. That sounds good in a press conference. It’s a great sound bite,” he said. “The reality is we’ve got to make sure all those things translate to the season and go out and play a style and brand that make (legendary former Virginia Tech) coach (Frank) Beamer proud.”
While Virginia Tech didn’t actually win the offseason, the ACC is wide open after Miami, which just played for the national championship, will be the league favorite this year and possesses the most talent in the conference.
SMU is really good but isn’t a juggernaut. Clemson is facing something of an existential crisis with coach Dabo Swinney. Florida State has been pretty bad the past two seasons, and coach Mike Norvell is fighting for his job. Everybody else in the league has its own flaws to contend with.
Franklin’s declaration may not have been correct, but this has been a positive offseason for the Hokies in taking steps in the right direction to compete in the ACC and raising expectations closer to where the program needs them.
