The first big domino in 2025 college coaching carousel has fallen. Virginia Tech has decided to make James Franklin their Head football coach. This will help position the Hokies for an immediate surge in national relevance and recruiting power. The hiring signals a clear message from the athletic department: Virginia Tech intends to return to ACC championship contention and re-establish itself as a force within the national landscape.

James Franklin’s Side

Franklin, widely respected for his player development, charisma, and recruiting dominance, arrives in Blacksburg with a proven track record of program elevation. After building Vanderbilt into a competitive SEC program and helping Penn State re-emerge as a national contender, Franklin brings both experience and vision — two traits Virginia Tech fans have long hoped to see paired with their historic culture that has not been seen since the Frank Beamer days. James Franklin is a huge name in the college football landscape. ABL sports still has him as at least a top 20 coach in college football and we wouldn’t say Virginia Tech is a top 20 job. Everyone knows that Franklin was fired by Penn State earlier this year and it was the first big firing in college football 2025. Penn State got fed up with him going 10-2 or 9-3 every year and not winning a championship. This year Penn State pushed all their chips in thinking this was the year and the Oregon game ended up being the beginning of the end for Franklin.

Virginia Tech’s Side

If you are a Virginia Tech fan, you should be thrilled. This program has been missing that juice or momentum for years and now they have that. This big question for Virginia Tech is how invested they are in terms of resources. ABL sports would like to think that Virginia Tech is all in on making their football program and competitor because James Franklin would not have taken the job if the buy in wasn’t there. We had it on pretty good authority that Arkansas was doing everything they could to get Franklin and Auburn had significant interest in Franklin as a backup candidate to Jon Sumrall. It was also noted that he would be seen as a top candidate for Florida State if they were to move on from Mike Norvell. James Franklin, going 8-4 at Penn State, would put fans into a rage. James Franklin, going 8-4 at Virginia Tech, would give fans hope. Virginia Tech needs to worry about competing in the ACC. This conference has been down for years and it’s time for teams such as Virginia Tech, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, and Pitt to start consistently contributing to making this conference a power that puts multiple teams into the CFP.

Recruiting

Lastly, Virginia is one of the most talent rich states in the country. Virginia Tech has not been a presence at all in their own state recruiting. The top players in the state are committed to South Carolina, Michigan, Clemson, Georgia, and in the past 5 years Ohio State. If James Franklin can do that then Virginia Tech should be a contender in the ACC championship race every year.