Updated with the reposted link with much less dead air. Skip to 1min for the start of the press conference.
Embedded link to allow those of you that can to follow along live. 10am is a bad time for me, but I will catch up later and repost the embed to the recorded version once it's up on the Virginia Tech Athletics YouTube page.
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Nice handshakes to Whit and Sands, gigantic hug and hamming it up with Bud
Yeah, this is gonna be fun
That's awesome. I know it seems a bit corny and overplayed to some, but I really think we mean it when we tell staff and recruits "this is home". We're blessed with a beautiful place and great people. Now to win some football games.
That press conference just now...wow. Talk about a confident and well-spoken leader. I can see why this guy recruits lights out and his players and staff love him.
This is going to be a ton of fun. Still almost feels surreal.
Franklin gets it.
Be prepared for major changes, at least to what we're accustomed to
Is that Guitarman shaking his hand after the suits? can't tell. never met VTGM in person and missed all his live speaking at BOV meetings
Wish it was. I was in a department meeting during the presser.
Who scheduled that?
I'm sure it was scheduled in advance, so the question should be "who the hell didn't cancel that?"
Love the band being there
Damn, they have the concessions opened up for this. How full do you guys think Cassell will be?
Fuller than the UVA spring game for sure
That bro shake with Bud was something special.
Did they make him walk all the way from the practice facility?
That's probably why he reportedly wants a new building.
That hug with Frank, it got a little dusty in here
The difference in applause from Rocovich compared to Babcock was hilarious.
Babcocks public speaking ability has gotten significantly worse, its like its the first time he's read this speech.
Also I know its for Franklin but to shout out the players and not mention PMonty and his commitments to keeping this somewhat together is something.Probably because he was handed some prepared remarks, so he wouldn't go off-script.
PR gave him a script to read so he wouldn't start saying shit like Coaches coach the same.
He did acknowledge Monty
my bad I missed that
Eh. He's a dead man walking/lame duck. This would be weird and awkward for anyone.
These three guys are boring. Get Franklin on the mic, stat!
I actually love the emotion here. And him shouting out Pry
By all accounts Brent Pry is a GREAT guy, loves VT. It just didn't work out.
We all would have a beer or 12 with Pry.
Just head over to PKs when there's live music. He'll probably be there.
Is he still in town?
Why wouldn't he be? I think his kids are in the middle of the school year. Heck, from some discussions (joking I hope) he might be back on staff next year.
Would be awesome if Franklin finds sone sort of spot for him
I mean were already paying him so ...
Oh yeah. Brent will be here in some capacity.
That could be a detail they had to work out logistically with HR, etc.
"the Fuller family, the Edmunds family"
Nice
Franklin is very good at this.
Stereotypical but true in this circumstance that he won the press conference.
Is anyone else ready to run through a wall with me?!
I am.
But TBF, I was also ready to do the same for Fuente and Pry (after the presser).
I just shotgunned two Natty's and punched a hole in my wall
That video always makes me laugh but cringe. He just wanted to be Stone Cold, but all they had were bottles.
Find me a wall...I need to run through it....also, I'm not crying, you're crying!
Franklin saying "Go Hokies" was surreal. This is happening.
Unable to watch. Can someone please post any details of the contract if announced?
Thanks-
It was not announced. Nothing to that level of detail
David Teel with the direct question asking about how Pry was involved. Very excited to hear the response.
Loved his answer, and I'm really glad to hear Pry was helpful. I love Brent Pry and I wish it had worked out.
It is very easy to remain in my pessimistic state with regards to low expectations for the current administration (both university & athletics) to get back up to dominating the conference and being nationally relevant again. But it is really comforting and exciting to hear from Franklin that it kind of blew his mind how well organized and relentless they were in trying to get him onboard. So I'll happily eat my hat in that regard. However, I hope this isn't just the excitement of getting married. There is still a lot to get done, and that process will never end.
Very impressed, overall. GO HOKIES!
The BoV and committee headed by a bunch of CEOs worked to get him there.
Man its really, really mind-blowing to hear that we were by far the most well organized, prepared school to approach him to the point where he was surprised if not impressed that everything that he would want to bring up in regards to be competitive in not just the ACC but nationally we already had a well thought out plan in how to accomplish.
He would not have taken this job if he didn't agree with the plan. Holy shit, we're back
HOORAY! WE DIDN'T TRIP ON OUR OWN DICKS FOR ONCE!
It doesn't roll off the tongue, but it's a stadium chant we can try out I guess
Shoot, we weren't even ass.
The committee must have locked Whit in a closet while the process was ongoing.
I know it's fun to hate on Whit but if you read all of the quotes from Franklin it's very apparent that Whit had a big hand in this and he trusts him.
I honestly think Whit is good at pretty much every aspect of being an AD other than hiring/firing a football coach.
And as far as we know, he may have had his hands tied especially with the past iterations of the BOV
And third time might pay for all
Or hiring fundraising organization leaders.
Or hiring financial officers.
Or buying new socks for non-rev sports.
et cetera
Welcome back around
Thanks. Couldn't justify spending money just to complain about Head Coach Bront when I could do that for free on Twitter.
This dude is going to be head of fundraising. He clearly has a way with words and people. Also really good to hear what he said about Pry in the process, Foster, etc. I'm excited about Hokies football (at least for Spring/G1 next year) again and it feels so nice.
I'm excited for this weekend!! Bring on the recruits!
Totally loved the fact that he paused his own presser (seemingly) to push game attendance to impress recruits this weekend. I thought that was awesome.
"Virginia Tech needs to look, feel, smell, and operate like big time (football).... When recruits walk into the facilities they need to feel like a big time football program. What stands out isn't what is there, but what is missing"
Oh yeah, if you're a contractor in Blacksburg, you're about to be very busy.
It's starting to feel real now
"Hey Andy, how are you?" lmao
It wasn't just Andy. James was definitely setting the tone for how he wants to be interviewed.
He didn't like reporters just diving into their questions. He made it clear he wants to have a little personal interaction first.
He didn't waste any time establishing that!
It's going to rub some people the wrong way, I'm sure. But I actually loved him making everyone acknowledge and answer his greeting to them with each question.
Edit: For clarity.
Same! The man demands respect in the room. You love to see it
Exactly, but he also simultaneously returned the respect demanded. It was a beautiful thing to see that is nearly completely lost these days.
Also just shows that way of connecting with people. The professional connection is the ask/answer part, the connecting part is the how are you doing part. Seems smart to acknowledge the people that you know you're going to be interacting with regularly, and will want them to be a little softer on you.
I love it in a "I'm not here to be your adversary, we're on a first name basis now" that should help improve media relations going forward.
Its a small thing, but again shows how personable he is and why we completely lost the region to him over the last 15 years.
Acknowledging people and making them feel heard is an amazing trait—especially for someone in a high-profile leadership position. Unfortunately, it's lost on many.
I will admit - I have not been a James Franklin fan at all in the past. I disliked him a lot previously, and honestly after self-evaluating, really the only reason I didn't like him was because he was absolutely dominating VT in recruiting and building a great program at PSU, largely to our detriment.
After hearing that press conference and hearing others in the media and industry saying such good things about him, I'm happy to eat a pile of crow. No wonder the guy was crushing us in recruiting. Who wouldn't want to sign up to play for that guy and run through a wall for him? Franklin is more than just a head football coach, he is a complete leader and program-building architect. I am so unbelievably excited about the future of VT football.
I went through the same self-analysis, and came to the same conclusion. I was hating, based on the impact on my team.
So I guess now I'm loving it, based on the expected impact on my team. Ah well, such is fandom.
The other reason that I didn't like him is because he took over Penn State after Bill O'Brien, who nobody likes, and had them winning the Big10 in the first year after "sanctions." I wanted so badly for Penn State to fall off the radar and have no hope of ever sniffing any accolade after what went down there.
God willing, that's exactly what letting Franklin go does to them.
I couldn't believe how many reporters dropped the ball on that after the first two introductions. David Hale was near the end and it took Franklin greeting him 3 or 4 times before he acknowledged him. Meanwhile, the younger guys pretty much figured it out immediately.
I might've been reading too far into it but I thought David Hale's resistance had an air of "I'm from ESPN, I've interviewed you before unlike these smalltime local guys, and I'm above your introductory back and forth".
David Cunningham handled it best with the "Welcome to Blacksburg". We were all thinking it, and Franklin seemed to appreciate him saying it.
You could be right about Hale and Cunningham definitely did the best.
Side note, it's wild how many Davids cover this team.
Edit: that was supposed to be a new comment, not a relpy🙄
Honestly might have been my second favorite thing from the entire PC. My favorite was acknowledging that Pry had a positive impact on the process. We all owe Pry a beer when we lift that ACC trophy (and hopefully more)
Some Nick Saban vibes there with his sentiment about VT...
By that I mean he was very focused on the idea of full alignment, from the University, to administration, to the football program and so on. This was one of his main pursuits - that full alignment MUST exist; and where there are gaps in the system, there must be a plan in place to fill those.
I am paraphrasing, of course. But this talking point/sentiment was the most encouraging to me. Looks like the powers that be are working very hard to be a big boy football program.
He said all the right things, but we've heard that before. We'll see how things shape up over the next few months.
I'm excited though.
Conversely: we are so fucking back.
Edit: I started out looking for a gif of Pedro Cerrano yelling "JES!", couldn't find it, thought about using a Keegan Michael Key gif, then decided on this one that I already had on imgur. There's a pattern forming here, I can't quite put my finger on it. /shrug
Yeah but I've never heard anyone at any moment accuse VT of ever being prepared with a clear singular vision on how to be where we want to be.
THAT is what makes this feel different. Especially from someone who would look for any reason to doubt that kind of plan.
We've never heard it from a guy who was a drive away from a Natty appearance.
Initial thoughts - Franklin is an excellent speaker. He's very thorough with his thoughts but very clear with his message, saying a hell of a lot in a relatively short amount of time. He comes across as someone who knows exactly what he wants and where he is going, and makes you feel very involved in being an integral part of that process. I can absolutely see why he has personally kicked our ass in recruiting this whole region, and I'm very happy that energy will now be used for good.
Secondly, Our football program from a pure operational standpoint is about to go from the outhouse to the penthouse. Say goodbye to Merryman as you know it, because he wants every aspect of the VT program to look top of the line modern to sell us as a serious player in the national scene.
Reading between the lines, he has very close family ties with Brent Pry and its almost inevitable that he will end up on staff here, but only if Pry wants it. I got a feeling we are probably looking at Ricky Rahne joining as well, seems that the visit to ODU might have been more than just visiting an old friend.
It sounds like Bud Foster was as relentless at getting Franklin in house as he was in dominating every offense he faced as a DC. Hearing they talked every night, I wouldn't be surprised if he's involved as an advisor in some way on staff going forward, if only to help Franklin understand the ins and outs of Blacksburg and VT at the start.
Also, seeing him with the #25 jersey with Franklin on the back was.... weird....
Glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought that was awkward AF. His expression seemed to convey he kinda felt the same.
Edit: With your added embed, I want to note, for those who maybe didn't watch, that I was talking about his initial expression when he was handed the jersey on stage.
I think (THINK) it's because he was hired in 2025.
That's what I was wondering. If so, that's an unfortunate coincidence that actually makes sense.
I thought it was because he had a great week in practice getting ready for the presser
😬
No disrespect. We have to realize that we are at a point where we don't need to recognize Frank at each and every turn.
Gemini tells me it's pretty common for coaches to get a jersey when they take a job at the school (it linked a YouTube video of Scott Frost at UCF). 25 is our number now for when nothing else is specified
He was a college QB, should've gone with whatever number that was
A&M gives #12. We give #25. Those numbers signify the programs identity. I don't see the problem here.
It seems to be the only number we are never in danger of having two of on the field
I'm just saying, if we are going to honor any jersey, it should be Vick's #7. That would actually mean something to current players who largely grew up watching him play or hearing stories about his greatness.
I hate to be this guy, but we are too old. Vick last played in the league 10 years ago (he was still on a roster for two more years) when incoming recruits were in 2nd-3rd grade.
I saw that on stage too. Then he flipped the light switch on and put on the smile.
I'm not reading too much into it as he probably has 1000 things on his mind right now from staff to moving to kids to HR to planning etc. momentary reactions are just that
I loved the bit about how he has asked two people for blessings in his life: his FIL before he proposed to Fumi, and Frank Beamer before he accepted the head coaching job at Virginia Tech. Also how he called Frank 3 times with no answer because Frank didn't have his number saved, so he had to call Mrs. Beamer LOL
Absolutely LOVE the passion! I always talk about "running through a brick wall" for my favorite coaches.......I think Franklin would run through the wall with me. Let's go Hokies!
Lots to be excited about from this presser. One insight that was cool is he was already attacking recruiting hard. How many recruits do we think will be at the game Saturday? What do we think his class ranking ends up for 2026? It's going to be good, but how good?
I hope we pack the stands Saturday and start this thing off on the right foot. If anyone is sitting on tickets get them in the hands of someone who wants to be there and help show these recruits we're serious moving forward.
Just bought ours after watching that presser! I figured this would have been nearly a sell out but there are a lot of cheap tickets still available. Since VT actually proved, against my intuition, that they are willing to invest I am going to get back in.
Was just able to start watching the presser. I did read all the above comments and I blew past everyone before Coach Franklin. I'm still watching it, but has to stop after seeing a man of his statue being confident enough with himself to show the level of vulnerability and humility when he started (and had to stop) talking about Brent Pry. Man, that was touching. Have to admit, tears came from my eyes. I was totally beside myself watching it.
I'm going back to the presser now, but from a character perspective, WOW!!! This man's got it by the tons!!!!
I'm sure nobody will read this, but I have a small James Franklin tidbit. After my first year of coaching at Kentucky State back in 2019 I had the opportunity to attend my very first AFCA Convention, basically it's a massive 3 day event where every coach at every level of football goes to connect, network and share ideas with other coaches.
Walking into the massive hotel and immediately seeing Derek Mason and Gus Malzahn in the lobby made me realize holy shit this is really cool. I am not gonna lie being a young and aspiring coach I was star struck, and the next day I saw James Franklin.
This is probably really stupid to admit but I just watched him because I've always respected him and wanted to see what he was doing, every single person he walked past in the lobby he greeted and engaged with, he's incredibly high energy and extremely personable to everyone he meets, I knew then that is why he was and still is such a dominant recruiter, because he really genuinely cares about his guys and makes everyone else feel involved in his process.
Does he say hi to the moms though?
Hopefully not like Galen Scott.
What's Galen Scott up to these days?
Ask your mom.
Lmao Y'all need to stop mixing up Galen Scott and Torrian Grey.
Grey forgot to acknowledge a recruit's mom. Scott slept with married woman (while there to recruit someone who had no familiar relation to said woman).
That's awesome. Gald to see you back around again
Thanks man! I appreciate it! It's very hard to find time when you are grinding up the coaching ladder, but I hope to be around more!!
WOW!! Just wow!! Very impressed with the presser. Haven't been this optimistic about Hokie football in a long time.
I have never really been a Franklin fan, maybe bc I didnt know much about him., but after seeing him speak, you can sense the excitement in the air! I love it.
Just found 2 tix for Saturday on stubhub. Let's fill the stands......and shock the world!
GO HOKIES!!
That's awesome. Love Bud.
Watching it now, the part of Cassel they had open was packed.
The thing that stuck out to me were the repeated mentions of alignment being present at VT, something that many have already brought up and something that has been a major concern since the late Beamer years at Tech.
Another thing that I liked, but haven't seen mentioned, is Franklin acknowledging that you can't rebuild what you had somewhere else and the importance of recognizing institutional and community influence in the success of a program.
My biggest concern with him was that I didn't think recreating PSU in Blacksburg was a reality and him understanding that on top of hearing him use the time since his firing to reflect on his success and opportunities for improvment makes me a little more encouraged. I do think having Pry as a resource, even if not in an official capacity, is incredibly helpful for the program. Pry isn't going to shy away from telling Franklin what and who the issues are inside of Merryman.
He sounds very similar to Pry in his philosophy on recruiting vs. portal usage and how to implement NIL dollars. By all accounts, he should be more successful in this vision, but knowing how it went over the last 2-3 years, color me skeptical on whether that was just lip service and, if not, whether it'll work better this go round.
Anyone with X, how are the ex-players reactions to Franklin?
Mostly positive stuff from what I've seen. Don't feel like going and scraping a bunch of individuals, but I think the hype is real all around
I'm just happy he had a former player meeting, holy shit
Its not possible to know which former players were involved is it...
Pry did the same thing his first couple days
Same Luther...Same.
We didn't make the rules to this gang shit.
Franklin also was on the McAfee show today continuing the press tour. Around the 45/46 minute mark. I can try and copy/embed later, but I don't think it works on a currently live stream.
VT Athletics got you covered
That's a beautiful thing that they're on their game too
Shewww that lapel pin looks good on JMMF. Can it be the 2026 season now?!
Gotta derail Miami's season first
Not even derail. It would be the final nail for them, which would be extra tasty.
It would finally make espn choose someone else to represent the ACC in the playoff projection brackets.
ESPN: No. No, I don't think I will.
I love that he keeps giving the Corps a shoutout. He gave them one in the presser, too.
He has obviously identified this as a relatively unique piece of our culture and has signaled that he is embracing it.
Ugh, joined to hear Franklin's same message again (I'm hyped) and they're talking about Shedeur at the moment
I guess he's like 2 segments until his starts at the current moment. Something, then Dinich about CFP, then Franklin
Work that PR machine, go go go
Better than when pry was on accn
https://x.com/therealdcunna/status/1991223048024752524
#Hokies BOV and committee member Ryan McCarthy's first impression of James Franklin was that he had Whit Babcock's August presentation and the Board's September resolution on the athletic budget printed out with notes along the columns.
McCarthy: "This guy's ready to talk."
https://x.com/therealdcunna/status/1991223535411318924
That was at their October meeting in Lake Oconee, Ga., a little over a week after Franklin was fired at Penn State. Already had studied the #Hokies' plan.
McCarthy: "It shows the seriousness of his due diligence, his professionalism."
Goes with the old adage "you get out of what you put into"...
Which is probably going to benefit
bothall parties.Okay, I was in the car driving with the fam & was tearing up. 🥹
He's absolutely the best speaker of any football coach I've ever seen at Virginia Tech.
Does he play favorites?
He says "Yes, I do! My favorites are high production and low maintenance."
Anyone else notice ESPN doing Franklin dirty on SportsCenter? Showed only highlights of teams scoring touchdowns against Penn St. Somebody in production is a hater 🤣
More motivation for Franklin. I feel like he has a real chip on his shoulder and this only adds to it.
Not an SEC team so they've got to throw shade
The amount of meltdown by Penn State guys on Twitter is glorious. Nit picking every interview he did. They are so afraid he is going to do well here.
The other thing that cracks me up is that several admit they purposely underfunded Franklin but don't want to admit there is a direct correlation between that and regularly losing to the Big 10 schools that spent more money than PSU both in budget and NIL.
The last bit is how many of them seem to truly believe they are one coach away from a national championship.
I already enjoyed cheering against them but would be especially great if they fall flat on their face with the next hire or two. A few years in the cellar might do them some good.
I think time will tell that the main, not only, but main reason more so than anything else, why he couldn't win the "big games" was due to underfunding and possibly a combo of Admin/AD support. A smaller version and a slivered degree of what VT was facing prior to all these changes.
IMO, PSU will find out that if the powers that be met the way VT did, they would have made some tweaks and retained JMMF.
This is a highly plausible outcome to me and if it proves out to a larger degree, it will be glorious to watch VT rise while PSU slides.
Yeah, this season they were fourth in overall football budget in the Big 10 and sixth or seventh in NIL, yet their fan base clearly assumes they were the best at funding a championship program and only a few admit that it is true Franklin was underfunded and a couple seem to be proud they underfunded him because it clearly was all the coaches fault he couldn't afford to pay players the most, have the budget flexibility to advance the program. Most seem caught up in what they paid the coordinators this year as the single point of proof they should expect a National Championship every year.
I'm just glad that Penn State STILL had to pay Franklin a $9 million negotiated buyout.
If they weren't one coach away before...............they definitely are now
The coaching carousel process is long and full of terrors.
It is so refreshing to look at that coaching carousel chart and see we are the first team with a name already in place. The rest of the hiring/recruiting process is fun while everybody else is fighting over whoever they can get
Me over Thanksgiving break, not stressing, watching croots roll in between Bahamas Basketball games, knowing we got the best coach on the market. (Exchange Pepsi with a Bourbon)
Dude! How did you find that image of me from next week?
Well done! Leg!
911, I'd like to report a murder.
Im stoked for this.
There was another side of it, though:
Check this out:
Franklin booed by psu fans
Peeps, whatever happens, let's not be this.
I'd like to think Coach Pry got some respect and that is part of the reason for Franklin's hiring.
Everyone has bad fans, I know.
Makes me mad watching them treat our beautiful boy like that.
I've never booed a VT coach or player. I have no words.
Mad respect for sending his family through first and waiting a little so he took the brunt of it all and they didn't get the full onslaught.
yeah, that was a class move
And the Penn St social media mafia has the gall to be up in arms that he won't refer to his time there in a glowing, lovingly way.
Like, you all ran him out of town and put his head on a pike as a trophy, and you wonder why he isn't gracious about it?
And he actually did speak well of his time there in one of the interviews. He has made no effort to speak ill of Penn State publicly that I have seen.
Edit:
I was curious how he was going to address them at the press conference. In the BOV meeting he just referred to PSU as "the previous place we were". It wouldn't have been a great look to start out that salty with his press blitz yesterday IMO
I mean....we got pretty shitty with Pry at times. I'm honestly surprised he talked us up to Franklin.
I think most coaches expect fans to have overdramatic reactions to losing. The relationship at administration, bov and boosters is where I bet they place the value. I assume he felt they treated him right to tell Franklin he could trust them.
He's coming out as a hero here, and it seems well-deserved.
You have to be a real dude to talk up the school that just fired you.
I'm sure whatever he told Franklin sounded tame compared to what PSU put him through.