Use this page to follow along with the signing period and to prevent bogging down the December recruiting thread. A reminder that all signees should get their own page.
Here's the HokieSports Official NSD Page
Press Conference info from hokiesports:
Triumph NIL's can't-miss livestream will feature an exclusive interview with Coach Franklin from 11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET.
Virginia Tech Football head coach James Franklin is scheduled to speak with the press on signing day, addressing the media shortly after the morning concludes on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
I threw this together quickly, so I will tweak the formatting and update the board as my schedule allows today.
Updating average composite (omitting Will Love .8256):
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Thanks for putting this together!
Notably the actual board only has 20 slots...we have 20 current commits, though at least one has said they're not signing today.
Who is not signing today?
Isaiah Pina
Correct.
Is this an issue of his offer not being committable or him not sure if he is going to get playing time?
The guys a basketball player that just started playing football. He's kinda new to everything recruiting wise I'm sure he's just trying to see what offers come in and I'm sure some of our staff doesn't know much about him.
I wouldn't be surprised if he is seeing writing on the tea leaves. I also have a feeling that JMFF doesn't have the luxury of taking on projects at this time and his recruiting level will bury this guy in the depth chart.
Any coach worth his salt will make room for a 6-6 basketball player converted to TE.
So long as he doesn't try and dribble the ball
I just picked a number with some head room, the eternal optimist in me may have overshot. I'll adjust it once I'm in the office.
FTFY
First time in a long time I woke up actually excited about national signing day. Still doesnt feel real.
May we just track them all here? Because in the past when they've had separate threads in the forum it takes over active discussions and the threads were very superficial:
/signed
//thread
I have forgotten how it's been done in the past. Apologies, I'll TKP harder next time.
Mickens
Bright
We need this post to go plaid, great idea.
Signing Day page already shows Purgatory in.
https://hokiesports.com/nsd26
What this thread and day must feel like for Penn St fans
In other words, same as it has felt for us for a decade.
Well, for us it was a slow collapse, but the Pry transition where we forfeited a recruiting class cause of timing wasn't great. But at least we did end up with a few guys.
For Penn St this is an active collapse of the empire. They might end today with no signees and no coach
The transition was nowhere near a forfeited class. Dae'Quan Wright, Benji Gosnell (which added Stephen Gosnell), Brody Meadows, Mansoor Delane, XTB, Tucker Holloway, Devin Alves, Keyshawn Burgos, Bryce Duke, Harrison St Germain, Xavier Chaplin, Braelin Moore, Johnny Garrett, John Love.
The issue wasn't getting guys signed. It was development and retention. Even so that list is a lot contributors for us, Alves is the only one that I included who hasn't really played but I think still has a chance. Wright is a major contributor for a playoff team. Delane and Chaplin will likely be drafted in the first 3 rounds. I didn't even include Johnny Dickson who was All-AAC in 2024 at North Texas, and he may also be in the playoffs this year.
That class also included Rashaud Pernell, who IIRC didn't qualify academically.
Damningly enough for the FuCorn years, the forfeited classes were actually 2020 and 2021 more so than the transitional class in 2022
Yup the 2022 class was #35 nationally and #5 in the ACC (same as this year)
Davion Brown is in
Buddy Wegdam is in on OL
Kamren Johnson and Pierce Petersohn in
John Patrick Oates official and listed as a LB
CBS Sports signing day viewing guide has a picture of Franklin at Lane Stadium for their lead.
Feels good to be relevant again!
Cochrane in
*"represent their state" AT VIRGINIA TECH.
Whoever made these edits did an incredible job.
Yeah, I'm loving the video game theme.
Got our kicker. Will Love is signed
I did not realize they were brothers and now feel kinda like an idiot.
It's why the song repeats like it does.
All you need is love. (John)
All you need is love. (Will)
All you need is love, love. (John, Will)
Love is all you need. (Yet another VT dynasty family)
so uh... how do I watch this? No links on hokiesports or youtube
It's not live this year
Yeah frustrating
ugh why is Franklin closing us out of the program!!!
JFs JF the same
Holy shit, is this the pettiest, most savage troll in VT history? Absolutely elite.
https://x.com/AndyBitterVT/status/1996226380808249610?s=20
For context, the owner of Crumbl Cookies upped the ante to keep Sitake at BYU last night
BYU 247 writer sent Crumbl to Penn State last night lmao. And I just saw Treadmill Horse also delivered Crumbl which might be the white box on the bottom
I love college football lol
I am laughing at little at the boxes of cookies piling up for their AD.
Already advertising the "recap" on VTs twitter, are we only expecting 10 early signees? Seems low...
false alarm they're still coming in
Hokiesports is already showing 11 in, with several others that we know of pending.
https://hokiesports.com/nsd26
Simpson in and good lord he's an even bigger bull
I swear to god, I'm gonna pistol whip the next person that says
shenanigans6 7Hey Farva, whats the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy shit on the walls and the mozzarella sticks??
6 7s?
I don't want a large Farva, I want a goddamned liter of cola!
Macado's? 😉😂
Bear fucker! Do you need assistance?
Hey, @NitWhitt, what's Brody Meadows' listed height on hokiesports?
Good one, Unc.
...these are funnier when you say them in my 54-ye old voice. And/or see the look on my 15-yr old's face when I greet his friends in the pick up lane.
Same. I (54, for a couple more days) made a 6-7 reference when picking up my 13yo after a school activity. In contrast to your result, my kid and her friend loved it.
The look I get is more like "praying for death".
You're so chopped.
Matt Seig commits to WVU. Bummer
Until he portals then...welcome home!
now now. you win some, you lose some.... wait, no.... you win most, you lose one
that's how it goes now, right?
I think it goes like "We like when we win."
sad but we have so many other players to be excited about
"Take Me Home"...? but "This Is Home"
Weird you'd wanna commit to a school out of the blue when there's no head coach.
"there's no head coach"
Not sure if you confused PSU and WVU or that was a Rich Rod insult. We will roll with it either way.
Other than the words 'West Virginia' in the song, Country Roads isn't about the state of West Virginia.
In Hank Hill voice: "that boy ain't right"
That might he the best use of that meme I've ever seen.
If Rich Rod's career has taught me anything, it's that you can't fault a safety for wanting to go there for the same reason you can't fault a good punter for going to a school with a dog shit offense.
He'll have plenty of opportunities to show his talents there
That's a really good point.
A bag of cash and the promise to play both ways so he can get whipped up and down the field. Long shot promise of 2 way play with one of the largest classes in the country
So he wasn't committed enough to Franklin to follow him, or Penn St. to see who their next coach might be? 🤔
Does Tech have a lot more good safeties with lots of eligibility left compared to WVU or something? Do we think they offered more money? It's not really opportunity to play both ways is it??!?
Rumor is WVU dropped a huge NIL bag that Pitt and VT weren't willing/able to match
Reminds me of when a previous boss of mine asked me if a guy was worth the salary he was demanding, and I said "no", so my company didn't match.
Hopefully Franklin will be diligent in use of NIL funds to get us the best team on the field for the money we have.
70% bag, 30% telling him he could play both ways
Did time prove you right?
Oh yeah, guy definitely wasn't anything special.
Yeah, Chris Coleman talked about this briefly on the TSL signing day podcast. According to him, WVU missed on a few dudes and pooled the NIL money that would have gone to several guys to get him on board. Franklin has some established pay structure that he wasn't willing to bend for this one guy.
I think this shows his respect for the players and the fans. There is an unspoken contract amongst all of us Hokies that needs to be honored. This is quite refreshing. It places at least some constraints on NIL and how he perceives its use is good with me.
I really like this and think that having that structure set up early really sets the tone for the locker room. I do think it would be tough to have it be robust though and have players in agreement about what dictates which bucket they fall into
Maybe he just got confused and picked the wrong Virginia...oops
Recent flip DL Witherington is in
Of the Birmingham Witheringtons? ;^)
Still laughing.
QB in the boat. Huhn signed
More VA beef in. Wilder signed
757 DB Cleveland has signed
The white jersey with all the others being maroon on the VT official page is making me twitch a little.
Troy Huhn has signed
Drinking....coffee
My secret to speed is waiting for my official start date for my new job and a busy F5 key
It was more a reading problem than a speed to post problem....didnt see it until after I hit send. Been a really long week...and its Wednesday.
Lamah signed
The signing day show is starting for Hokiesports across a few platforms
Youtube link
Thanks for the heads up.
Not sure who is taking it in but good grief is it a relief to listen to Franklin. So nice to have a pro in the room again.
I love listening to Brent Pry. I could listen to Pry all day every day. It's just a shame he couldn't win football games.
T-Ron signed
Franklin represents our program so well.
Franklin currently live on Rivals YT
HE JUST SAID ANOTHER ONE COMING SOON!!
Currently Ranked 29th class on 24/7 by the way. Average rating of 88.20 with the current signings
Wiggins?
CONFIRMED! BOOM!
I'M WIGGIN OUT!
I feel like I need a cigarette. Dear lord.
Eziuka signed
on3 currently has the Hokies as the 25th ranked class. Absolutely incredible that Franklin was able to do this in such a short time.
It'll shift a bit, but currently 22 on 24/7 per Matej Sis
I accidentally got into a spat with a WVU fan on X that was proclaiming their class of 40 recruits with 2 4*s a legit top 25 class.
Well, there's your first problem. ;^)
Wow #22 without landing Sieg and having lost .8948 Carnell Warren, .8833 Cole Bergeron, and .8811 OL Adrian Hamilton
And Pedo State is currently #164.
With ONE commit.....
BWAAAAAHHHHHHAAAAAHHHHAAAAAA!!!!
Damn that's outside of 136 FBS teams
They are firmly one spot in front of Pairie View A&M
Their one commit Jackson Ford went on to the 247 ESD show to explain why he's sticking with PSU, and damn do I want him to sign with us. He was so well spoken and just comfortable being on TV, that kid is going places. As a DL he reminds me a little bit of Illinois State Rep Kam Buckner (who I work with often) who was a DL at Illinois. Ford is sticking with PSU because he loves the school, which I respect guys who are loyal to their school.
Yeah saw it mentioned several places he was already registered as a student their before football activities even started
Oh and every Penn State fan should be required to buy a Ford Jersey this month to beef up his NIL
It doesn't look like they'll have many others to choose from.
Maybe Penn State should just go ahead and hire him as the first ever college player-coach. Might help keep some of the current players.
Not the first ever, but first in a long time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player-coach#Player%E2%80%93coaches_in_Ame...
edit: I see you said college player-coach. Ignore me
Well ACTUALLY- it has happened at least once when Cumberland College played GT in 2016 in the 222-0 game.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916_Cumberland_vs._Georgia_Tech_football_game
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_E._Allen
It's wikipedia so a few #s aren't perfect in it but I corrected in the excerpts
Some excerpts:
Box scores are spotty an variable but below are estimates:
26 rushes for 522 yards(ypc just over 20-would've been more but for 15 Cumberland turnovers and also the punt and kickoff teams gave them awesome field position by having returns of 220 yards total for each;
Even then GT didn't pass- zero attempts!
I agree. Also was thinking what a great interview he was. Maybe he comes as a transfer in a year.
I'm so confused as to what Penn State thought they were accomplishing by firing Franklin. They were a recruiting machine that was consistently a top-15 program (and often higher than that).
I understand Franklin's record in Top 10 games is a thing and they wanted to get to that next level. However, if your goal is to take that next step, then how do you not have a plan of who the next guy is going to be BEFORE you fire the guy that has gotten you to the precipice? It sure does feel like they had a bad stretch of games and made an emotional decision without fully thinking it through.
I'm glad we were able to land him and look forward to what these new guys can do in the ACC. Haven't been this excited about VT Football since maybe year 1 of Fuente!
There are still a bunch of PSU fans on reddit trying to defend that decision
I do think the ones that are rational are correct. It may have been time for them to move on from Franklin for both party's sakes. Kraft has absolutely butchered the hell out of the process by not having a plan in place and now being a gigantic laughing stock
And then throwing Chesney off to the side because he thought they could steal Sitake from BYU? It makes no sense.
Side note: it is crazy that UVA was able to steal Bronco from BYU unless they really did not like him there.
Wish I could remember where I saw it, but someone said UCLA and Chesney have been flirting for a bit, so who knows if he also turned down Penn State for SoCal
That was before byu played in a conference
Yeah, but they've always had money and desire to win in football as a mission of the LDS church. I'm guessing they decided to make it a larger mission of the church recently.
My PSU friends tell me this:
- Every year, he asks for more: more money, more facilities, more assistant coach pool money, more everything. Under the threat that he'll bail.
- The "big game" thing.
- The feeling that this year was the year. A feeling that Franklin encouraged.
- Then the Oregon loss, followed by their 2 game skid during which Franklin seemed checked out.
Basically, he had worn out his welcome, and when yet another year was lost (in a pretty dramatic flame out if we're being honest), the dam broke.
I have no idea how accurate any of that is, beyond the verifiable facts of the losses this year. But that's my friends' take on why they got rid of him so quickly and without a plan.
A lot of that would seem to make sense, especially the money piece with the arms race that is NIL. I think French pointed out that in the majority of JF's 'big game' loses, PSU was clearly the less talented team - on paper and the field. LtPeter has mentioned that PSU ranked well behind OSU and Michigan in terms of BIG10 fundraising and NIL. More money can get a lot of things - players, coaches, facilities...the best recruit class signed in...forever.
I'll defend JF because he's our guy, but a lot of his requests make sense in context. "You want us to get to the next level you gotta give me X".
I can totally understand all of this as rational for wanting to move on. What I just can't wrap my head around is how a school as big and seemingly well run as Penn State didn't have a contingency plan in place when they pulled the trigger. They did it early enough that they should've been able to get one of their top choices.
Goal #1 should've been to make sure that they don't lose all the momentum they had built under Franklin. If they weren't prepared for that, why not grit it out this year and see how next year goes (with a better plan in place if it doesn't go well). The longer this goes, the more it looks like a full rebuild for them. I'm sure a lot of their current roster is headed to the portal soon.
I'm confident they'll get back towards the top of the Big Ten, but it's certainly going to be at least a couple of years before that happens. I don't see how their AD survives this mess.
You're not thinking about it like they probably would. They get massive donations, and some of it may have been pressure from donors to can him right away or they would pull money. I mean, it's not like it was a lost game here and there over a season, it was three in a row. Even if you say they are well-run, it doesn't stop donors from driving decisions, especially big time donors. It's hard to try to rationalize this scenario when they likely did something like, as a group, called up and said, "you know how all of us pledged a total of $200 million over the next few years? Yeah, fire Franklin TODAY, or that all goes away."
The comical part is a large number of their big X mouthpieces claim the school and donors were already withholding money from Franklin because they wanted more portal splash so it was a catch 22 that built on itself over 3 years that saw them drop from 3rd in budget and 3rd in NIL to 5th in budget and 7th in NIL for this season in the Big10. Expecting Championships on a Purposefully Hamstrung Budget yet they also try to claim they gave Franklin everything he asked for.
Not once did they attempt to outspend or out NIL Ohio State and Michigan. Franklin went 1-15 against Top 5 teams at PSU. He beat Ohio State once in 2016. Twelve of his fifteen losses to Top 5 teams were to.....Ohio State and Michigan. Two of his other Top 5 losses were to Notre Dame in last year's Semifinals and 2024 lost to #1 Oregon. Both of those teams last year had larger budgets and higher NIL. Franklin lost one time to a team with lesser budget and lower NIL. That was in 2021 to #2 Iowa.
Franklin's record against Top 10 teams at PSU was 4-21 so he went 3-6 against teams 6 through 10. Those 6 losses were to Michigan (2x), Ohio State, Oregon (this season), Michigan State, and USC. Once again meaning four of his six losses were to teams with higher budgets and more NIL with a fifth a question mark as loss to USC was pre-portal and pre-NIL.
Two or three times losing to a Top 10 team with a lesser budget/NIL total.
He was 11-7 at PSU against teams 11 through 25.
Franklin was 6-8 in games against Top 25 teams when Penn State was the higher ranked team.
Not great overall but clearly the Big Game James moniker had resourcing as a big factor compared to his opponents.
Just saying, I remember when Roy Williams leaving was seen as a necessary thing for Kansas because he struggled to win the biggest games.
A change of scenery did him very well, and wouldn't be shocked if Franklin sees his career take a step forward here when others expect it to stagnate or fall back
That's a decent rationale for getting rid of him.
But doesn't justify doing it when they did and without a good plan for replacement.
It's like they let the message boards run the athletic department and the message boards fans agreed to fire him without any additional plans.
For all the valid criticisms of our athletic department, I'm glad ours isn't run by message board fans.
Some of that "always asking for more money for assistants for facilities, etc" is Franklin trying to keep up / catch up with Michigan and Ohio State. PSU over here demanding a B10 title / National Title and they're not putting up a competitive budget to Mich and tOSu
They're trying their hand with Freeman from ND and Deboer from Alabama. That's what I've heard has been the hold up in announcing a hire - playoff potential is preventing an announcement.
Not sure I ever bought that though especially given the recent Sitake news.
the only way that works out is if Deboer goes to PSU in time for Kiffin to backstab LSU. That would be hilarious enough to be worthwhile.
I can't see them getting either of those guys for a multitude of reasons. That said, your recruiting class is already screwed so why be in a hurry at this point, I guess?
Freeman will only leave Notre Dame for the NFL or Ohio State, and I'm not even sure he would leave if those opportunities did come. He's got Notre Dame rolling right now.
Why would Kalen DeBoer leave one crazy toxic fan base for another crazy toxic fanbase that just fired their most successful coach since Joe Paterno after playing in the final four a year ago?? Penn State administration and fans are delusional because neither of those coaches are going to State College especially after how horribly Pat Kraft has fucked this whole coaching search up.
This makes me oh sooo happy.
Started posting this on Tday. Go listen to the album (especially Gobble Gobble Mother F*cker)...it's going into my tailgate hype loop.
Oh my god they made a musical??? The original movie was up there with The Room for the best worst movie ever made
It's been a good day
long time, no see.
the old gang IYKYK are on a different platform, but I just don't have time to stay active on that chat. are you still in NC?
if things pan out, I'm sure they'd love to hear from you again, and we can flex on the other fans, like the old accylum days.
Based on Average Composite, VT is now #5 in the ACC at 88.41, just behind UNC who is 88.45.
One-time VT commit Payton Falzone has signed with Penn State. Went VT then flipped to PSU then flipped to Auburn and decommitted from Auburn after Freeze was fired.
....why? just don't sign early
teenagers are often known for their forethought and long term planning skills
#WEARENOTSUREWHOOURCOACHWILLBE
It makes sense why they haven't been able to hire a coach now. They signed the coach killer.
Great news for us, that means Terry Smith will be gone. It's science.
Tyrell Grant flipped from Cuse and signed!
He's the motha-flippin'
James Franklin on the 247 show right now
If YouTube cuts to commercial in the middle of this interview I'm going to scream
Texas Tech is on-track to dominate the Big-12. Why shouldn't we run the ACC—again? It all starts with the right financing. Since VT does not have oil money, they best give we alums cause to sustain this though incentives to open up the checkbook (most of all, winning a ton of games)
the future is looking better.
There's a few of us here in Aggieland. The Ags had their 2005 Marcus Vick vs Da U game Friday night, sadly.
Two schools having underrated good signing days: WVU and UNC. Both massive classes but getting flips from both 4 stars and 85/86 rated guys.
I don't know that WVUs is actually good. 43 commits is way too many and though they have a good spread of high 3s only 2 4s...I don't know that that's going to turn out well for them.
National recruiting observers are labeling WVU as "winners" of ESD. 3* hit at a lower rate than blue-chippers and WVU needs to remake it's roster, so it makes sense to get a shit-ton of 3* and heighten your chances of some of those guys becoming contributors. Idk if their class is "good", but I would say they did a good job today.
I'm unconcerned with UNCs class. They have no actual plan
Franklin going on ESPN2 after this commercial break
Based on the 24/7 Virginia list we currently have number 6, 9, 13, 14, and 18 of the composite top 20 targets in VA in this class
We ended up with all but like one from that list (Sieg). That's insane
Still might not be over
Are there more than just the Michigan WR from Oscar Smith?
Just him. But he still hasn't signed with Michigan
Oscar Smith has a semifinal game at James Madison in Vienna, VA, this Saturday afternoon. Maybe he's just focused on this season still; or maybe it's worth going and checking him out.
He signed with Michigan a few minutes ago
Shit, neither have we.
I like what we did with the secondary in this class.
Typically, though it's still challenging, younger guys have a better chance at success in positions like that than they do up front. We have some length on the back end with the prospects who have signed.
Yeah, the secondary is a near complete rebuild.
Reddish's status will be interesting, otherwise I expect completely new Safeties.
CB about the same..a couple young guys saw the field but its unclear if any are part of the long-term plan.
Harley signed. No Petrino
Another 3-4 star kid depending on the ranking service. This pace is amazing. Spring practice and portal activity is going to be a flurry to keep up with as well.
That average 😍
Depending on what service you use to calculate it, the blue chip ratio is something I didn't think was possible at Tech.
The 3 VA kids in the top 10 who committed to Michigan still haven't signed. Hmmm
We are rumored to be hard after Travis Johnson out of Chesapeake. Not seeing much on the other two other than Franklin saying he spoke to all the top guys in Virginia.
Hiter would be a monster get. Can you imagine him and Mickens as the 1-2 punch? It would be Jones/Suggs time again.
Landing even one of them, any of them, would be incredible. Give me one more solid dopamine hit!
Miss on Johnson. He stuck with Michigan
Hiter stuck with Michigan as well. Andre Clarke Jr last chance for a bigger flip
Clarke would almost certainly see the field next season in Blacksburg.
Just signed with Michigan unfortunately.
Hiter hasn't signed yet. He's almost 2 hours late.
Hardee's coupons NOW yall, let's send a message!
Sorry if we didn't flip the other two there's no chance we got Hiter. If he flips I'd bet Tennessee
https://x.com/rivals/status/1996362000423932167?s=46
Someone can embed but I'm gonna bet this is the first time we've been featured in a recruiting graphic ever and to get center stage of it.
I know they had to use a recruiting graphic because they don't have any action shots of him in M&O, but the end result has him looking far more relaxed and confident than the others.
I'm not typically a fan of kicking someone when they're down (deserving or not), but this was too funny
Noice.
"Well, I've got that going for me."...
I was told that CJFranklin was the quickest option to restore relevance to Hokie Football
It's like they actually thought this through, and knew what to do.
Exactly. I admit my first reaction to the idea of hiring Franklin was a soul emptying "NO!!!!!", mostly due simply to his association with Penn State (you will have a hard time finding anyone who despises that place more).
After his Gameday interview (which was impressive), after TKP bringing the facts and explaining the benefits of hiring him, and now after this recruiting bonanza, even I will now admit it is an ideal hire for us.
Few people were as apprehensive as I was for a Franklin hire. I too must admit that I have done a 180. I'm fully hyped for the JMFF era
Are you liking the hire now more for what he's doing for Tech, or more for what he's done to Penn State? ;^)
I mean let's be honest for a second the big reason why our recruiting took a shit over the last 15 years was because James Franklin was at Penn St. He understood recruiting far better than anyone at Virginia Tech has ever understood it as far back as I can remember.
There have been multiple times over the years where I told myself that I would love to have a coach like James Franklin at Virginia Tech. I always thought a great recruiter could clean up here and get us back to where we were when I was at school.
I never thought Penn St would b dumb enough to fire him. I still can't believe they did. And they basically gifted us the absolute perfect coach to help us see our potential.
I never hated him, I hated Penn St. I hated that they kicked our ass for recruits in our backyard. I hated they built an empire off our talent. But as a coach I always thought he was among the elites.
And I love the fact that he's now our coach and he's seemingly making it his life mission to destroy Penn St as we know them. As someone who hates that they never got NCAA punished over Sandusky, knowing we did this to them over the past few weeks is like a fever dream that I don't want to wake up from.
We also need to remember this is where Franklin is at his best. He brings in talent. He stole recruits from us while he was at Vandy, Vandy!
We still hired arguably one of the worst 4th quarter coaches in the nation. Some would argue his protégé was worse. But we are not at a point to care, we want wins and he can bring the talent and the coaches to make that happen. And he delivered with doing what he does best.
So just score enough in the first three quarters and hang on or coast through the 4th... /s sorta
Hes' got a solid foundation of Freshmen for next year. If he does for us like this in the portal, I will not complain. I'd say he has a solid foundation started from the recruiting organization and 1 yr player standpoint.
Step 1 complete.
You bring up a good point and something we should keep an eye on.
Yes, it's great that we have this class and will likely have some great guys coming in via the Portal as well. But the key is making it happen again next year and the year after that. We do that, and we set ourselves up to have a better and deeper roster than we have had in a very, very long time if not ever. Reason for that is that in the past when we've had these classes they are something the coaching staff has built up for for a few years and it sustains us with excellent starters for a while but the depth hurts. We keep doing this, bringing in upwards of 10 4* players a year spread over the roster and you enter a spot where you have great players all over the 2-deep of the roster and THAT is the point a single 5* player can push you over the top. That is what we struggled to regain after those Vick years and something we would do very well to get back to, especially in this shit conference.
Fortunately, we are part of the ACC - the conference no one wants to win. That should help us, even with young guys filling in the gaps, win more quickly.
100% and why we have such an opportunity to dominate quickly if we can get the ball rolling. Franklin operated in a very high level in the Big Ten, he does the exact same thing here and we stand out quickly like Clemson did a decade ago
During his press conference, he mentioned that building a recruiting class is a two year process. (He and his team scrambled and were able to lean on those existing relationships to pull this off and it is amazing, especially considering some of those people don't have titles or salaries yet)
Next year will tell us a lot about how recruiting will go in the future I think. These current relationships were built on his Penn State record, coaches, etc. and he was probably given some benefit of the doubt by players and parents. I expect that he will be able to replicate a bunch of his success, but we won't know until he actually does it. Staff hires, coordinators and on-field success will carry a lot of weight with those TBD Virginia Tech relationships.
if he hammers the portal hard and basically flips PSU's starting roster and finds a great QB we can easily win 9 games in 2026 and that will help solidify the 27 recruiting class. We might even crack the top 15
I didn't watch any PSU games, but I seem to remember some rumblings that the team had quit.
If they quit, how many would follow him? Exodus from the shitshow, of course, but coming to Tech or going elsewhere?
On the upside of this, many of these highly rated players are from VA. It looks as if he's working on the idea, with players, that the best in VA stay in VA.
He was good with VA before, while convincing them to go out of state. Dollars for donuts says the Staying local theme, plays well with 'rents.
Also, a question. Does that mean that the athletic dept is only charged with in-state rates, vs out of state tuition and therefore is a budget savings that can be used elsewhere? Is this an under-the-LOS way to maximize impact?
Yes.
The biggest upside of this hire is that it signalled that VT is ready to play big-boy football.
Franklin said it at the introductory speech at Cassell-'when a recruit visits, everything should look, feel, smell like a top-notch program.' (paraphrased).
At VT, (honest glasses on....) not much has looked, felt, smelled that way.
The one difference between class #124 and class #24 is James Franklin. .... think about that.
I just went to the Iron Bowl and got to tour Auburns Football Performance Center last weekend. $92 million. There's a barber shop in the locker room and an equipment scanner to micro-fit the uniforms. No one is wringing hands over the cost, can we afford it, etc.
And they lost the game (barely) to 'bama. I watched as the bama team etc left town with about FIFTY motorcycle police escorting and TWENTY (I counted them) tricked out Greyhound buses to make the 100+ mile drive.
Hiring Franklin and the BOV's initiative is signaling to the recruits what may be to come.
Given that we want a better product on the field, etc, but the past few months at VT can open the door to a much better position with conference talks, recruitment, hopefully TV and equipment negotiations, etc.
What I would love most is a visual reminder of what VT used to be known for.
I want Game 1 to display some of the old school big hits and truck sticks to send a message to the nation we back up. No intentional injury type of hits, but hits we grew to know and love. Even if it means a 15 yarder here or there.
Sorry VMI....
We need to hang 70 on VMI. Don't let your foot off the gas. Make them feel it and never want to come back to Lane Stadium again. And then prove that it wasn't a fluke by doing it again against ODU the next week.
If we're playing VMI in JMFF's first game as VT's head coach, then I'm going to be VERY disappointed. We need to buy that game out and replace it with a decent team STAT!
Agree - I have to assume (hope?) this process is underway.
I'd rather curb stomp a cupcake and keep momentum up with a W then schedule a quality opponent and possibly lose by 2 scores....
VT is sure to get eyeballs next season, I just don't want all eyes on VT first thing and then lay an egg and have everyone go back into self doubt mode.
I think VT fans would welcome a traditional 63-7 curb stomp of years past
I would ask if Arkansas St is available, but we aren't quite the team we were in 2002.
agree. the next 3 games are enough of a challenge with ODU, Maryland, and JMU.
If we hit the portal hard, we could be favored in all 3 or at least ODU & JMU (assuming Chesney takes most of the roster), but they'll definitely be challenges. So we should take an easier win where we can get it.
We've only had two games since Frank retired where we scored over 60 and blew the other team out. I miss those kind of games.
Plus, playing VMI would be an excellent cherry for the VTCC, especially if they schedule it for Corps Homecoming.
The Cadet freshmen would appreciate it if sailing was still a thing but I think that died with Schultz. Rule used to be you got to stop wearing Rat Napkins once VT beat VMI in a sport.
Seems to me that the rats would get "turned" if we beat VMI by more than a certain amount or something like our graduation year to nothing or something. Fuzzy memories get me nowhere too often to rely on it, but I do remember something about getting turned and honest to goodness, I never heard of a rat napkin. I was in the HTs '68-69. We squared our meals and had to drag the upper quad, but rat napkins I don't recall.
They were something we had to design and get made as a Rat Class by Company and then had to wear them at any meal. If while eating at Schultz you committed any infraction of etiquette (eg: not requesting permission to sit from the highest ranking cadet at the table by name and receiving that permission prior to attempting to sit) you could then be sent "sailing" around the outer edge of Schultz until you were recalled and all of your buds from that class were expected to "sail" with you.
It was meant to force freshmen to learn all the upperclassmen names/ranks, build Rat Class comraderie and just to let upperclassmen have some enjoyment.
Here is a grainy picture of mine. I put it at the top of my Hokie tree each Christmas.
Times definitely changed. I think I remember now that we were in the class of '72 and if we beat VMI 72-0 we'd get turned. We had a big game against them and scored a ton, but didn't make the mark for early release. Man, I hated that rat shit.
No way man. There's likely to be a crap ton of roster turnover, and there is something to be said for guys having been able to play together previously - it's how in the NCAA basketball tournament, teams of seniors, who won't play professionally, beat teams of mostly freshmen who will all likely be nba draft picks that year. I'd rather give the guys a couple games playing together to gel before we play a decent opponent.
If we had a good roster already and a new coach was keeping them, it might be a different story, but I really would take it in this case.
100% agree.
We cannot be over-expecting here. We have a great start but, that is all. I want the "cupcake" first so it can be used as a training tool.
Can we swap VMI for Penn State?
/ssss kinda
My worry is are the donations going to be able to keep up with the spending.
The 50 motorcycle police escort isn't about money, that's 100% about safety and the craziness of that rivalry. Gotta make sure nobody firebombs a bus.
Of course, but the point was that it is all on a different level.
And VT just took a big step to getting a foot in the door.
So pending portal results, what's a realistic W/L total for next year? Would we be happy with 6-7 wins and Bowl eligibility? Or are we full blown ACCCG expectations?
I think we're right in the middle. Again, depending on the Portal acquisitions - I think 8 wins is a reasonable expectation for next year
I'd be ecstatic with 8 wins. +5 wins year to year would be huge jump and show real progress.
Can Joe handle 8 games worth of gifs?
Eeehhh I'm still scarred from the past 15 years haha. I think if we win 6 games and make it to a bowl, my expectations will have been blown out of the water. But I'm just some schlub who knows nothing about college football lol
Pending portal, I'm hoping for 6-8 wins next year. I feel like if anyone is expecting 10+, they're setting themselves up for disappointment. Doesn't mean it's off the table with the right pieces coming in, but a winning season would be a big step forward
I think let's wait until we know who the coordinators/assistant coaches are, along with the portal entries, and then let's start prognosticating.
I would like to see 7ish wins and look competent/disciplined in the losses. No more ridiculous pre snap penalties etc.
It really all depends on what the portal acquisitions look like IMO. Let's say he does equally as good as Pry did (Pry did pretty well through the portal)... And remember, Tony Elliot rebuilt his entire roster in the offseason and turned it into an ACCCG appearance, albeit with an incredibly weak schedule. All that to say, anything is possible these days. Here is my breakdown...
VMI - W (If they stay on the schedule)
ODU - W
@UMD - W/L
JMU - W
UVA - W (Because there's no way we lose two seasons in a row, right??)
GT - W/L
NCSU - W
Pitt - W/L
@Miami - L (Miami will be back... Then they won't be... It all depends on timing IMO)
@BC - W
@Cal - W
@Clemson - L (who knows what Clemson will look like next year and when we will actually get them on our schedule).
That is a minimum of 7 wins IMO. I actually think a completely different staff could have gotten 6-7 wins from our current roster with how bad the ACC was this year. I could also see 9/10 wins next year. The ACC is a garbage conference and I don't think the high side of these expectations would surprise me. Conversely if we saw 6-7 wins I wouldn't be disappointed either.
way way way more optimistic than I am. Gotta remember that Franklin is inheriting 3 underwhelming years of recruiting and development. Things could actually get worse (record-wise) before it gets better. One really good recruiting class is still going to take a couple years before we realize results. Maybe with the right portal pickups can we improve slightly, but its not going to be an overnight turnaround. We're likely to be much closer to 2-10 than we are 10-2. Getting to .500 next year would be a small miracle.
People forget that this recruiting class are freshman, they still need to learn to play Div1 college football.
It's great potential but, only potential.
Potential is the key word.... Thanks to the portal one bad year of experience, or one really good year of personal performance, could see any of these new commits immediately hit the portal after (if not during) the Fall. Getting them to sign is just step one... developing (a colossal failure with Pry) and keeping them on the team (culture, also an apparent colossal failure with Pry, and *cough* NIL) are critical to turning this around.
Even if they could all start and be good contributors on a P4 squad on day 1, it still isn't a full team. We still don't know who we'll keep from this year, how competitive the coaches could make them, what holes we would still need to close/fix, or even who the coaches will be. Were a long way off from a competitive team even with this recruiting class, even if we had one the same size that were all 5 star players - it's still only some positions and about a fifth to quarter of a full team.
If .500 is a small miracle, with 3 of the 6 wins needed for that are VMI, JMU, and ODU, then I'm not sure we should be fielding a team.
I only see two, maybe three, early contributors from this recruiting class. But, again, this all depends on the portal. If he does as good as Pry did I think 6 wins should be the expectation. It is criminal what Pry did with this team in 2024 & 2025. I'm not saying we are a talented team. What I am saying is we shouldn't have been as bad as we've been.
I'm curious, what was your prediction going into the '25 season?
and i'm not counting either JMU or ODU as a guaranteed victory. We played ODU this year and got our asses kicked. JMU would do the same right now.
I can't remember by "official prediction", but I was in the 6-7 wins range. And yes, that included ODU.
Again, don't miss what I said. First of all, I am of the opinion that our staff grossly underperformed. No, the roster is not stellar by any stretch, but it's better (at least it was at the start of the season) than the 3 wins we got. Any QB contribution through the air at all would have helped us tremendously. Also, and this cannot be missed... I am basing my thoughts about next season on anticipation that the portal acquisitions will at least be solid.
We won't have a worse coaching staff. We won't have a worse roster. We have a similar schedule.
Agree, we're going to be much better from a coaching standpoint. If that manages to get us one additional TD on offense, and one less TD given up on D, I think that alone can get us to .500 assuming all else equal. The biggest question marks are who is going to QB this team, and can the line block for him?
And think about this...
If our OL is at least similar in the run game, along with a couple capable backs, there's no reason to suspect that we can't have drives where we at least grind out a few first downs before punting. This will help shorten some games and give us a fighting chance at the end.
This is what could have, and should have, happened in the UVA game. Just a few first downs... a couple more FG attempts, thus keeping Morris on the sideline and I think the game would have been close in the 4th.
I have no thoughts of rolling out and blowing the doors off of other teams next year, only that we should be a more disciplined, more competitive, more clean football team. That will go a long way in the ACC. At least is should.
VMI - W
ODU - W
@UMD - Toss-up
JMU - Toss-up
UVA - W
GT - Toss-up
NCSU - Toss-up
Pitt - Toss-up
@Miami - L
@BC - W
@Cal - Toss-up
@Clemson - L
4 wins including UVA because UVA. Everything else is a coinflip and we don't know what Cal or JMU will be next year. GT, NCST, and Pitt could all be good but will still be capable of dropping games just like they are now.
Might move GT to L and @BC to Toss Up because our teams always seem to play uninspired ball there.
That's a very fair point. Playing at BC is a death trap.
7 wins ensures the continuation of the positive momentum, mainly because it should surpass expectations. I'm "happy" that Franklin is leading the team and we may look more like some of those P2 schools. If we somehow lay an egg with 6 or fewer wins, that doesn't mean we can't recover, but the growth curve would look substantially different than Franklin putting up an 8-10 win season and demonstrating to regional recruits and talking heads that Hokie Football is back! "Money where your mouth is" so to speak. He crushed it in ESD, I think he's going to do some damage in the portal too. New
RiverHappy ValleyWith all the good quality true freshmen - emphasis on true freshmen - coming in, the need to bring in scores of new players from the portal, the need to bring in a new coaching staff and teach people a new system to the players - few of which have likely ever played together before - and having to wash off the stench that VT football has been the last several years and bring in a winning attitude ...
Yes, I would be quite happy with 6-6 or 7-5 coupled with a bowl win to get to 7-6 or 8-5. That is a major turn-around from this past season. Then you have all of those true freshman able to start contributing and the team in place having learned the system from the new coaches to take a step further in 2027 and get to 9 or 10 wins and a ranking.
Would I like more? Of course. But I'd absolutely be happy with the scenario above.
I will wait to see who the starting QB is before making any predictions......
I think there is a 99% chance that he is neither on the roster today nor one of the recruits we just signed
here's hoping we can lure Dante Moore in the Portal
why aim so low? Arch Manning baby
lol this is a joke, right? I've watched Arch play and....he's waaaaay overrated IMO. If you put Arch Manning on our field in stead of Kyron Drones we MIGHT have one or two more wins. Maybe. He's not that good.
definitely a joke - I assumed the Moore comment was a joke since I can't imagine him leaving
I mean yeah I don't think we're gonna get Oregon's qb but at least he's good.
There's absolutely no way he'd leave Oregon unless it's for the NFL draft
Like everyone else is saying it depends a lot on the portal.
Offensively: Who's coming in to play QB? Will the TEs stay healthy? Are the receivers going to improve/are Seldon and Heath going to continue to have the dropsies? Is anyone going to pass Greene as WR1? Will WRs stay healthy (Adams and Wiggins were injured all year)? How much will Peterkin and Fatrat contribute? Will the OL improve with experience (they were very young this year)? Who on the OL is leaving and who's staying? Will Meadows ever be healthy? Are the guys who are about to be RS-So ready (Lynch, Ricard, Austin, Altuner)? Who's coming in at OL? OL is notoriously hard to get in the portal, are PSU guys like Donkoh coming? PSU's OL was old, outside of Donkoh almost everyone else has less experience than our returning starters.
Defensively: Are we going to get a portal Edge Rusher? Is Dandy ready to step up? Will Stevens take the next step? Will the DTs (Copeland, Laws, G. Johnson, Hanchuk, Fall) stay healthy? Who's coming in to shore up LBs, CBs, and Safeties? Are any young LBs ready to contribute (Chambers, Clatterbaugh, G. Williams, N. Jenkins)? Is Woodson returning? Is Josh Clarke or Quentin Reddish going to be healthy? Are any young DBs ready (DeLoatch, S. Robinson)?
There are so many unanswered questions. Both depth and starters are needed in the portal (QB, OL, WR?, Edge, DL, LB, S, CB).
One thing I've noticed, that probably helps with croots and parents, is the fact that Franklin's messaging across interviews and platforms and whatnot, is very consistent. I've heard the same like public comments in one form or another over the past few weeks and it's the same story, similar telling of the story. Not being wishy washy or flip flopping a lot helps so much with building trust.
7 or 8 is my minimum for satisfaction, but I agree, getting 10+ is not realistic.
To anyone thinking we are headed to double digit wins I'll quote a good movie, "I'll have what shes having"
As the old adage goes set yourself low expectations and always be pleasantly surprised so I'm setting the bar lower at 4-5.
Yep Franklin went 6-7 his first year at Vandy and 7-6 the first two years at PSU. That should be the mindset.
I am looking at 24 wins as the best way to judge Franklin, if he gets 24 in 3 years he is doing great, if it is 4 years we have a problem, if it is 2nd game on year 4 then he doing well enough depending on each year because obviously winning 10-7-5-2 isnt good
I'd agree the floor should be higher with Franklin than the two previous but the level of talent he is working with is a 3 win team that couldnt beat ODU. The freshman may see heavy playtime depending on the portal which young teams typically are messy and mistake riddled(ala this season).
Both of these seasons were before the portal era, tho. I think if he hauls in at least 8-10 starters from PSU 8 wins is well within reach
6 wins: Not happy, but not angry. Let's win 9 or 10 in 2027.
7 wins: Very pleased and very excited for 2027.
8 wins: Ecstatic and we're going to the playoffs in 2027!
9 wins: Rename Southgate Drive to Franklin Drive.
In all of these scenarios, I'm assuming one of the wins is vs UVa.
So, I am going to refrain from any quantitative desires, predictions, expectations, etc. Why, one may ask...? 1. My predictions have been way off. It's why I don't bet on sports. 2. I don't want to put a number in my head as it becomes engrained and will only lead to a probable let down. 3. I think it's bad mojo at this point, from my POV at least.
My prediction, desire, wants, expectations are as follows...
Not going to even think of what our record may or may not be. I'm going to remain at cloud level, pop my popcorn, watch the CFB landscape form itself, enjoy my current spirit animal, and watch JMFF do JMFF things.
IMO, this is my gift to good mojo for the greater VT Good.
Agree. My wish list is not wins(though I hope and think those will come); it's that we see a return to the hard-hitting defense;, that Lane returns to being a place every opponent is afraid to come to; that our fans continue to be as amazing as they have been and finally see the rewards for that loyalty; and that the Hokies return to being a force in college football.
I mean many of these go hand in hand with wins
Agreed-but even if it just means we are competitive in the tough games and dominate who we should, the exact number of wins isn't a huge concern for me. I want our cupcake teams sorry they ever agree to play us after the beatdown we give them(like William and Mary who hasn't won a single game against VT since 1976(0-12 with VT scoring average of 37.7 ppg for all 12 and for the 8 games from 1981 til most recent meetup in 2018 avg ppg was 46.4. Particularly I remember the game somewhere between 83 am 86 where VT knocked out ten W &M players for longer than a ten count on the field and knocked their #1 QB,#1 receiver and #2 QB or receiver(can't remember which) out of the game completely. And I want the better teams to be shocked after we upset them and crush them-ala the 1999 beatdown of #16 Syracuse 62-0 and the 1999 Miami game where we beat #10 Miami team 43-10!
My college roommates and I drove back to my house in Chapel Hill immediately after the end of the 62-0 game. We rewound the VCR tape and proceeded to watch the entire game again from about 2AM-4:30AM. It was that thrilling and satisfying.
One of my roommates kept yelling during the game "We can't NOT score!".
My ex and I were at the game and while Syracuse players were entering the field 'they look like they're scared to be here'-how prescient that was....
I want "scared to be here" to be the default mode for players walking on to Worsham field again. That was fun.
totally respect that
I do think for some people, part of the fun of sports is speculating
I also get that for others, the fun is in the actual play - sounds like that describes you more
I can speculate but since I was so off, I don't want to jinx anything. It's all a mental mojo thing. A sprinkle of a Jedi mind trick.
GITMO bowl here we come.