Inside James Franklin's rapid recruiting overhaul at Virginia Tech

"JAMES FRANKLIN DIDN'T have any answers. Instead, minutes before Virginia Tech's Nov. 22 home game against Miami, he was asking for a considerable leap of faith. Roughly a dozen of them, actually. It had been just 38 days since Penn State made the decision to fire Franklin six games into his 12th season with the program. Now, sporting a maroon hoodie inside the Hokies' team room, he was pitching a collection of high school prospects on why they should join him in Blacksburg."

"Franklin and the Hokies picked up 17 pledges over the next 12 days, including commitments from 11 ex-Penn State recruits led by Huhn, Mickens and fellow ESPN 300 prospects Davion Brown and Pierce Petersohn. Unranked upon Franklin's Nov. 17 hiring, Virginia Tech's incoming class enters Wednesday's national signing day 21st in ESPN's national class rankings, catapulted by the hottest finish to the 2026 cycle of any program across college football."

"But Franklin, only 72 hours after his formal introduction as Virginia Tech's new head football coach, was still assembling his coaching staff and learning to navigate his new campus. He also couldn't say precisely how the program would attack the impending transfer portal window. "They're asking me who the coordinators are going to be? And I just said, you have to trust me," he told ESPN. "'Who is my position coach going to be?' And I just said, you have to trust me.""

James Franklin was fired by Penn State 38 days before Nov. 22 and was hired by Virginia Tech three days before meeting recruits. Shortly after his formal introduction as Virginia Tech's head coach, he recruited roughly a dozen former Penn State prospects and asked them to trust him despite not having a staff or clear plan for the transfer portal. Over the next 12 days Virginia Tech secured 17 pledges, including 11 former Penn State recruits such as Troy Huhn and Messiah Mickens. Virginia Tech's class rose to 21st in ESPN's rankings, while Penn State's initial 2026 class deteriorated amid the defections.

Read at ESPN.com