James Franklin Is About To Take His Entire Recruiting Class To Virginia Tech
Might as well put an eye patch and a pirate hat on Franklin, because he just plundered Penn State's whole recruiting class.
Amidst all the chaos of the LSU, Florida, Ole Miss love triangle, the Virginia Tech Hokies – relatively quietly, might I add – landed former Penn State head coach James Franklin to be their next head coach.
I haven't been shy about my feelings towards Franklin with regard to his time as the Nittany Lions head coach, but I want to go on record as saying that I believe he will crush it at Virginia Tech.
The Hokies are probably a rung below Penn State in terms of national prestige and expectations, and the ACC is certainly less competitive than the Big Ten.
Franklin being a 9-3 or 10-2 coach in Blacksburg will be received way more positively than it was while in State College.
But the thing that makes Franklin perhaps more qualified for this job than anything is his recruiting ties to the Tidewater region.
And it already looks like he's picked up right where he left off with Penn State at his new school, both literally and figuratively.
Talk about hitting the ground running!
Two months ago, James Franklin was trying to put the finishing touches on another potential top-ten class for the Nittany Lions.
Now, it would appear as though Virginia Tech is the program with all the recruiting momentum, courtesy of Franklin.
One thing that can't be argued is that Franklin had a significant impact on the recruiting success at Penn State, at least for this cycle.
Take a look at how many decommits Penn State has suffered when compared to other Power 4 programs that are in the hunt for a new coach.
Some might call that a significant number.
The right fit can mean everything in the world of college football, and while I believe Franklin was a good fit at Penn State, he's about as perfect of a fit as it gets for Virginia Tech.
Kudos to the Hokies for getting their guy!