It’s a new era for the Virginia Tech Hokies, at least on the recruiting trail.
One of the biggest reasons the powers that be in Blacksburg went out and hired James Franklin after he was fired by the Penn State Nittany Lions was because of his abilities on the recruiting trail.
Yes, there’s the 128-60 overall record as a head coach in 15 total seasons, which is good for a winning percentage of .681
On the negative side of the margin, there were the reasons that PSU fired Franklin before his 12th season in Happy Valley was up. Mainly, he had a hard time getting the Nittany Lions over the hump and securing wins over highly-ranked opponents.
Win or lose, Franklin has always been known as an elite recruiter, though, and that stems back to his time at Vanderbilt.
He clearly has a swagger about him on the recruiting trail. Whether or not that translates to wins on the field for Virginia Tech is a question we’ll have to wait to see answered. In the meantime, though, Franklin’s abilities as a recruiter are already paying off for the Hokies.
“It’s time to re-adjust where Virginia Tech sits in the college football recruiting hierarchy,” wrote Hunter Shelton of Rivals recently. “Previously battling other ACC bottom-feeders to not finish with the worst class in the conference, the Hokies have some newfound swagger on the recruiting trail thanks to the arrival of head coach James Franklin.”
James Franklin already recruiting well for Virginia Tech Hokies
The numbers speak for themselves.
At the time of this writing, Franklin and the Hokies have 26 commitments in their 2027 class.
Their highest-ranked recruit is four-star quarterback Peter Bourque, who is ranked as the No. 6 quarterback in the 2027 class, according to 247Sports. He’s a former Michigan commitment and is also a Top 75 recruit in the country, ranked dead-on at No. 75 nationally.
Another notable commitment for Franklin is four-star tight end Jordan Karhoff, ranked as the No. 4 tight end in the country. Karhoff committed to Virginia Tech over Miami in May.
