James Franklin discusses his focus at Virginia Tech amid NIL era

The Virginia Tech Hokies hired their new head coach, James Franklin, with the idea in mind that he would be able to help them rebuild their program and put VT back on the national college football stage.

There were many years in which Virginia Tech was one of the main players in college football, thanks to legendary head coach Frank Beamer. Those times feel long in the past, considering that VT's last 10-win-plus season was in 2016 and before that, 2011.

Franklin is the right guy to make winning football a thing again in Blacksburg, though. He also doesn't feel in this NIL and money-obsessed era of college football that he has to sell out and simply pay players to come to Virginia Tech.

In his introductory news conference, Franklin revealed that he still believes college football can be about development. 

“I’m a big believer that this is still a developmental game for young men — developing them on the football field, developing them in the classroom, and developing them to be prepared for the next phase of their lives,” Franklin stated (h/t On3). “I still believe you can run your program with an old-school perspective. I want this to be transformational, not transactional.”

Of course, Virginia Tech is going to have to "get with the times" in regard to NIL and the transfer portal. In order to build this thing from the ground up, Franklin is going to have to provide recruits and transfer portal targets the opportunity to make money.

The Hokies may not ever do that at a level like what we're seeing out of Miami, but if they want to be competitive in the ACC, they will need to facilitate some lofty NIL deals.

James Franklin wants Virginia Tech to be competitive in the NIL era 

The good news for fans of the Hokies is that Virginia Tech has committed to spending a ton of money, $229 million, on the athletics department over the next four years. 

You get the sense that they may not have had the chance to win Franklin over if it wasn't for that type of investment.

“They need to walk into Virginia Tech football and have it look, feel, smell, and operate like big-time football — every aspect of it,” Franklin said. “How we make them feel when they walk into the building, how important they are to what we’re trying to do.”

Ultimately, though, the greatest facilities in the world or massive NIL deals don't win championships. Sure, they're part of the equation in today's era, but Franklin doesn't want that to be all Virginia Tech is known for.

The era of "Beamer Ball" is long gone, but the Hokies can still become known as an organization that preaches the right things, plays the right way, and focuses on player development and getting people into the NFL.

Still, the Hokies have to be able to hold a candle against other programs that are going to be offering players the world.

“We’re not going to lead with money,” he explained. “I want young men to choose our program because it’s where they want to be. But we do need to be competitive with other schools, because it doesn’t make sense to ask these young people to walk away from significant money.”