Early recruiting results for James Franklin a great sign for Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin. Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Early recruiting results for James Franklin a great sign for Virginia Tech

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Jun 19, 2026 12:02 AM ET

It has been a long time since the Virginia Tech Hokies have been relevant on the national scale in college football.

The Hokies' last double-digit-win season was in 2016. They have just three double-digit-win seasons since 2010.

The height of Frank Beamer's time with Virginia Tech truly feels like it came from a different era of college football, and that's because it did.

The Hokies have a chance to climb back up the mountain now that we're in the NIL and transfer portal era, though. Heck, if the Indiana Hoosiers can win the national championship, VT sure can.

They can use NIL to their advantage, but they also hired one of the best recruiters in college football in James Franklin.

Franklin recently flipped four-star linebacker Amarri Irvin away from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. A year ago, Virginia Tech stealing a top recruit away from Notre Dame would have seemed unimaginable.

It was a big moment, but it was just one recruiting win among many for Virginia Tech since the Hokies hired Franklin in November 2025.

In fact, Virginia Tech's 2027 class currently features 25 commitments, and it's ranked No. 8 nationally, according to 247Sports.

Top 25 Team Recruiting Rankings

Who will finish with the No. 1 ranked 2027 class? pic.twitter.com/I1fA2BgL7j
— 247Sports (@247Sports) June 18, 2026

All 25 of those players committed to the Hokies under Franklin, and 17 of those commitments have come in the past two months now that we're in official visit season.

It's no surprise that Franklin started heating up on the recruiting trail as soon as the "offseason" was in full swing. Now he just needs to hold on to this class until the early signing period opens in December 2026.

James Franklin should quickly be able to bring Virginia Tech football "back"

What that means is that this success on the recruiting trail will have to be followed up with success on the field, but that should be no problem for Franklin in the ACC.

He was fired by Penn State for not being able to win the big game in 12 seasons, but let's not forget that he was fired despite having a 104-45 overall record.

This is just who Franklin is as a head coach. He's extremely solid, and that starts on the recruiting trail.

This hot start early on in his Virginia Tech tenure is no surprise. It's also a good sign for the future of Virginia Tech football as far as relevancy is concerned.

The Hokies will be back in a hurry.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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