CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Virginia Tech made the first significant hire of the coaching cycle with James Franklin, overhauled its financial model and made roster and recruiting upgrades ahead of the 2026 season.
The time has come to return to the field.
"I think we've won the offseason," Franklin said Thursday at the ACC Kickoff. "We've done the right things. There's a lot of excitement. There's a lot of momentum right now, and this is kind of the end of that, right? All these different things, whether meet-and-greets in Richmond, or whether it's a 7-on-7 [event], whether it's recruiting, or whether it's a transfer portal, spring ball, or spring game, these are all opportunities to build and create momentum.
"After this, then we're getting to the stuff that matters most: practice and winning games and having that stadium rocking."
Franklin, fired abruptly in October midway through his 12th season at Penn State, was hired at Virginia Tech only 36 days later to much fanfare. He brings a 128-60 career record to a Virginia Tech program that has recorded only one 10-win season since 2011, the end of a dominant run under Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer, who won seven conference titles between 1995 and 2010 and played for a national title in 1999.
The Hokies are just 44-55 since the start of the 2018 season, ranking 97th nationally in win percentage.
Virginia Tech's pledge to increase its financial investment with the program drew Franklin to Blacksburg, and have maintained its commitment despite changes at both athletic director and president. Last month, the school hired Florida Atlantic's Brian White as AD, while the search to replace longtime president Tim Sands is ongoing.
"For me, taking a job, it was all about what do we need to do to be successful and truly win at the very, very highest level," Franklin said. "So, am I going to have the ability to hire staff? Are we going to have the ability to go out and recruit?
"There's still an impact of relationships and recruiting and leadership, and being charismatic and dynamic, but there's also a financial component. You can be the best recruiter in the country, and if you don't have the resources that other people have, you can't sign a top-five class."
Last fall, Virginia Tech launched "Invest To Win," a $229 million investment in athletics during the next few years. In June, the school received a $75 million gift, which mostly will go to athletics, and on Monday hired Brad Bell as executive associate athletic director of advancement and executive director of the Hokie Club.
White told ESPN that Franklin has been actively involved in the campaign, calling every major donor on their birthday.
"James and I want the same exact thing, and that's what's exciting," White said. "To think that our goal shouldn't be to win a national championship, I don't know that any of our fans would really feel like that's OK, and so that's not OK. Our goal is to win a national championship, and we've just got to figure out the plan and a way to make you know resources are commensurate with expectations. That's what we're working on now."
Franklin recalled Thursday how Virginia Tech wanted him immediately, but he couldn't take the job without first talking to Beamer. This spring, Beamer attended a practice alongside former Hokies All-America quarterback Michael Vick, now the coach at Norfolk State.
"I was trying not to fanboy out, right?" Franklin said. "They built something that was special, and won at a very, very high level for a long time. I want Coach Beamer to ... watch our games and be like, 'That's what Virginia Tech football is supposed to look like.' You look at the lunch pail, that's hard-nosed, that's tough, that's discipline, that's relentless, that's explosive, that's playing smart, that's playing great on special teams."
Even as Franklin tries to push Virginia Tech forward, he said embracing the program's past -- through connections with Beamer and others who have roots there -- is essential.
"It's been a challenge with a lot of programs across the country that have tremendous history and tradition," he said. "They embrace and hold on to that tradition and history so tight that they haven't evolved and grown into a modern football program and a modern athletic department, and I think that's one of our biggest challenges.
"How do we move the program forward, stay true to the history and traditions, but also make it a modern program that that has a chance to compete in the highest level?"