James Franklin opened a new chapter with Virginia Tech just a month after he was fired from Penn State. However, the Hokies’ head coach is still reflecting on how things ended with the Nittany Lions, but not because of the nature of the firing. Franklin is more regretful about how it reshaped the lives of people around him.
“Then, all of a sudden, you’re starting all over again, and you know, I’m 54 years old,” Franklin said in an appearance on Next Up with Adam Breneman and Adam Breneman. “And I didn’t feel like I would be starting over. So, there’s a chip that I’m in this position. I got a chip on my shoulder that I put my family in this position. And I got a chip that I feel like all those players I created disruption in their lives that we didn’t need. And I’m not going to let it happen again ever.
“I’m one of these guys when I look at the players and when I look at all the staff and the children, I’m responsible for all those people.”
Franklin joined Penn State in January 2014 and led the team to an overall record of 104-45, including six double-digit seasons. His firing came so unexpectedly, barely a year after a 13-3 season and a College Football Playoff appearance. However, in hindsight, Franklin’s failure to beat ranked opponents ultimately proved his undoing. However, for the head coach, it was still a run worth cherishing.
“But when you build something, and you’re so close, I mean, six games earlier, we’re playing for a national championship, you’re that close to doing something, and you’re so proud. I was so proud, like every piece of that building that you were showing off. Every single piece of that building we built, we built. You saw every aspect: the fields, the building. Every part of that program, we built and we took so much pride. I was so proud of what we built there.”
When you coach for that long, the program tends to become an extension of your family. His wife, Fumi Franklin, and their daughters, Addy and Shola, were frequent faces in their games. After his last game in charge, he was seen sharing emotional hugs with his daughters—a ritual he was known for.
The program meant so much to his family that his daughter, Addy, had gone viral when her dad was seen consoling her after the program suffered a loss in early 2025. This feeling of having to put his family through the emotional turmoil of forsaking a program that has become a core part of their lives is what Franklin regrets. He admitted that “some things were in my control,” and those are the very things he would wish he had handled better.
Now, he is in a new environment at Virginia Tech, and he is keen to give himself and his players a brand-new start. He added that he “wanted everybody to know they had a clean slate.”
“I didn’t want the Virginia Tech players to feel like I’m bringing these Penn State guys here and that they’re automatically going to be first-team and second-team on the depth chart like that. That’s not going to happen. Everybody’s going to come in and earn it.”
James Franklin hits the ground running at Virginia Tech
At the Hokies, Franklin has not only created a solid environment, he has also excelled with recruitment. He understands what the ACC program expects from him and he is up for the challenge.
“But taking this job and hiring Ty, [we] had a ton of conversations about what both of our expectations were, what he wanted, what I wanted, and we just have so much respect for one another and are comfortable with one another that I think this is going to be a really good situation,” Franklin said.
Franklin has recently recruited two running backs, two wide receivers, and a tight end. As he seeks to add four-star running back Javian Jones-Priest to the 2027 class, the Texas prospect gave a perfect description of what the Hokies look like under Franklin: “They set the bar pretty high.”
The head coach also invited Virginia Tech legend Michael Vick to speak to his players and offer a glimpse of what it was like during the Frank Beamer era at the program. It has always been about building a culture, and that’s what he’s trying to do as he seeks to go beyond what he achieved at Penn State.
