James Franklin details recruiting efforts he has already made with Virginia Tech recruits, current players

James Franklin made his official debut as Virginia Tech‘s new head football coach Wednesday morning, walking onto the Cassell Coliseum floor as Metalica‘s “Enter Sandman” blared from arena speakers for his introductory press conference. It’s a moment the former Penn State coach can’t wait to experience for real next September inside Lane Stadium.

But in the meantime, the new Hokies coach called on the diehard Virginia Tech fanbase to show out in full force for Saturday’s 2025 home finale against No. 14 Miami as Franklin looks to make a big impression on dozens of recruits and current commits in attendance on the team’s final official visit weekend. While his hire was only formally announced on Monday, Franklin wasted no time ramping up Virginia Tech’s recruiting efforts with an eye toward the 2026 season.

“The passion is critical, we talked about it on Saturday, we’ve already started recruiting. Two nights ago, I had 40 players on the phone, young men that are committed to Virginia Tech. Also called all the top players in the state of Virginia as well, and we’re going to need this stadium rocking on Saturday,” Franklin said during his introductory press conference Wednesday. “One of the things that was important to me and my wife as we were making this decision, we watched your gameday the last few weeks, and it was impressive, during a challenging season. … The stadium was rocking, the guys were playing hard, and that’s going to be important. We’re going to have a ton of recruits this weekend for an official visit, and I want them to feel the energy in our stadium. So, I want you to pack that stadium for us.”

While recruiting the next generation of Virginia Tech football players is important to Franklin, he’s not overlooking the current crop of Hokies. And given there are still two games remaining in the Hokies’ 2025 season, Franklin made it a point to acknowledge how important retaining much of the current Virginia Tech roster is to his mission as head coach.

“I also want to talk about recruiting the current players, this is a unique situation where I’m here early. One of the challenges when you’re taking over new jobs, you’re always recruiting for the future. Well the most important thing is recruiting our current players. I’m going to get a chance to visit with those young men today,” Franklin continued. “I think a lot of times the current team is worried about the new coach coming in and wanting his own players. The day I signed the contract to be the head coach at Virginia Tech, they’re all my players. That is the current team, and the players that we’re going to bring in for competition. And the reality is, people worry about ‘is he going to have favorites?’ Yes I am, my favorites are high production and low maintenance — players coaches and staff.”

James Franklin reveals how he will assemble Virginia Tech coaching staff

James Franklin revealed how he would assemble his new staff with the Hokies, but didn’t dive into specifics. It’s likely to be a combination of bringing in new guys, as well as some Virginia Tech holdovers, should they make sense.

Franklin said everything’s on the table and he wants to use his vast knowledge and experience to make it the best staff going into 2026. He echoed those sentiments about the current crop of players, which he called “his players.”

“As for coaches, I’m going to bring the best fit for Virginia Tech, we’re going to have an opportunity to attract some of the best coaches in the country,” Franklin said Wednesday. “That will be in terms of spending time with the current staff and seeing who makes sense to keep on with us, because those people have obviously poured their hearts and soul into this program, also bringing some coaches from other places as well. But that’s going to be a very important piece of this process as well.”

— On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.