James Franklin determined to help Virginia Tech join college football's elite programs

National signing day has been kind to new Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin. Multiple players have jumped on board in recent days, many of whom were previously committed to Penn State. Franklin believes this is just the beginning in Blacksburg, as a rebuild begins.

But the ultimate goal for Virginia Tech is to one day be associated with the elite programs out there. A big financial commitment came from the school to help out the football program, which was part of the reason Franklin signed on. The Hokies want to get back to a competitive state before finding a way to make another jump.

“There’s a difference between being competitive — and we’ve made a move to be competitive,” Franklin said Wednesday on ESPN2. “But I think you guys follow this closely enough, there are 10 programs out there in the country that are different than everyone else. Like, significantly different than everybody else. That’s what everybody is trying to do. Find different ways to be creative and strategic in the closing of those gaps. We have a chance to be as successful as everybody else.”

Franklin himself was just a few moments away from playing in the national championship game. Just under a year ago, Penn State was in the College Football Playoff semifinal vs. Notre Dame. Penn State was continually on the precipice during the four-team era, only to break through once expanding to 12. If anyone knows the blueprint for putting a program on the national stage and competing, it’s Franklin.

Virginia Tech has been far from accomplishing those kinds of goals in the CFP era. Just twice have the Hokies finished ranked on Selection Sunday, coming in at No. 22 in both 2016 and 2017. The all-time high in any College Football Playoff rankings is No. 13.

At the time of posting, Virginia Tech holds the No. 24 recruiting class per the Rivals Industry Team Rankings. A total of 22 commits, 30% of which are considered blue-chip prospects. A good chunk comes from the Commonwealth too, sitting at 39%.

Next up is the NCAA transfer portal, providing another opportunity to get creative with player acquisition. Every move is made in mind with the overall goal — helping Virginia Tech be elite. Franklin appears confident they can get the job done due to the alignment inside the building. Exciting things for Hokie fans to hear early in his tenure.