Kirk Herbstreit calls James Franklin a 'massive hire' for Virginia Tech

Chaos has been the expectation in this year’s coaching carousel. Now, the first major shoe has dropped. Virginia Tech landed former Penn State head coach James Franklin.

In the immediate aftermath of this hire, Kirk Herbstreit broke down what he thinks of the hire on Nonstop. There, he would praise the hire for a Virginia Tech team heading into another rebuild.

“I think that’s a massive hire for Virginia Tech,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “We missed the Hokies. It’s been a long time. I think he’s going to recruit really well in Virginia and the D.C. area. It’s where he’s always recruited really well, and I just think it’s a good fit. Sometimes we talk, is it a fit? Is it not? I think it’s a great fit.”

At one point in the 21st century, Virginia Tech had eight straight double-digit win seasons. Now, it’s been nine years since the Hokies have had a double-digit win season. It’s also now since 2010 when Virginia Tech has won a conference championship. So, coming off the frustrating Brent Pry era, the hope is that James Franklin can deliver some major improvements. That means investment in the program beyond the head coach.

“Sounds like Virginia Tech is going to get more aggressive with their approach to NIL… They’ve got to invest. If they want things to change, it’s not just the head coach. It’s the infrastructure around the program. I’m sure, before he took that job, he made that abundantly clear, that if I’m coming, I need this, this, this, and this,” Herbstreit said.” It sounds like he got that.”

For his part, Franklin does have a track record of success. Between Vanderbilt and Penn State, he has a 128-60 record. Both of those jobs had aspects that were major rebuilds and his major issue ended up being winning big games. Now, he’ll look to pull off a rebuild once again at a program that wants to simply get back into big games for the time being.

“When I first started on the show in the 90s, in the late 90s with Michael Vick, early 2000s. Man, that is an awesome fanbase. Lane Stadium is — we need to get them back. When they formed the ACC, they were supposed to be a big part of that conference,” Herbstreit said. “And they haven’t been for, I don’t know, 15 years. It’s been a long time. So, here’s to James Franklin hitting a home run in Blacksburg. Hope that works out.”

James Franklin reveals he asked for Frank Beamer’s blessing to take Virginia Tech job

Most of the success that Virginia Tech has had in its past was under Frank Beamer. He’s a massive figure to the program and so important that James Franklin even requested his blessing to take the job.

“As everyone knows, coach Beamer is the man, and he built this place. I have asked for the blessings of two people. Soaya Ala, my father in law. I called him and asked for his blessing to marry his daughter, Fumi. Then the night before signing a contract I called coach Beamer and asked for his blessing of taking over his program,” Franklin said.

“I was a little concerned because I called him three times and he didn’t answer the phone. So I called his wife and she said, ‘I’m sorry, Coach, we didn’t have your number.’ But I was able to get coach Beamer’s blessing and that matters a ton to me, of somebody that values the history, the traditions, the legends. And obviously nobody’s more important at Virginia Tech football than Frank Beamer and his family.”