Did James Franklin just take a shot at Will Stein? Kentucky’s recruiting wins suggest so

How do I know that Will Stein is making real noise on the recruiting trail? When other teams’ coaches start taking shots at him. That appears to be the case with James Franklin, who, in an interview with Pete Nakos, bragged about his track record at Penn State and Vanderbilt versus that of a “first-time head coach.” Keep in mind that Stein, a first-time head coach, has beaten Franklin and Virginia Tech out for several recruits this cycle.

“We’re not a first-time head coach trying to share a story that there’s no evidence for,” Franklin said. “We’ve got a ton of evidence. We’ve done it in the SEC, we’ve done it in the Big Ten, and we’re coming to do it in the ACC.”

One could argue that getting fired from Penn State takes away some of those bragging rights, but Franklin was there for 11 years, winning the Big 10 championship in 2016 and reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals in 2024. He’s hoping to bring that same success to Virginia Tech. Objectively, he’s off to a good start, with a 2027 recruiting class that is No. 20 in the Rivals Industry Rankings; however, the Hokies would be a lot higher on the list if not for Stein and the Cats.

Stein and Franklin have gone head-to-head on the recruiting trail several times, with Stein coming out on top for six prospects thus far: Reed Gerken, Tristin Hughes, Iveon Lewis, Austin Coles, Dominic Black, and Matthias Burrell. Three-star linebacker commit Drew Williams was also courted by Virginia Tech, but the Hokies did not make his list of finalists.

Gerken is the latest player to pick Kentucky over Virginia Tech, with the hats for the two schools sitting side by side on the table at his commitment ceremony on Monday. James Franklin made a push for the three-star offensive tackle, considered the No. 24 player in the state of Ohio, but Gerken’s relationship with Kentucky offensive line coach Cutter Leftwich won out. He plucked the Kentucky hat up from the table and unzipped his hoodie to show off a Kentucky t-shirt.

Blacksburg is just three hours away from Iveon Lewis’ hometown of Richmond. The four-star wide receiver was set to take an official visit to Virginia Tech in May, but cancelled and committed to Kentucky instead. The Hokies were the favorite for four-star safety Tristin Hughes, who set a commitment date of April 2, his birthday; however, he decided to spend it at Kentucky, checking out a spring practice. A few weeks later, Hughes returned to Lexington for the Spring Game and committed minutes before kickoff. Ouch.

Stein and Franklin will continue to cross paths. Three-star cornerback Emerson Lewis is considering both Kentucky and Virginia Tech. He took his official visit to Lexington last weekend and visited Blacksburg the week prior. Franklin may be right that Stein is selling a story that doesn’t exist yet; however, Stein’s success on the recruiting trail is proof that recruits want to be part of it, a message Franklin is apparently hearing far too often.

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