Virginia Tech is betting big on James Franklin, but Paul Finebaum isn’t buying the idea that the Hokies just landed one of college football’s elite coaches.
Franklin is in Blacksburg after 12 seasons at Penn State, where he went 104-45 and got the Nittany Lions into the College Football Playoff in 2024. That run ended with a last-second semifinal loss to Notre Dame. But for all the wins, Franklin’s Penn State story always came with the same stain: the games that mattered most kept slipping away.
His record in bowl games was 6-6. Against ranked teams, he finished 16-29.
Against top-10 opponents, he was 4-21. Against top-five teams, he was 1-16.
Penn State gave him one more shot to flip that script after the playoff push and the return of several key starters were supposed to fuel a strong 2025 season. Instead, the Nittany Lions opened 3-3 after being ranked No. 2 in the preseason, and Franklin was fired.
Now he’s starting over at Virginia Tech on a five-year, $41.75 million deal, and Finebaum made it clear on “The Paul Finebaum Show” that he doesn’t see Franklin in the same light as many others do.
"Well, he's not," Finebaum said. "You've got to remember the media is not overly analytical when it comes to people they like.
Franklin got out. Nobody remembered he was fired by the end of the year.
He's doing 'GameDay,' sucking up to everybody... He's got an easier job.
It's a better fit for him. He's followed a bunch of losers at Virginia Tech, so it shouldn't be very difficult for him."
That blunt assessment cuts against the wave of optimism around the hire. Franklin has not shown he can consistently get a team over the hump, but he has shown he can raise the floor of a program. That’s a big reason Virginia Tech is intrigued.
The Hokies were a major ACC force in the late 1990s and through the 2000s, but they haven’t been able to recapture that edge since Frank Beamer retired. Justin Fuente produced one double-digit win season and also had three losing seasons. Brent Pry followed with three losing seasons in four years, and his lone winning campaign was a 7-6 finish.
Franklin’s track record is built on turning things around. At Vanderbilt, he inherited back-to-back 2-10 seasons and delivered two 9-4 seasons in three years. At Penn State, he took over after 8-4 and 7-5 seasons amid the cloud of the Jerry Sandusky incident and eventually produced six double-digit win seasons.
So the question in Blacksburg isn’t whether Franklin can build something. He already has that part on his résumé. The real test is whether he can do it fast enough in a more competitive ACC and turn Virginia Tech into something sturdier than what the program has been for years.
In Other News...
Nebraska May Have Found The Kind Of Linebacker This Defense Needs
Nebraskas linebacker room got a little more interesting with the addition of Dexter Foster, a transfer from Oregon State who brings both size and some needed depth to a position group that is still sorting itself out. Foster arrives with a solid rsum from the Pac-12, having played in 19 games with 11 starts and piled up 95 tackles and five tackles for loss, the kind of production that suggests he can handle real snaps if the Cornhuskers need him to.
The bigger question is how quickly he fits into a competition that already includes veterans and younger players all pushing for top roles. Nebraska wants this defense to be sturdier and less vulnerable to explosive plays, and Fosters presence gives the staff another option as it tries to find the right mix of experience, physicality and reliability in the middle of the field. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Is Suddenly Facing A Defining Moment In Its 2027 Class
Nebraskas 2027 recruiting class has moved from promising to potentially program-shaping, with 21 commitments already in place and nine blue-chip prospects giving the Huskers a foundation that looks far stronger than the usual early-cycle haul. The class sits 17th in the 247Sports composite rankings, and that kind of start is why the conversation around this group has shifted from simply keeping pace to pushing for something bigger.
The next stretch will tell the story, because Nebraska is trying to protect what it has while staying in the mix for more high-end additions against programs that are still circling. If the Huskers can keep the class intact and continue adding to it, they would put themselves in position to land a finish that would say plenty about where the program thinks it can go on the recruiting trail. [Read more 🡒]
Jamal Rule Might Be Nebraskas Answer To A Growing Backfield Concern
Jamal Rules spring game was the kind of debut that gets noticed fast, especially for a true freshman trying to carve out a role in Nebraskas offense. He turned a long run into a 75-yard touchdown and finished with 119 yards on 10 carries, giving the Huskers a glimpse of a back who already looks comfortable handling real work between the tackles and in space.
Matt Rhule has already acknowledged that Rules spring performance stood out and that he is preparing to play this season, which matters because Nebraska is trying to sort out its backfield plans as the roster settles. If Rule is ready to contribute right away, he could become more than just a promising young runner, and the next question is how quickly that promise turns into carries when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]