Virginia Tech’s 2026 season may end up being defined less by one headline addition than by how a few key pairs come together. After a three-win year, the Hokies went into a full reset under James Franklin, who stripped the roster down, added more than two dozen transfers, brought back the coach he replaced to lead the defense, and opens Sept. 5 against VMI with the win total sitting at 6.5.
The quickest way to judge whether that overhaul works is to watch the combinations that have to function right away.
At receiver, Virginia Tech finally has a little more to work with. Last season’s passing game barely registered, with no Hokie catching more than three touchdowns. Ayden Greene was the bright spot anyway, finishing as the team leader with 31 catches for 516 yards and three scores, all career highs, while defenses mostly focused elsewhere.
Now he’s joined by Que'Sean Brown, a redshirt junior slot receiver from Duke who arrives after putting up 64 catches, 846 yards and five touchdowns. Those numbers would have led Virginia Tech in every major receiving category.
The quarterback tasked with feeding them is Penn State transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer, who passed for 1,339 yards and eight touchdowns in seven starts last season. For a program that has struggled to say that in a while, that’s a real change in the room.
The backfield looks more established. Marcellous Hawkins was Virginia Tech’s clear top runner a year ago, piling up 749 yards on 118 carries and averaging 6.3 yards per rush. He did it while facing packed boxes and still managed 562 yards after contact.
The intriguing part is what comes next. Jeffrey Overton Jr. missed the first eight games of 2025 with a torn ACL, then came on over the final four weeks with 146 rushing yards and a touchdown. Virginia Tech doesn’t need to invent touches here; it just has to sort out how to split them.
The defense lost major pieces in the middle. Jaden Keller is off to the NFL, and Caleb Woodson transferred to Alabama, which forced Brent Pry to rebuild the linebacker group around two players he trusts.
One of them is Chambers, whose return came after a true freshman season that flashed plenty of promise. He made 44 tackles in six starts and got thrown into the lineup early when injuries hit around him.
The other is Wylie, who followed Franklin from Penn State after recording 28 tackles and 2.5 for loss last season. He fits the role designed for a player his size, and Pry’s defense is going to lean on both of them.
If Virginia Tech is going to move forward fast, it won’t happen all at once. It’ll happen if these duos start clicking.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Fall Camp Is Exposing One Early Concern For 2026
Fall camp has given Virginia Tech a chance to sort through position battles and get comfortable with new systems before the opener against VMI, and the early look on offense has been encouraging. The quarterback room looks more stable with Ethan Grunkemeyer joining returning players, while the running back and wide receiver groups have shown the kind of depth and potential that can make a camp feel a lot less frantic than it might have a year ago.
The defensive side, though, still has some proving to do as the Hokies work through camp. Depth and playmakers remain the big questions there, even with cornerback Jaquez White emerging as one of the more noticeable standouts so far, and that leaves Virginia Tech with at least one area worth watching closely as the season draws nearer. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Just Brought Back A Hokies Voice Players Need
Virginia Tech added a familiar voice to its football operation in February, bringing back Tyrell Smith as the Hokies Director of Player Development. After stops at Boise State and Rutgers, Smith returned to Blacksburg with a background that stretches beyond coaching-room experience, giving the program someone who knows the day-to-day demands of college football from both sides of the line.
Smiths value to the Hokies is tied to more than his rsum. He played at Virginia Tech, served as a three-time team captain and has described the chance to come home as a point of pride while working under James Franklin. For current players, that kind of perspective can matter, especially when it comes from someone who has already lived the programs standards. [Read more 🡒]