How Long Could It Take for Virginia Tech Football to Contend in the ACC?

The question before the answer: Does a power vacuum remain at the top?

Oct 24, 2025; Blacksburg, Va.; Virginia Tech running back Marcellous Hawkins (27) runs the ball. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech football sits at the precipice of making a jump back to the upper echelon of the ACC. Whether it can depends on the trajectory of what is increasingly appearing to be a power vacuum at the top that has yet to be seized by any consistent power.

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The broader question surrounding the program is impossible to ignore: how long will it take for the Hokies to truly contend again? And on that note, what defines contention? Is it an ACC title? Reaching the 12-team College Football Playoff? Simply breaking the eternal six- or seven-win mark?

The ACC, as it currently stands, is unusually open. Clemson remains the league’s benchmark, but its grip has loosened compared to the late 2010s. Miami continues to recruit at a high level without consistently translating that into conference supremacy, while programs like Louisville and NC State have won many games without fully breaking through. In short, there is opportunity.

This past season, there was a five-way tie between Duke, Miami, Pittsburgh, SMU and Georgia Tech. If you want to get technical, six ACC teams had two losses to ACC squads; Virginia won the ACC regular season championship but lost 16-9 to Wake Forest and 35-31 to NC State. The Cavaliers' contest against the Wolfpack was registered as a non-conference one, however, not falling in the eight-game slate then mandated by the conference. Cue: chaos. Duke qualified to the ACC championship via the fifth tiebreaker. And then, improbably, with a 7-5 record, it won the ACC title. Not included among that title fight were previous ACC title mainstays Florida State and Clemson. The Tigers quickly slipped away en route to a 7-5 record, while Florida State exploded out the gate to a ranking as high as No. 8 before stumbling to a 5-7 final mark.

The Hokies’ path back begins with roster development and retention. Virginia Tech has shown a change this time around, particularly in its top-25 recruiting class this cycle that is deeper and more balanced than those from the program’s post-Frank Beamer dip. That foundation is critical, especially in a conference where depth often determines November success.

Offensively, consistency will be the measuring stick. Virginia Tech has struggled in recent years to sustain efficiency across an entire season, particularly against upper-tier opponents. Closing that gap doesn’t require becoming the league’s most explosive unit overnight, but it does require narrowing the margin. Competitive losses need to turn into wins, and close wins need to become more routine. That kind of progress is rarely linear, but it is noticeable over time. The Hokies did make minor progress in that area in 2025, claiming two one-score wins, one more than Pry's tenure spanning from 2022 through three 2025 contests.

Defensively, the Hokies’ hard-nosed identity has historically been their calling card, and reestablishing that reputation is critical. Contending requires turning solid performances into reliably disruptive ones. The teams that rise in the ACC are the ones that can dictate terms rather than being reactive. Proactiveness on the defensive front will keep Virginia Tech from being placed on the back foot from the jump.

The timeline, then, becomes the central question. Is this a one-year leap, or a gradual climb? Realistically, Virginia Tech appears closer to the latter, but not without an opportunity to make some serious headway In Year 1. A legitimate push into ACC contention likely sits in the two-to-three-year range, aligning with experienced recruiting classes maturing and institutional continuity taking hold. That doesn’t preclude a breakthrough season earlier; the conference’s volatility allows for surprise. But sustained contention is the true benchmark.

What will matter more is whether the Hokies have positioned themselves to take advantage of an ACC that is searching for its next standard-bearer. The opportunity is there. My guess? It takes the first year to acclimate (shot-in-the-dark guess of seven wins), the second year to push (eight or nine wins) and the third year is where push occurs (nine wins, possibly 10). That thought process also must be taken with a grain of salt. Franklin hasn't coached a game with Virginia Tech yet. But he has proven that he can purely win in high volume. Perhaps that represents contention enough for Virginia Tech beyond CFP bids. For that, time will have to tell.

Virginia Tech's 2026 campaign doesn't begin for 257 more days, but we draw ever closer to Game 1 of the 2026 campaign: VMI on Sept. 5, 2026 kicks off the season in the Hokies' and Keydets' first meeting since 1984, a 42-year hiatus.