James Franklin Reflects On What He learned From Last Season At Penn State And His Tenure So Far at Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin appeared on On3's "Andy & Ari" show on Thursday to discuss the program ahead of the upcoming season. Here's what he had to say:

Franklin on his tenure so far:

"It's been really good. Obviously had some familiarity with Virginia Tech before taking the job, back to my days at Maryland and the ACC and things like that, so there's some familiarity. Got a lot of respect for this place and what was done for a long period of time. I think one of the challenges here is the media all remembers the Virginia Tech that was kicking butt and taking names, the fans do, but these recruits, they don't. They don't really remember that Virginia Tech, so that's our challenge and that is our job to get this thing rolling in a way that's going to make everybody proud."

On what he's learned since last season:

"One of the things I talk to this team about is that coaches are constantly challenging players to get better. We should be growing and evolving constantly. And the same goes for coaches. Through this experience, my 15 years, and then what happened this past year, I think we took on some risks thinking that we needed to take on some risks to get over the hump and get those last few wins. ...I took on some risks that I typically don't take on. And then even philosophically, I'm a big 1-0 guy. 1-0, 1-0, almost to the frustration of a lot of people. And last year, again, trying something different, trying to be a little bit more aggressive, allowed our team and our coaches to talk more big picture than we ever have. ...There's some risks that you're going to have to take in any business model, but there's also some risks that I would not take again."

On Brent Pry returning to the program as defensive coordinators:

"Brent has got obviously unique experience here at Virginia Tech, but also one of the best college football coaches, so when it comes to defensive coordinators in the country, that's why he got the Virginia Tech job. Having him back and us working together has been great.

I've got unbelievable confidence in Brent. I've known him for a long time, both as a person and as a coach."

On managing modern aspects of college football along with the team itself:

"Whether it's NIL or whether it's transfer portal or all of these different things that you're having to do fundraising and facilities, if you're not careful, it can pull you away from the game and become a little bit more of a CEO than you want to be. The staff is doing a great job, specifically Michael Hazel and Kevin Threlkel, in protecting my day and making sure that I'm spending the time necessary with the offensive coaches to support them. But probably going to be more involved than I have been in a number of years on the offensive side of the ball. Back to probably our Vanderbilt roots."

On offensive coordinator Ty Howle:

"You go out and you hire some big-name offensive coordinators, and you want to allow them to do their jobs. There's a fine line with that. We're in a situation, Ty Howle has called plays for us at Penn State, had been an offensive coordinator before as well at some previous institutions. But that was part of this decision. Me and Ty having very lengthy and detailed conversations about making this move and who we would hire and how we would build it and what we wanted it to look like and philosophically., so it's been fun. I think it's been great for him. We have a really good relationship. It's been great for me. We talk every morning, we talk every night. I'm in most of the meetings throughout the day."

On taking over a program hungry for success:

"It is very obvious being here that this place is hungry, that this place is motivated to getting back to who Virginia Tech was not too long ago. We've been talking about reestablishing what Frank Beamer built here, what people understand when it comes to Virginia Tech football. Real football people that know our history, we're trying to get back to that. It's not something that we have to build that's never been done before, but we want to reestablish what coach Beamer and Bud Foster and the guys on the staff and those players built here. There's an excitement, and there is a hunger, and there is a passion for Virginia Tech football.

On his own hunger after last season:

"I've got a huge chip on my shoulder. Kind of an unusual situation. Six games earlier, we're playing for a national championship. Obviously, some things happened that were in my control, and I take total responsibility for that. But yeah, I got a big chip on my shoulder. Extremely motivated. Really enjoy coming in to work every single day, working with a group of people that are passionate about making Virginia Tech proud. I feel a responsibility to coach Beamer, I feel a responsibility to Bud Foster. I feel a responsibility to our rector, which is the term that we use here for the president of our board or the chair of our board, and the president of the university, and the athletic director, and the fans and the community. We got a lot of work to do. Most importantly, our players are driven and excited and motivated, and we got a really good core group of guys that stayed at Virginia Tech, and guys that we brought from a number of other places, too."