Will James Franklin Have The Biggest Turnaround for a First-Year Head Coach At A New Team In 2026?

Just over 23 weeks separate now and the start of Virginia Tech football's 2026 campaign, the first under new head coach James Franklin.

Ahead of the season, ESPN's Bill Connelly ranked teams with first-year head coaches, offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators, arranging the groups into "most likely to improve" and "most likely to regress" designations. In the first-year head coaches category, he slated Tech at No. 2, behind only Oklahoma State.

* Best coaching performances of the last 20 years: '25 Cignetti, '12 Saban, '13 Jimbo
* Most likely to surge after a change in '26: Okla St, VT, Stanford
* Most likely to crumble: UNT, Tulane, UConn

I had fun with coaching (and coaching change) data:https://t.co/wUXsRGi3Is
— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) March 26, 2026

Here's what Connelly had to say on Virginia Tech, its regression last year from the mean and the hopeful bounce-back under Franklin:

"Last year's SP+ rating vs. 20-year average: -19.1

Nothing compares to OSU's underachievement, but ranking 106th after producing a 20-year average ranking of 35.8 still hints at progression, too, especially since Tech also hired one of the 2020s' better coaches (who also pulled off a pretty impressive and immediate roster upgrade)."

Connelly ranked Franklin No. 16 on the list of the best head coahces in the 2020s. Of current ACC head whistles, that total currently ranks second, only behind SMU's Rhett Lashlee.

Last year, Virginia Tech ranked at No. 106 in SP+ amid a turbulent 3-9 season that saw the team fire Brent Pry after a 0-3 start. Under interim head coach Philip Montgomery, the Hokies produced a small bounce-back effort with back-to-back victories over Wofford (FCS) and N.C. State. However, Virginia Tech again collapsed down the stretch, going 1-6 in its final seven games. Its lone victory was a 42-34 double-overtime triumph over California.

After firing Pry on Sept. 14, a day after the Hokies' 45-26 loss to Old Dominion, Virginia Tech hired Franklin just over two months later. What followed was a stellar effort on the recruiting trail. The Hokies' recruiting class boosted itself all the way up to No. 33, procuring the services of three four-star 247 prospects: linebacker Terry Wiggins, running back Messiah Mickens and offensive tackle Thomas Wilder.

Virginia Tech's transfer class was even better by the numbers, ranking No. 20. The transfer additions total 27, with three four-star prospects and 24 three-stars. The four stars were quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, tight end Luke Reynolds and wide receiver Que'Sean Brown.

Grunkemeyer and Reynolds followed Franklin from Penn State, while Brown arrives from Duke.

Franklin was fired at Penn State after a 3-3 start, which saw back-to-back-to-back losses against Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern. In his time as a head coach, he has a 128-60 (68.1%) all-time winning percentage.

Virginia Tech's 2026 season kicks off when the Hokies face off against VMI on Saturday, Sept. 5, in the two schools' first meeting since 1984.