James Franklin sends strong message after becoming head coach at Virginia Tech

Since becoming head coach at Virginia Tech, James Franklin has also spoken with Hokies legend Frank Beamer to get his blessing.

James Franklin speaks after becoming the next head football coach at Virginia Tech. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

One of college football’s major head coaching vacancies has been filled as James Franklin was formally introduced as the next coach at Virginia Tech, and he hasn’t wasted any time getting himself acclimated to the program and its supporters.

Joining the ESPN broadcast during Virginia Tech’s home game against Miami on Saturday, the new Hokies head coach sent a strong message to fans regarding how he sees the program and his role in building it back into a national contender.

“There’s great passion and support for this place. Has been for a long time. Now it’s my job and our job to get this program back where everyone wants it to be,” Franklin said.

"There's great passion and support for this place ... and now it's my job and our job to get this program back to where everybody wants it to be."

James Franklin on his decision to become the head coach of @HokiesFB. pic.twitter.com/WA2mQT0KfO

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) November 22, 2025

Franklin said he reached out to Virginia Tech coaching legend Frank Beamer to offer his respect and to seek out his blessing to take over in his footsteps.

“I wanted to call him to pay respect, number one. He built this program, and everybody loves him and his family,” Franklin said.

“I called my father in law and asked for his blessing to marry his daughter. I’ve done it twice now. I called Frank Beamer, I said, ‘Coach, [I’m] about to make this decision, and before I do, I want your blessing to make sure you would be comfortable with me taking over your program.’”

Franklin said he spoke with both Beamer and the former coach’s wife during the conversation, and they both gave him their blessing. Although he also noted he had to call Beamer a couple times before finally dialing Beamer’s wife, who answered the call.

That blessing is the first step in a rebuilding effort that Virginia Tech hopes Franklin can take on in the same spirit he did at Penn State, when he took over from Bill O’Brien and produced a double-digit winner in his third season.

“I’ve gotten to know Coach Beamer for a long time on the Nike trip, and just following his career,” Franklin said.

“Obviously, I got a ton of respect for what he’s been able to do across his career, but also specifically, obviously, here at Virginia Tech.”

Winning double-digit games is something the Hokies have not done in a while, almost a decade in fact, when they went 10-4 in Justin Fuente’s first season succeeding Beamer.

Beamer won at least 10 games in 13 of his seasons at the helm from 1987 to 2015, including eight years in a row from 2004 to 2011.

Franklin is a proven winner in his own right, going 128-60 overall in his career, including a 24-15 stint at Vanderbilt over three years and he went 104-45 at Penn State over 12 seasons with six double-digit winning campaigns and seven AP top 25 appearances.