The last two weeks have been a full-speed sprint for James Franklin at Virginia Tech.
The former Penn State coach still hasn’t assembled an on-field staff, and with only a skeleton group of support staffers in the building, he’s been grinding: recruiting nonstop, hosting visitors, and constructing a class almost entirely from zero. The payoff has been one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent recruiting memory. Franklin has lifted a class that once sat at No. 124 in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings all the way to No. 22 as night fell Wednesday, which was the first day of the three-day early signing period.
How did Franklin and the Hokies pull it off? Relationships. And plenty of former Penn State commits.
“It’s been a scramble,” Franklin told CBS Sports on Wednesday. “Some of these coaches that took some of these jobs around the country, and none of the recruits decommitted. One of the coaches I saw landed his plane, and the No. 1 recruit in the country was waiting for him there.
“We had a very different experience.”
If you didn’t know already, that coach is Lane Kiffin. He ditched playoff-bound Ole Miss for LSU on Sunday and was welcomed at the Tigers’ facility by defensive lineman commitment Lamar Brown, who is not quite the nation’s No. 1 recruit — but No. 4 overall is close enough.
Meanwhile, the chaos in Blacksburg has worked in Franklin’s favor. Cast aside by Penn State on Oct. 12 after three straight losses — including collapses as three-touchdown favorites against UCLA and Northwestern — Franklin has capitalized on the market. He said he hosted 17 recruits last weekend alone.
The results speak loudly. Franklin has flipped 10 Penn State commitments to Virginia Tech, sinking the Nittany Lions’ class to No….
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