It’s hard to see James Franklin not succeeding at Virginia Tech. (Ivan Morozov)
1) There’s nothing but positive news coming out of the football program ever since James Franklin arrived. NIL money the likes we’ve never seen before, some of the highest recruiting we’ve experienced in decades, and a general “buzz” that the program is about to turn the corner. But let’s say things don’t work out, we continue to struggle to break .500, or God forbid worse, and things don’t materialize as we all hope over the next few years. What do you think will be the reason? Is there one weakness that Franklin has that could lead to his demise, as it did at Penn State? — ToledoHokie
Chris Coleman: Franklin is 128-60 as a head coach. He’s rebuilt two programs and has nine seasons of nine-plus wins. If your expectation is for Virginia Tech to put a good product on the field and to be in a position where the fan base feels like the team has a reasonable chance to win each week, then I see very little chance of him not working out at Virginia Tech, particularly with the monetary backing he’s received.
In-game coaching has probably been an issue at times. It’s not all bad, because you don’t go 128-60 as a head coach if you’re terrible at that part of things, but against the truly great in-game tacticians, he’s probably not quite up to their standards. However, that doesn’t bother me very much, because there are so few head coaches who check every single box. I’m not even sure that guys like Kirby Smart would check every box. Would Smart recruit as well at Virginia Tech as Franklin has thus far? I don’t know that he would.
One thing that could hold him back a bit is also one of the things that makes him really good. He’s really driven, really focused and demands a great deal from those around him. It’s absolutely what Virginia Tech needs right now. However, sometimes that type of pressure can cause players to play tight and coaches to coach tight, and that could rear its ugly head in big games.
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