BLACKSBURG — When Virginia Tech hired James Franklin as football coach two-plus weeks ago, the Hokies’ 2026 recruiting class ranked 124th nationally, according to the 247 Sports composite.

At last check Wednesday, as national signing day winded down, the class stood 22nd.

The Franklin Effect is as advertised, kids.

Of course, recruiting evaluations are fallible. And yes, the transfer portal has diminished high school recruiting’s importance.

But gifted an opportunity by this year’s warp-speed coaching carousel, Franklin and his skeleton staff, with considerable assistance from the outgoing regime of Brent Pry, pounced in short order to land the program’s most-regarded class since 2013 (No. 21).

Franklin pushes back on his reputation as “a recruiter,” believing the tag overshadows his

See Full Page