Man, things feel different for James Franklin now than they did a year ago.

Last offseason, the conversation around Franklin was simple: Penn State had the best roster he was probably ever going to have, and it felt like a now-or-never year.

Then it all fell apart.

Now Franklin gets a fresh start at Virginia Tech, and honestly, this might be one of the more interesting Year 1 situations in the entire country.

The Hokies were bad last season. They went 3-9, finished 2-6 in the ACC, and never looked close to being the program people remember from the Frank Beamer years.

But there are pieces here.

A lot of them.

And for a coach like Franklin, that makes this fascinating.

HEAD COACH:

• James Franklin, entering year one at Virginia Tech
• Franklin is 128-60 as a college head coach.
• Virginia Tech went 3-9 last season and 2-6 in the ACC.
• The Hokies have not won 10 games since 2016.
• Virginia Tech won 10 games every year from 2004-2011, but only once since.

It is still hard to believe Virginia Tech has been this far away from national relevance for this long.

There was a time when the Hokies were not just an ACC factor. They were a national factor. Beamer had that thing rolling. Blacksburg was a nightmare road trip. Lane Stadium felt like a place where weird things happened and ranked teams went to die.

That has not been the case lately.

Virginia Tech has not won 10 games since 2016. That is wild for anyone who remembers what this program used to be.

That is why Franklin is such an interesting hire.

You can criticize what happened at Penn State. You can point out that he did not beat Ohio State and Michigan enough. You can say he never quite got Penn State over the top.

But Virginia Tech would love to have Penn State’s problems right now.

Franklin won 10 games six times in his final nine seasons at Penn State. He knows how to build a winning program, and Virginia Tech is not asking him to beat Ohio State in Year 1. It is asking him to make the Hokies relevant again.

That feels doable.

The other interesting piece is Brent Pry.

Pry was fired as Virginia Tech’s head coach, then returned as Franklin’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. That is a strange situation on paper, but it also gives the staff some continuity. Pry knows the roster. He knows the building. He knows the league. And Franklin knows Pry well from their time together at Penn State and Vanderbilt.

That does not guarantee it works.

But it makes this one of the most fascinating staffs in the ACC.

QUARTERBACK:

The quarterback is Ethan Grunkemeyer, and that is where the Penn State connection really matters.

Grunkemeyer followed Franklin from Penn State to Virginia Tech, and he appears to be the guy. Virginia Tech’s official roster lists him as a redshirt sophomore quarterback from Penn State, and his official bio says he played in 11 games last season, started the final seven, completed 69% of his passes for 1,339 yards and eight touchdowns.

That is a solid starting point.

It is not superstar stuff. It is not “hand him the Heisman campaign” stuff. But it is real experience.

Grunkemeyer went 4-3 as a starter last season, and the losses came against Iowa, Ohio State and eventual national champion Indiana. That matters. If your losses come against teams like that, I am not going to crush you for the record.

The concern is the lack of explosive passing.

He did not throw for 300 yards in any game last season. He also was not a high-volume deep-ball guy, going 6-of-22 on throws of 20-plus air yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

That is something to watch.

Virginia Tech does not need him to be reckless, but it does need more downfield juice than it had last year. The Hokies’ offense was way too limited. They ran the ball a ton, but they did not score enough. They could not consistently scare teams through the air.

The encouraging part is that Grunkemeyer was good when kept clean and actually held up well under pressure.

He completed 74% of his passes from a clean pocket and 56% under pressure. That pressure number is pretty good, especially for a quarterback with limited starting experience.

So the question is not whether he can play.

The question is whether he can become more than just steady.

If Grunkemeyer is a smart, efficient quarterback who protects the ball and lets the roster around him work, Virginia Tech can be much better.

If he becomes a quarterback who can also hit explosives, the Hokies get a lot more interesting.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

This is where Virginia Tech has a chance to help its new quarterback.

The Hokies bring back a lot.

A lot.

Virginia Tech returns 14 starters, which is near the top of the country. It also returns 62% of its snaps, which is top five nationally. In the transfer-portal era, that kind of continuity matters.

Now, I know what some people will say.

“Do you really want that many guys back from a 3-9 team?”

Fair question.

But I think there is value in having players who have started ACC games, taken the hits, learned what does not work and now get a reset with a proven head coach.

That can matter.

The offense starts with Marcellous Hawkins at running back. He is listed on the official roster as a redshirt senior running back, and he gives Virginia Tech a bigger, experienced option in the backfield.

Hawkins ran for 749 yards last season, and if Franklin wants to play physical football, he is going to be important.

At receiver, the names to know are Ayden Greene and Takye Heath. Virginia Tech’s official roster lists Greene as a senior wide receiver and Heath as a redshirt junior wide receiver.

Greene had 31 catches for 516 yards and three touchdowns last season. That is a good piece to have back.

Then Virginia Tech added Que’Sean Brown from Duke, and that is a big one. The official roster lists Brown as a wide receiver from Duke, and he gives the Hokies a proven ACC target.

Brown caught 64 passes last year while playing with Darian Mensah in that Duke offense. That is exactly the kind of transfer piece Virginia Tech needed.

The tight end room also gets interesting because Benji Gosnell is back, and Luke Reynolds comes over from Penn State. Virginia Tech’s roster lists both Gosnell and Reynolds at tight end.

So there are options.

The offensive line may be the biggest key.

The Hokies have names back and brought in help. The roster includes Kyle Altuner, Johnny Garrett, Layth Ghannam, Aidan Lynch, Logan Howland, Justin Terry and Michael Troutman III among the offensive linemen.

That group has to be better in pass protection.

Last year, Virginia Tech was not good enough there. If Grunkemeyer is going to be more than a game manager, he needs time. If Hawkins is going to carry the run game, the line has to move people.

The offense does not need to become elite overnight.

But it has to be competent.

Last year, Virginia Tech ran the ball at about the same rate as Penn State but scored about 10 fewer points per game. That tells you the style was not the only problem.

The execution was.

Franklin has to fix that quickly.

DEFENSE

This is where the Brent Pry piece gets fascinating.

Virginia Tech was bad defensively last season.

There is really no way around it.

The Hokies allowed too many points, gave up too many yards, and never felt like a team that could lean on its defense when things got hard.

That is a problem at Virginia Tech.

When this program has been good, defense has been part of the identity. Special teams, defense, toughness, home-field energy — that was the Virginia Tech formula for years.

Now Pry is back in a defensive coordinator role, which is probably where he is most comfortable.

And there are some pieces.

The defensive line includes Kemari Copeland and Elhadj Fall. The linebacker group includes Noah Chambers. The secondary has Isaiah Brown-Murray, Tyson Flowers and Thomas Williams among the names to know. Virginia Tech’s official roster confirms those spellings and positions.

The Hokies also added defensive help through the portal.

Keon Wylie comes in from Penn State. Kaleb Spencer comes in from Miami. Jaquez White comes in from Troy, and he is especially interesting after a strong season there. Virginia Tech’s roster lists Wylie, Spencer and White on the defensive side of the ball.

White is a name I would watch.

He had a big year at Troy and gives Virginia Tech a corner with real production. That matters because the Hokies need the secondary to be better, especially with the road games they have later in the year.

The defense does not have to become vintage Bud Foster overnight.

That is not realistic.

But it has to be tougher. It has to be more organized. It has to stop giving away easy points.

If Pry can get the defense to just be solid, Virginia Tech’s win total can jump.

If it is actually good?

Then the Hokies become one of the more interesting teams in the ACC.

SCHEDULE

The schedule can be viewed two different ways.

The first half gives Virginia Tech a chance.

The second half gets real.

The Hokies open with VMI and Old Dominion at home. Then they play back-to-back road games at Maryland and Boston College. After that, they host Pitt on a Friday night before going to Cal on Oct. 10. That is the official early schedule.

I do not want to disrespect Maryland or Boston College, but if you are Virginia Tech, you can talk yourself into a good start.

The first two are at home. Maryland is a Power Four road game, but not one that should terrify you. Boston College is a league road game, but also not one that feels impossible.

There is a world where Virginia Tech is 4-0 going into the Pitt game.

I am not saying it will happen.

But it is possible.

That is what makes the Pitt-Cal stretch so important.

If the Hokies start well, Pitt at home and Cal on the road could turn the season into something fun very quickly.

But after that, the schedule gets harder.

Virginia Tech hosts Georgia Tech, goes to Clemson, then after a break goes to SMU on Nov. 6. The Hokies then host Stanford, go to Miami, and finish at home against Virginia.

That is not easy.

The road trips are the issue.

Virginia Tech plays at Cal and at SMU, which puts the Hokies in the group of ACC teams dealing with two of the longer travel spots in the league. They also go to Clemson and Miami.

That is a lot.

The good news is the first two games are at home, and the Hokies get Virginia at home to end the year.

The bad news is that the ACC road schedule is rough.

If Virginia Tech is going to surprise people, it probably has to bank wins early.

Because late October and November are not forgiving.

OUTLOOK

I am intrigued by Virginia Tech.

That is probably the best way to say it.

This is not a team I am ready to pick for the ACC Championship Game. Not yet.

But I absolutely understand why people are going to talk themselves into the Hokies.

James Franklin is a proven head coach. Ethan Grunkemeyer gives them a quarterback who knows the system and has played real football. Marcellous Hawkins gives them a running back. Ayden Greene, Takye Heath and Que’Sean Brown give them receivers. Benji Gosnell and Luke Reynolds give them tight end options. The offensive line has experience and competition.

There is a lot more here than the 3-9 record suggests.

The defense is the bigger question.

Can Brent Pry fix it from the coordinator chair? Can the portal additions help right away? Can the Hokies stop beating themselves after ranking near the bottom nationally in turnover margin and penalties?

That might decide the season.

Because if Virginia Tech just cleans up the turnovers and penalties, it is probably much more competitive right away.

The best-case scenario is that Grunkemeyer is steady, the offensive line improves, Hawkins gives them a real run game, Brown becomes a major target, and Pry gets the defense back to being respectable.

If that happens, Virginia Tech can be one of the surprise teams in the ACC.

The worst-case scenario is that the offense still lacks explosiveness, the line remains shaky in pass protection, the defense does not improve enough, and the road schedule catches up with them.

My gut?

Virginia Tech is going to be better.

Maybe a lot better.

The Hokies may still be a year away from being a real ACC contender, but they are one of those teams that could start 4-0, get confidence, and suddenly become a problem for everybody else on the schedule.

Franklin does not need to make Virginia Tech what Penn State was overnight.

He just needs to make Virginia Tech feel like Virginia Tech again.

And for the first time in a while, that feels possible.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.