ESPN analyst grades Virginia Tech’s hiring of James Franklin
By David Wasson
Published:
The college football coaching carousel made another spin Monday night with the hire of James Franklin at Virginia Tech.
ESPN analyst Adam Rittenberg was quick to analyze the latest hire in a new story for the World Wide Leader.
Rittenberg gave the Hokies an A grade for landing Franklin, given that the former Penn State and Vanderbilt coach spent most of his career in and around the mid-Atlantic region – serving as a Maryland assistant, leading programs at Vanderbilt and Penn State and even working in the state of Virginia at James Madison in 1997.
The analyst also pointed out that, while Penn State let Franklin go for his final spate of losses, the coach won 104 games in State College and led the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff semifinals last season.
Here’s an excerpt of Rittenberg’s analysis:
Virginia Tech’s two post-Frank Beamer hires were a coach who had not led a Power 4 program (Justin Fuente) and a first-time head coach (Brent Pry). In Franklin, Virginia Tech gets a proven winner from the Big Ten and SEC, who knows the region extremely well and will be extremely motivated to compete for league titles and CFP appearances.
Franklin’s big-stage shortcomings are a concern but perhaps not as much for a program like Virginia Tech, which is seeking to become a consistent conference title contender again
Virginia Tech is expected to formally introduce Franklin at a press conference on Wednesday.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
