James Franklin Reveals Bold Vision Behind Virginia Tech’s ‘Shock the World’ Statement—What It Means for the Team’s Future

When Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin was speaking to Hokie Nation on Saturday at the annual spring game in Blacksburg, he was fired up, speaking to the crowd and said the 2026 Hokies were going to “shock the world.”

Those comments immediately fired up Virginia Tech fans and, of course, brought out the Penn State fans who still obsessed with every moves Franklin makes or every word he speaks.

After the spring game, Franklin spoke to the media, and he was asked about those comments. He explained what he meant.

“There is an excitement right now, and we want to keep that excitement going,” Franklin said. We have been fortunate to be a part of two turnarounds in two different conferences, and we plan on doing that again. This place knows what it looks like. They’ve done it before. That’s what this whole re-establish is all about. For us to go where we want to go, it’s going to take the players, the coaches, the community, the fans, that’s going to take the lettermen. We had a bunch of lettermen show up today.“

It’s difficult to take too much out of the spring game. However, the Hokies looked different. The talent was better. They were deeper. And, most importantly, Virginia Tech looked like it had multiple functional quarterbacks, led by projected starter Ethan Grunkemeyer.

There’s a long way to go, but it’s a good time to be a Hokie.