Sports

James Franklin Immediately Got Rid Of The Core Values At Virginia Tech’s Football Facility

#College Football
by Last Updated
James Franklin Virginia Tech Hokies

© Brian Bishop/Imagn


James Franklin has a script, and he’s sticking to it. Franklin, who spent the last 12 seasons as the head football coach at Penn State, was fired midseason in 2025 after starting the year ranked No. 2 and then going 3-3 to begin the season, including 0-3 in Big Ten play.

He landed on his feet, however, when he was named the new head coach at Virginia Tech, who parted ways with Brent Pry, a former defensive coordinator under Franklin at Penn State and Vanderbilt, just three games into the season.

Ironically, Franklin rehired Pry to serve as the Hokies’ defensive coordinator in 2026 (and perhaps beyond).

So, how is Franklin dealing with life in Blacksburg? Well, it starts with dismantling everything that came in the decade before him?

James Franklin Got Rid Of Justin Fuente’s Core Values At Virginia Tech

These days, almost every college football program seems to have a set of “core values” that it keeps plastered all over the practice facility.

Usually, these will be things like “work ethic,” and “competitiveness,” and all the buzzwords you’re used to hearing from sports coaches. It’s a bit corny, but hey, who am I to question Division I head football coaches.

According to Franklin, the Hokies, too, have their own core values. However, the ones that are listed in the practice facility were left over from Justin Fuente, who was fired in 2021.

“It needs to feel big time,” Franklin said of what he’s trying to do at Virginia Tech. “We can’t have two coaches ago’s core values on the wall.”

Ooof. On one hand, that’s a rough look for the Hokies and a jab at Fuente. But on the other hand, how different are Franklin’s “core values” really likely to be from those of Fuente?

Franklin went on to talk about alignment and investment and all the buzzwords that drove Penn State fans crazy when they heard them after every time Franklin lost a big game.

Perhaps things will work out differently for the Hokies. They’re certainly starting from a worse point than where Penn State was, so there’s reason to believe Franklin can and should immediately improve the program. What happens when he needs to take it another step further, however, is what everyone will be watching.