James Franklin, Virginia Tech Predicted to Play Better Than Penn State Next Year

Entering the 2026-27 college football season, there's definitely a lot of pressure around Penn State. 

After moving on from head coach James Franklin, while it was the right decision, Penn State is going to have some questions to answer. Simply put, many are going to wonder if moving on from a guy who consistently won nine to 10-plus games each season was the right thing. 

Penn State obviously didn't have the season it was hoping for a year ago, but one bad year probably gets outweighed by all the good Franklin had done for the program prior to that. I'm of the belief that Penn State made the right decision, but we can only find out what it's going to look like with new head coach Matt Campbell.

Regarding Franklin, I don't think he made the right decision by going to Virginia Tech, though there's an argument that making the College Football Playoff out of the ACC is much easier than the other power conferences. 

Tech has been one of the more below-average college football programs in the Power Four ranks over the past decade or so, but ESPN still believes it has a chance to make the College Football Playoff, and perhaps even win more games than Penn State.

"Coach James Franklin brought enough talent and continuity with him that the Hokies could be a surprise CFP team, but the schedule -- particularly the back half -- could make it difficult. Games at Clemson, SMU and Miami will define the season, and two of them -- at SMU and at Miami -- are on Friday nights,'' ESPN wrote.

“The former Penn State coach is now at Virginia Tech -- along with a slew of Nittany Lions recruits and transfers -- and he has his sights set on a dramatic improvement from last year's 3-9 finish for the Hokies. Although it's probably too outlandish to predict Franklin gets Virginia Tech into the playoff, winning nine isn't that far out of the question -- which could mean Franklin wins more games in 2026 than his former team does at Penn State.”

With Penn State's schedule next season, there's absolutely no reason why the Nittany Lions shouldn't win more games than Virginia Tech. 

I don't care if Penn State plays the top 10 teams in the country weekend and week out; losing more games than Virginia Tech would be a major embarrassment for a program of this caliber. Franklin will definitely improve things at Virginia Tech, but let's slow down a little bit.