1) Fill in the blank: This men’s basketball team missing the NCAA Tournament would be the biggest disappointment since _____ . — 5_star_commentator
Chris Coleman: Let’s begin with a couple of notes:
1: Virginia Tech was picked No. 12 in the 18-team ACC in the preseason voting. Not very many people thought the Hokies would make the NCAA Tournament this year.
2: Multiple times on the podcast, dating back to before the season started, when asked if I thought Tech would make the NCAA Tournament, I’ve used the exact phrase: “I think the Hokies will be there or thereabouts.” Meaning, I’ve always viewed this team as one of 8-12 teams across the country who would probably be within a game or two of the NCAA Tournament.
In short, I did not expect this to be a definite NCAA Tournament team. I expected the Hokies to mount a strong challenge to make the tournament, but I never viewed this as a 100 percent, can’t-miss Big Dance group. Neither did the rest of the media, obviously. If they end up in the NIT, that’s where probably 75 percent of prognosticators would have pegged them before the season.
I can think of three times when I went into the season expecting to be an NCAA Tournament team, but Virginia Tech didn’t make it for a variety of reasons.
• 2009-10: Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen were juniors. Tech went into the ACC Tournament with a 23-7 record, including a 10-6 mark in the league, but got bounced by Miami in the first round. Ultimately, it got left out because of a poor non-conference schedule and not enough quality wins. I remember being disappointed in the non-conference schedule. There were ways to game it, and the Hokies didn’t do it.
• 2010-11: Delaney and Allen were seniors. The Hokies beat Duke, and they were in. But then they followed that up by getting drubbed at home to a mediocre Boston College team before losing to Clemson in the season finale.
• 2022-23: I think this team was an NCAA Tournament team, but injuries to Rodney Rice and Hunter Cattoor, plus a personal situation for Darius Maddox that saw him miss a lot of games, devastated Virginia Tech’s backcourt depth.
I wasn’t really disappointed in the 2022-23 team because of those injuries and the Maddox situation. Any team that loses three of its top four guards for part of the year, and two of the four for large chunks of the season, is probably going to come up short. Therefore, my answer is 2010-11.
I’ll be disappointed if Tech doesn’t make it this year, but not in relation to my preseason expectations. I’m always disappointed when the Hokies don’t make it, though the only time that disappointment turns into blame is when I think they are a sure-fire NCAA Tournament team before the season begins, and even then, I adjust for injuries (22-23).
If Tech doesn’t make it this year, I’ll be disappointed, but nowhere close to my disappointment levels for 2009-10 and 2010-11. Not only did I not think the Hokies were a definite tournament team before the season, but they’ve had major injuries to boot.
All that said, they can still make it. The Hokies are bad enough to be 0-5 in the ACC, but they are also good enough to be 5-0. When Tyler Johnson got hurt and Tobi Lawal was still out, I publicly stated that I wanted to be 3-3 after the first six ACC games, and then see what happens after that. Guess what Tech’s record will be if it beats Notre Dame in Cassell Coliseum tomorrow? 3-3.
I realize that when you play five straight ACC games and all are decided in triple overtime or by three points or fewer, every game feels like a referendum on the program. But it’s always best to wait until the end of the year to judge.
2) Are you concerned that the guys we are getting are all young? That in this “win now or I’m transferring” time, we need to find a few more seasoned guys with experience? — HOKIEVET
CC: I don’t know that the “win now and or I’m transferring” applies to Franklin very much. This is a man who just got fired, yet to date, 12 Penn State transfers and 11 Nittany Lions high school commits have decided to attend Virginia Tech. He certainly did not “win now” at PSU in 2025, yet nearly one-quarter of VT’s 2026 roster will have had previous ties to him at Penn State.
Franklin is an excellent recruiter and has a knack for getting players to trust him. His retention rate in State College seemed high. I’d be surprised if the vast majority of his core roster doesn’t return for 2027. Yeah, we’ll see some attrition at a few spots where there are so many young guys fighting it out for playing time, but it would be surprising if we saw a big exodus of important players after 2026. These guys trust that he knows what’s best for their development.
So from that standpoint, the youth movement doesn’t bother me. Could he be striking a better balance, though, between young players and veterans? You can make that argument. I could argue for and against it.
The argument for signing more veterans is that turnarounds can happen very quickly these days and you don’t have to wait two or three years. The argument against it is that Tech’s three toughest games in 2026, on paper, will be on the road at Miami, SMU and Clemson, so what’s the point of building a senior-laden roster in 2026? Is it not better to improve the talent level now and then “go for it” in 2027 when the Hokies have five conference home games?
I don’t begrudge anybody for how they feel. I will, however, point out that Franklin believes in building it from the high school level. By taking so many young guys, over half of whom he coached at Penn State, he’s basically doing exactly that. Yeah, they are portal guys to you and me, but to Franklin, they are guys he’s built a relationship with since high school. Ethan Grunkemeyer is a transfer portal recruit for Virginia Tech; for James Franklin, he’s a high school recruit.
Ultimately, there’s no way to know right now if it’s the right strategy. Ask again after the 2027 and 2028 seasons are completed and I can give you a better answer. Or maybe you won’t need to ask. Maybe by then the results will have answered the question for us.
A bigger concern for me is the number of scholarship players Franklin is going to have on the roster and what is quite possibly a fair complaint from the Penn State fan base: in terms of NIL and revenue sharing, Franklin is the type who wants to give something to everybody. That gets you more depth, but it doesn’t leave you with as much room to maneuver when you are looking for one or two extra stars to get you over the top.
Linebacker George Ballance was placed on scholarship this week, which was well-earned and completely deserved. That takes the Hokies to a projected 102 scholarship players, and we don’t know with 100 percent certainty that Tech is done signing portal prospects. Remember, the NCAA allows a 105-man roster limit these days, and that includes scholarship players and walk-ons combined. Therefore, RIP to VT’s walk-on program. You were great while you lasted.
We don’t know this for a fact because the monetary numbers aren’t released, but one of the complaints of Penn State fans was that Franklin spread the wealth too much. Everybody got something. That’s all well and good, and it certainly helps with depth, but what if you gave $0 to the bottom 10 players on your roster and saved that money to get an extra starting linebacker and starting safety?
There’s a proper balance that can be struck between depth and star power. I’m not sure that next year’s roster is balanced quite as well as it could be from that standpoint. However, some of these guys will most likely turn into stars, and at that point, I’d guess that Franklin’s strategy will change somewhat. He’ll probably go back to having 10-15 walk-ons on the roster so he doesn’t have to spread the cash around quite as much. That will enable him to retain/recruit more star power.
That’s my take right now, and it’s something to keep an eye on in his next couple of portal classes.
3) There’s a lot of angst around our offensive line returners, transfers and signees. Where are you on the scale of 1 (sheer gloom) to 10 (unbridled optimism)? Where do you see positives beyond retaining Matt Moore for a second season? What are your biggest concerns? — AlaHokie83
CC: The positives of retaining Moore are two-fold:
1: He’s proven over time that he’s a good offensive line coach who develops his players.
2: The Hokies need continuity at that position.
If everybody was starting a program and a roster from scratch, I’d have probably picked Phil Trautwein over Moore, though it’s pretty close. But for what the Hokies need right now, I think Tech may have gotten the best possible outcome.
As far as where I am on the sheer gloom/unbridled optimism scale, I’m probably a five. I’m sure Tech’s offensive line will be better next year. Here are the Hokies’ PFF run blocking and pass blocking grades from last year:
• Run blocking: No. 117 out of 135 FBS teams
• Pass blocking: No. 128 out of 135 FBS teams
The blocking grades also factor in other positions like tight ends and wide receivers, but it’s safe to say that the offensive line plays the biggest role in those grades, especially the pass blocking grade. I simply can’t imagine the offensive line being worse than it was last season. I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but the likelihood of that happening is about the same as two of my four worst Virginia Tech basketball moments IN MY ENTIRE LIFE coming in a span of seven days. It can happen — and it just did, in the case of basketball — but the chances are extremely remote.
The biggest improvement that needs to happen is at left tackle, where Johnny Garrett had a 38.4 pass-blocking grade last season. Welcome Logan Howland, who had a 65.4 pass blocking grade at left tackle in 2025 despite playing hurt, and a 70.2 pass blocking grade in 2024. That’s a big improvement.
The second-biggest improvement that needs to be made is at right tackle. Aidan Lynch had to start there as a redshirt freshman but wasn’t ready. I think Garrett will most likely move back to right tackle, where I like him a lot more. Here’s a good post by QCP, part of which I’ll copy and paste here:
“In looking at PFF, they list a position for each game, and it looks like it is noted based on what position they play more snaps at during the game (i.e. if you play 15 snaps at RT and 10 snaps at LT, it will list RT as your position). If we average Garrett’s grades for games listed as LT against P4 opponents, he has an average grade of 53.2 (39.9 pass block grade, 58.1 run block grade), whereas games listed as RT against P4 opponents, he has an average 61.3 grade (65.5 pass block grade, 60.2 run block grade). The methodology above isn’t perfect, but I think it is good enough to lend credence to the notion that Garrett is a better RT than LT and that he is, without a doubt, a below-average LT, but he could project as an average to slightly above-average RT.”
I agree with that completely. By adding Howland, the Hokies have gone from bad to solid at left tackle, and they’ve gone from bad to average/above average at right tackle. That’s a huge improvement. I would also forecast improvement from center Kyle Altuner, who will be a redshirt sophomore. The big questions are at guard, where guys like Montavious Cunningham (assuming he gets his waiver) and Brody Meadows return from injury and Layth Ghannam enters his redshirt junior season. There will be a big fight for playing time at those positions.
4) Everyone’s looking toward 2027 onward for James Franklin to win, but our future schedules get harder, not easier. Thoughts? I see difficulty reaching ACC championship contention. — Ranger Sam
CC: Hmmm. Yeah, I can see how you can say that, if you look at the future schedules on the TSL future schedules page. However, the South Carolina series quietly disappeared from the Hokie Sports future schedules page recently, as have all future ACC games from 2027 to beyond. It appears as if all the future ACC games have been scrapped, and things will begin anew (again) starting in 2027. As I said on the podcast this week, I’m not sure how much we can rely on those future schedules staying the same. I said that before I was made aware that all the ACC games have been removed.
So right now we have no idea who the Hokies will be playing in the ACC in 2027, outside of UVa. It could be a horribly difficult schedule, or it could be incredibly easy. Obviously you can't make plans when you don't know, and nothing has been officially released by the ACC.
If it turns out to be difficult to achieve ACC championship contention, that’s good. If it was going to be easy, then that means the league is going to completely stink, and if the league completely stinks, then it will eventually fall apart. I'd rather it be hard, or at least somewhat hard.