James Franklin watched intently from the defensive secondary, a safe distance from the one-on-one receiver-defensive back drill, but he jumped into action in an instant.
Safety Sheldon Robinson undercut a pass intended for tight end Brody Jones along the sideline, picking it off as he landed on his back. Before even the position coach could arrive with congratulations, Franklin was within earshot.
“Hell of a job!” he yelled as Robinson’s teammates dapped him up following the play.
That’s how most of Virginia Tech’s two-hour practice Thursday at the Beamer-Lawson Indoor Practice Facility — a rare session fully open to the media — unfolded, with Franklin observing quietly but intently in the wings until the action snapped him to react.
The Hokies’ coach was an equal-opportunity commenter, sprinting across the field on one play to congratulate Cam Sparks on a deep-ball touchdown catch and interjecting himself harshly when a defensive player got a little too physical on the back end of a play.
The session was the second of 15 Hokies practices over the next month, culminating in the April 18 spring game in Lane Stadium.
Here are plenty more observations from the sideline Thursday:
• Que’Sean Brown is quick. Franklin didn’t have a lot to say about the wide receivers other than Ayden Greene the other day, but it was fairly easy to see that Brown is a difference-maker.
He operated with excellent burst and quickness in the slot and made a number of deep plays. One came on a one-on-one DB-WR period early on, with another coming from Bryce Baker on a deep ball in a skeleton session later in the workout.
Brown, who caught 64 passes for 846 yards and five touchdowns last year for Duke, worked all over, in the slot and out wide.
• The quarterbacks all got reps. True to his word, Franklin had the Hokies rotate quarterbacks quite a bit in the second practice. While Ethan Grunkemyer and Baker were the first two signal callers through the line, all three of the other QBs — Kelden Ryan, A.J. Brand and Troy Huhn — got plenty of work, mixing in with first-team linemen and receivers.
Spring practice in full swing for the #Hokies. pic.twitter.com/IjTw4FGURx
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) March 19, 2026
• With the obvious caveat that this was just one day, here’s how the order broke down:
• QB: Grunkemeyer and Baker were the first two through the rotation, though both got a good deal of work with the ones. In skeleton drills against the defense, Grunkemeyer was typically the first up.
• RB: Bill Davis and Jeffrey Overton Jr. were front and center, though Tyler Mason also got some looks. While Marcellous Hawkins is not a full participant this spring, he was still dressed out, taking mental reps and going through the motions as the team did install.
• WR: There were two pretty distinct groups here, and Tech mixed and matched so much that you probably can’t draw an order from it. Ayden Greene, Takye Heath and Luke Stuewe ran out first (Stuewe got a lot of work on the day), with Chanz Wiggins, Brown and Cam Sparks often together.
Keylen Adams was out there but didn’t appear to be a full-go for the skeleton periods. Snook Peterkin, who was on the basketball team until recently, wasn’t dressed but went through install periods.
• TE: Benji Gosnell, Luke Reynolds and Ja’Ricous Hairston appeared to be out there the most.
• OL: This was an interesting group. From left to right, the top unit was Aidan Lynch, Layth Ghannam, Kyle Altuner, Johnny Garrett and Montavious Cunningham. Garrett’s been a tackle in the past and Cunningham has spent a lot of time at guard, but they were flipped for Thursday.
The second group was Lucas Austin, Gavin Crawford, Tommy Ricard, Brody Meadows and Justin Bell.
• DE: The first pairing on skeleton drills was Aycen Stevens and Jason Abbey. Brett Clatterbaugh, Cortez Harris and Deric Dandy were out there frequently as well. Javion Hilson rotated in and, to the untrained eye, looks very quick off the edge.
• DT: Kemari Copeland, obviously, was the top guy. Elhadj Fall, Emmett Laws and Christian Evans were the next players rotating in with the ones, in some combination. Andrew Hanchuk and Eric Mensah were also part of the rotation.
• LB: The top group during position drills and often in the skeleton session was Kaleb Spencer, Noah Chambers and Keon Wylie, backed by a trio of Gabe Williams, George Ballance and Antwone Santiago. Curtis Jones Jr. also rotated in on the outside.
• NB: Isaiah Brown-Murray and Kenny Woseley Jr. seemed to get the most work here.
• CB: They had all sorts of pairings, though the top guys appeared to be Jaquez White, Cam Chadwick Jr., Thomas Williams, Joshua Clarke and Amauri Polydor.
• S: These pairings felt a little more tied together, with Tyson Flowers-Quentin Reddish with the ones and Robinson and Jordan Bass with the twos.
https://twitter.com/AndyBitterVT/status/2034618484504895865
• Brent Pry looked very much in his element: Rather than roving from station to station like he did as a head coach, Pry locked in with his position group, the linebackers, and doesn’t seem to have lost any of his edge, looking eager about getting hands-on with the players.
https://twitter.com/AndyBitterVT/status/2034619345964281942
• Norval McKenzie coaches hard. The running backs went through an agility drill where they had to go high knees over a bunch of pads and then weave through some coaches at the end of the line. McKenzie didn’t pull any punches trying to knock the ball loose. While we’re on the subject of running backs, Davis looks like a load and runs very aggressively.
• The offense did a fair amount of damage in one-on-ones. That hasn’t always been true in recent seasons. In the first go-round, Heath, Brown and Luke Reynolds all caught touchdown passes. Reynolds let Sherrod Covil know about it, too, after reeling in a pass near the sideline in the end zone.
Jeff Exinor Jr. had a long touchdown in a later period (though it might have been a tackle deep down the field if it were a real play), but Chadwick made a nice diving interception across the middle on a different play.
• Three players returned punts: Brown, Heath and Tyseer Denmark were back there during one period.
• They’re tracking everything. Over the loudspeaker before a skeleton drill, the coaches made it clear that they were watching. “This is a competitive drill!” someone yelled. “This is a competitive drill!”
Consider the competition a draw after Thursday. The offense got the best of an early period, with the defense taking the second competition. The losers did pushups for both, coaches included.
• The music choices had a distinct Franklin flavor. Franklin’s a self-professed ’90s R&B, rap guy and the music reflected that. During the competitive skeleton drills, the soundtrack included “Jump Around” by House of Pain, “OPP” by Naughty By Nature, “The Next Episode” by Dr. Dre, “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G., “Get Money” by Junior M.A.F.I.A., “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy, “Runnin’ (Dying To Live)” by 2Pac, “Jump” by Kris Kross and “Welcome Back” by Mase.
• Things ended with a game-winning punt period. Franklin raised the pressure on Will Love, getting in his face before the snap as the team stood off to the side, close by. Love still got off a high punt to the corner with good hangtime, which was evidently enough to get a passing mark on the final session, based on the team’s response.