BWI's @SeanFitzOn3 reports that Kevin Threlkel and Andy Frank are following James Franklin to Virginia Tech as expected, and they aren't the only Penn State staffers moving on before the end of the regular season.
Story: https://t.co/fdAcKflK6V pic.twitter.com/obWi3bvUeL
— Blue White Illustrated (@PennStateOn3) November 19, 2025
Threlkel is Penn State's chief of staff and Frank is the general manager of personnel and recruitment. They're likely just the beginning. And then there's this from Virginia Tech fansite FightingGobbler.com:
Think this guy is hungry to make a splash moving forward for Virginia Tech football? James Franklin was just hired by the Hokies and he has wasted no time in reaching out to prospects. It shouldn't be a surprise too that his early focus has been on Penn State commits.
Earlier in the day, we wrote about Franklin and Virginia Tech being in contact with linebacker Mathieu Lamah, who committed to Penn State back on May 5. [...] Now, there's another Penn State commit Franklin is eyeing, as he just extended a new offer to offensive lineman Benjamin Eziuka.
Two days ago, Franklin offered 4-star 2027 QB Troy Huhn, who decommitted from PSU four days after Franklin was fired. Huhn has two crystal balls to Virginia Tech, including one from a PSU 247 reporter.
Kudos to Franklin. What does he owe PSU? And why not get to work now--while schools like PSU, Florida and LSU are still looking for a new coach, he's getting a big jump building his program.
And I can't blame his former staff. A lot (if not all) of them could be looking for new jobs in a few weeks. Why not go with the sure thing and take a job working for someone you know? Curt Cignetti brought almost his entire JMU staff to Indiana and there's no doubt that was a huge move in changing IU's culture.
And I can't blame the recruits--we've seen it plenty of times before when a new coach hasn't honored the commitments made to the previous staff, much less know if they're suited to play in the new coach's system. We know a lot of recruits commit to a coach, not to a school. So why not go with the people you're comfortable with, knowing their system fits you.
And once the portal is open, it wouldn't surprise me if we see some Nittany Lions defecting to Blacksburg, the same way eight JMU players followed Cignetti to Bloomington.
I said several times before Va Tech hired him that wherever Franklin ended up he would be in a better place than whoever PSU hires to replace him and it looks as if he's not only putting in the work to make my prediction a reality, some of his early success could come at PSU's expense.
