James Franklin’s sudden firing from Penn State might have shocked everyone, but now he is making sure his every move counts. Since taking over Virginia Tech, Franklin has been putting all his efforts into making a strong first season after their 3-9 finish, and to make sure that happens, he demanded a proper team alignment from the team.

James Franklin appeared on the ACC Network to emphasize how crucial administrative alignment remains for the program’s rebuild.

“There has to be alignment in everything that’s with the rector, which is what the chair of our board is called,” James Franklin said on Inside Access. “The president of the university, the athletic director, and the head coach have to be in alignment, but then there also has to be visual alignment. It’s got to feel aligned throughout the entire building. So we got a lot of work to do. We’re using those resources.”

Since joining the team, James Franklin has made major moves. He hired back head coach Brent Pry as DC, and then he also focused on a fresh start rather than sticking with old “core values,” and now he is also making sure that the entire flow of the team remains intact with a proper alignment between them.

“It needs to feel big time,” Franklin said. “We can’t have two coaches ago’s core values on the wall.”

It’s pretty clear that when the entire team is aligned properly, that’s exactly when the team functions well and ends up winning the title. Just like Indiana did last season, no controversies, no big claims worked ethically, and they ended up winning the title. But if he looks at LSU, they fired Brian Kelly without cause, and ended up in a lawsuit with him, and fired their athletic director, Scott Woodward, over Kelly’s contract. So, all of this is a result of a lack of coordination between teams.

Franklin’s focus on “alignment” likely comes from problems he faced during his time at Penn State. A 2019 internal review and later reports showed that there was tension inside the football program between James Franklin and the team’s medical staff. One of the main issues involved disagreements about injured players and when they should be allowed to return to play.

The report found signs of “friction” between Franklin and Dr. Scott Lynch, who was the director of sports medicine at Penn State. They did not always agree on how to handle player injuries and recovery plans. Dr. Lynch also said that Franklin and other staff sometimes tried to influence medical decisions, especially about when players should come back on the field.

Above all, James Franklin can’t take any chances this season. After losing against teams like Northwestern and UCLA last season, Franklin has to prove that he is capable of making a losing team into a national contender; otherwise, things might turn south for him.

It looks like Virginia Tech has already started looking at James Franklin’s wishes.

James Franklin’s team president resigns from his post

Virginia Tech’s future took a major hit after its president, Tim Sands, announced his departure after 12 years in office. He has held this position since 2014, and, per his contract, he was set to run the program until 2027, but then he decided it was time to transition from his role and left James Franklin’s program in search of a new leader.

In his letter to “Hokies everywhere,” he reflected on his leadership and the time he spent with the program.

“There is no better role in higher education than to serve as the president of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,” Sands said. “Stewarding Virginia Tech as president has been the most fulfilling experience of my career.”

Sands’ work was mainly focused on expanding the university’s reach and making its presence solid in the Washington, D.C. area. No wonder he did it perfectly, as under him the number of students joining the university increased by 30 percent, with applications going up by 200 percent. The university also spent much more money on research, with a 70 percent increase in research funding, and the money grew from $800 million to more than $2 billion.

With the surge, Virginia Tech spent a lot of money on sports. This includes hiring head coach James Franklin and planning to spend more than $200 million on athletics in the coming years.

Now, the real deal behind this move is still not known, but with Sands’ statement, it seems like a smooth transition. It will be interesting to see who takes over the role for Virginia Tech. and takes the team to the same heights as Sands did.