38 days since Penn State fired James Franklin, donning a maroon hoodie inside the Hokies’ locker room, he stood pitching a throng of high school prospects to join Virginia Tech. He had a humongous task ahead of him, and VT’s 2026 recruiting class was unranked when he arrived. Whichever commitments remained flipped when VT fired Brent Pry. Less than two weeks remained for the early signing period, but Franklin had that uncanny determination.

Franklin worked tirelessly, as he described the period to be extremely “stressful.” But with hard work and thanks to his relationships with the recruits at Penn State, everything fell into place. He got 17 pledges in just 12 days, and 11 Penn State commits flipped to Virginia Tech. An unranked Virginia Tech stood 21st nationally in recruiting rankings and thus began the James Franklin era in Blacksburg.

As donors watched their new head coach pull off a recruiting masterclass, they began putting their faith—and their dollars—into the James Franklin era. According to the latest data, the total number of donors slightly decreased from 25,185 in 2025. Despite the smaller pool of contributors, the 2026 donation drive has shattered records, raking in a program-high $52.9 million—a staggering increase from the previous year’s $40.07 million.

The surge is most obvious among big-money donors. The Hokie Ambassador tier (minimum $60,903) jumped from 81% to 91% occupancy, while tiers at lower price points—like the Hokie Scholar ($37,916), Diamond ($11,000), and Platinum ($5,500) levels—have all reached 100% subscription.

According to Virginia Tech’s Athletic Director, Whit Babcock, donations this year saw an unprecedented 25% jump. Babcock attributes the surge in donations to the excitement surrounding Franklin in the program. This is a natural reaction, as right after Franklin arrived at Virginia Tech in November, the program received an anonymous $20 million gift from a donor, linking it directly to Franklin’s hire.

“This gift and others made in support of the university’s commitment to excellence in athletics will empower new head football coach James Franklin and all other athletic programs to build top teams,” the school said about the $20 million gift. Franklin, too, responded in kind and thanked the ‘anonymous’ donor for the unprecedented donation, surpassing the previous $15.2 million record.

“This unprecedented level of support is critical and creates powerful momentum for everything we’re building,” Franklin said. Apart from the James Franklin effect that led to an unprecedented rise in donations, Virginia Tech’s athletic department already had planned a $229 million “invest to win” fund, laying out a four-year budget plan.

Under that plan, the program required its donors to pump $30 million annually to fulfill the plan. And that was the reason Virginia Tech could offer Franklin a five-year, $41.75 million contract. Babcock explicitly made clear the program’s plans to dominate college football, and Franklin reiterated the same approach, calling VT “very aggressive” in their hiring process.

“Today is a statement about where we are headed as an athletic department and as a university,” Babcock said. “It’s up to us to do our part as an administration and an athletic department to aggressively adapt, modernize, and invest to win strategically and to reward this fan base in a manner that they deserve, expect, and demand. And we will do that.”

The investment, the unprecedented donations, and the aggressive hirings may seem like uncharted territory for Virginia Tech. But it’s not. In the new world of college football, success without investment is unlikely. But pumping in millions without a solid plan is also not doable, something which has backfired for Florida State. Now, Franklin represents that ‘solid plan,’ and he has made clear how he will take VT to new heights.

James Franklin has taken lessons from his PSU stint and has a blueprint

Penn State’s decision to fire Franklin last year after a rough patch shocked many. Even college football’s GOAT, Nick Saban, said he found the decision perplexing when Franklin appeared on ESPN College GameDay. In truth, Franklin had given his 11 years to Penn State and taken the program to a deep playoff run, as the Nittany Lions were just a Drew Allar’s completion away from the national final.

Franklin knows his PSU stint wasn’t a ‘failure,’ and that’s the reason he got his old staff together within days, hiring away from PSU. He brought his established Penn State system to Blacksburg, along with eight of his former PSU coaches, ensuring a familiar structure from day one. Franklin now expects that system to benefit him and pay dividends. Along with that, he is also trusting VT’s old guard.

“The minute you think you’ve got this all figured out is the minute your career goes in the tank,” Franklin said. “Systems are really important. So that’s one of the things that’s been so valuable for me, getting the band back together. We have a system that we all know how to recruit to. I went outside of that system a little bit, took on some risk. And risk is important in business. You’ve got to take on some risk. But I think I probably took on a little bit too much.”

Franklin kept Brent Pry as his DC, as Pry was his assistant at PSU before he left for Virginia Tech. Franklin knows the cost of failure at Penn State and college football, but he also knows that his PSU system. That, combined with his teachings from Brent Pry, will probably lead to success. Donors are banking on that exact outcome.