To the surprise of no one, Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin announced that Penn State transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer has been named the starting quarterback. Franklin said that the battle for the backup quarterback job remains open.
Grunkemeyer will start a season opener for the first time in his collegiate career this week. This comes after he had a breakout second half of the 2025 season filling in for the injured Drew Allar. During this past season, Grunkemeyer started seven games and finished the season with 1,339 passing yards, eight touchdowns, four interceptions, and a 69.1% completion rate that would have been a VT single-season record for QBs attempting more than 150 passes in a season.
On paper, Grunkemeyer is the best passer that the Hokies have had starting at quarterback since Hendon Hooker. While he is more limited as a runner than most recent VT starting quarterbacks, his arm talent makes him a net positive over past VT starters. Given what he showed at Penn State, he definitely has a chance to target some VT single-season records, especially the completion rate records.
Franklin was not ready to name a backup quarterback, a competition that does appear very much close-fought primarily between UNC transfer Bryce Baker and freshman Troy Huhn. Franklin also did not release a depth chart and shared that his plan is to release it on gameday via the roster cards the press receive when covering games.
