One of the many things that James Franklin is at least slightly known for is not being afraid to ask for more whether that's facility updates, coaching salary pools, NIL resources, or whatever else you could imagine a major Power 4 football coach would want.
It's something that led to him and Penn State leadership and donors having an interesting and friction-filled relationship at times. That tension snapped this past season and likely played a small role in why Penn State was willing to move on from Franklin so quickly given the context of Penn State reaching the CFP semifinals the year prior.
While that continual asking can sometimes become too much over a long period of time, it's obviously not been an issue so far for a Virginia Tech that is desperate to get back to serious national relevance with a proven winner.
If anything, it's become clear that James Franklin gets what James Franklin wants. While Whit Babcock is Virginia Tech's athletic director, if any sort of football or athletics decision involves football in any sort of way, Franklin is acting like the ultimate authority regardless of the impacts it may have on anyone else.
Similar to the Captain Phillips movie, Franklin has made clear that he is the captain now in Blacksburg, not Babcock or President Tim Sands or Board of Visitors Rector John Rocovich. Unlike that movie though, this is a willing and happy decision to let Franklin be the ultimate driver of the ship on any football matter, even when it has only a small impact on football and a significant impact on other athletics matters.
