Since James Franklin has arrived in Blacksburg, he’s made it clear that he wants to build his teams largely through offensive and defensive lines first and foremost. That priority was established back at his first press conference as the Hokies’ head coach two weeks ago.
“I’m a big believer it starts up front, with the [offensive]-Line and [defensive]-line. You can have all the skill players you want, but if you can't dominate the line-of-scrimmage, you're gonna have challenges,” James Franklin said at his introductory press conference. “That's a grown man's game, and you got to make sure you have those guys on your roster”
Franklin has put his words into action, as 11 of his 22 signees so far in the class of 2026 reside in the trenches. Seven of them are on the offensive side and four on the defensive line.
