Lights, camera, action for Virginia Tech football on day two of ACC kickoff. As expected, Hokies Head Coach James Franklin was the talk of the town.
Franklin certainly delivered, coming out of the gates with a declaration that the Hokies had won the offseason, and that the blueprint of Virginia Tech football was changing.
“We’ve been able to hit the ground running,” said Franklin. “We are bigger, we are stronger, we are faster than we have been. There’s no doubt about that. I feel like we have won the off-season. The reality is we have to make sure all that translates to the season and go out and play a style and a brand that’s going to make Coach Beamer proud.”
In order to put Tech back on the national landscape, however, they’ll need to play a vintage style of Hokie football; one that blends modern ideas with the classic culture of past teams.
“One of the things that’s great about Virginia Tech is there is so much history, there is so much tradition,” said Franklin. “I think that’s one of the challenges, right, when you are trying to make the program more of a modern football program that’s going to be able to compete at the highest level, you got to find the balance of those two things. How can we make sure we’re paying respect to the past, but how are we building for the future as well. That’s a delicate balance.”
Franklin’s ideals have already been heavily instilled in Hokies players, each of them echoing the lessons they’ve learned.
“He’s challenged us on the details,” said senior defensive lineman Kemari Copeland. “Every day he’s harping on the details, winter workouts, touching cones, spring ball. He’s been harping on us on details. That’s how you win games. If we all lock in and do details in the game, that’s how you win games. That’s how you lose games, too. He’s been harping on us on that.”
“You have to focus on what you can control,” added senior safety Tyson Flowers. “All you can control is the present moment. I think if you can focus on being as present as possible, I think the rest of the things later on in the season things will fall into place. I think that’s just a battle to stay present and to win every single day.”
The Hokies rank 4th in the country in percentage of snaps returned, and are the only team in the country to rank top 10 for offensive and defensive snaps returned, proving to be a key piece to the puzzle.
They’ll have the chance to start off on the right note when the Hokies host VMI on September 5th.