Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Virginia Tech football coach James Franklin is excited about his team’s spring, his first in Blacksburg, starting with the program’s annual spring game.
“I think it is going to be really important that we pack Lane Stadium for a number of reasons. It’ll give us an opportunity to get an understanding of what a game day is like around here, try to make it as game-like as possible. Put some exciting football out there on the field to give the fans and the media obviously, a first glimpse of what the team looks like and try to play some real football so that will be real exciting for us as well,” he said during a press conference this past week.
The spring game takes place April 18 in Lane Stadium. Admission is free for the 3 p.m. contest.
Franklin enters the first month of full practice with questions at several positions. The biggest is at quarterback where five players are taking snaps.
On the plus side is transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer, a rising redshirt sophomore that started the final seven games of Penn State’s season. He knows the Franklin system and might have an edge on all the others.
Grunkemeyer did win his final four starts of the season and threw for 1,339 passing yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He also finished last season with a 260-yard, two-touchdown performance against Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl.
The coach feels structuring the competition this spring is challenging. “We’ve made sure that the players all know that everything was being evaluated. So, the strength staff was having an evaluation, the winter workouts that’s why we tracked all of the competitions.”
“That was a factor, the meetings that we are allowed to have, all of those types of things. How are they retaining information, how are they answering questions all of that stuff has been part of the evaluation process, but we’ve got to find a way to get them reps because there’s guys who are unbelievable in the meeting room and they can’t do it out on the field,” he said.
The key, according to Franklin, this spring will include a lot of drills and “spot teaching.”
“It’s almost impossible at the quarterback position to base it off of winter workouts,” he said.
Another key position is running back, and because of several nagging injuries, this spring group has been limited to three players with one of those being a walk-on.
Jeffrey Overton and Marcellous do return, and incoming Messiah Mickens could be a plus.
Franklin said Mickens is going to miss practice as rehab on his injured knee continues. The two returners
Tech is moving walk-on Darius Taylor to running back and transfer Bill Davis will receive reps in practice.
“I wish we were a little bit healthier at that position,” the coach said.
“Because of injuries, we’re a little thin there. I think you guys have kind of gotten some of those notes. Thinner than we would like to be. So, we’ll see how that plays out. Bill [Davis] has been kind of an exciting one. I think you guys saw when he first got here, he was a cheeseburger away from 250 pounds. He has changed his body dramatically and is moving well. But it’s still to be determined,” Franklin said.
Meanwhile the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced this week that the 2026 ACC Football Friday’s schedule begins in week one with a conference game as Miami travels to Stanford Sept. 4, setting the tone for a season packed with high-profile conference showdowns. The slate continues with key league matchups throughout September and October, including Miami at Wake Forest in week three, Clemson at California in week four, Pitt at Virginia Tech in week five and Florida State at Louisville in week six.
Also, the ACC, in conjunction with ESPN and the Big 12 Conference, announced that Georgia Tech’s 2026 season opener at home versus Colorado will kick off on Thursday, Sept. 3. The specific game time and television network will be announced at a later date.
