One path for Virginia Tech’s success under James Franklin: Recruiting elite tight ends
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As exciting as conference media days sound to some, oftentimes they’re tedious and humdrum events where general questions are asked and coaches give coachspeak answers about how excited they are for the season.
At the ACC Football Kickoff, new Virginia Tech coach James Franklin was going through the routine until later in his press conference when someone asked him about his successful use of tight ends at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions have six tight ends in the NFL and the question was pointed at Tyler Warren’s success, an opening for Franklin to expound on recruiting and his tight end philosophy all at once.
Warren was a three-star prospect out of Mechanicsville (Va.) Atlee who thrived in Franklin’s system and became a first-round NFL Draft pick.
Now at Virginia Tech, Franklin’s first goal in finding the next Warren: Not letting him leave the state.
“First of all, we keep Tyler Warren in the state of Virginia and not let him leave,” Franklin said.
“That’s where it starts.”
Franklin has rebuilt – and re-energized – Vanderbilt and Penn State in his career. A proud program that routinely and expectedly won double-digit games every season, Virginia Tech has fallen on unthinkably hard times.
The Hokies have a losing record in five of their last six seasons and recruiting had sputtered, too.
Before Franklin has coached a game in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech has the No. 19 recruiting class nationally and, more importantly for the moment, the seventh-best transfer class, as a bevy of Penn State stars followed Franklin out of town.
Utilizing the tight end position has always been key to Franklin’s success and will be again at Virginia Tech.
Former Penn State tight ends Luke Reynolds and Matt Henderson are now with the Hokies, who also have pledges from three high school tight ends as well in four-star Jordan Karhoff and three-stars Sam Faniel and Braxton Salster.
Franklin’s history with tight ends definitely helped Salster in his decision coming from Jacksonville (Ala.) Pleasant Valley.
“It absolutely played a big role,” Salster said. “He has a fantastic resume with putting tight ends into the league and ultimately that’s where I want to be playing. There was no big sales pitch. None of the coaches have to sell anything to get their players. All they have to do is look at the past and the success they have had. Truly just great coaches and great people.”
At the ACC Football Kickoff, Franklin looked excited to talk tight end Xs and Os.
“I’m a believer in the tight end position,” Franklin said. “The majority of them out of high school and even in college are just big wide receivers. They’re not asked to be true tight ends and stick their nose in the run game and be physical.
“That’s the only way that they’re truly the mismatches that they should be. If he’s just a big wide out then you can put them in that category and you can play nickel.
“If you now play nickel and we can motion him back into the box and we can get him connected to the tackle or in the wing position or the hit position and now we can overpower you because you have nickel on the field, that’s going to create challenges for a defensive coordinator.
“If you stay in base personnel and now we can line up from 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) but actually line up in 11 or 10 personnel formations, now you’re asking a linebacker to cover in space and typically that’s not their strength, either.”
What has made Franklin so successful with tight ends over the years is mainly that he knows what he’s looking for – and how to develop them.
“To take advantage of tight ends and really create the mismatches you want to, they have to be able to do both and have to be respected,” Franklin said. “If you’re saying this tight end is the blocker and this tight end is the receiver, you’ve lost the strength of the position.
“Most of these high school tight ends are big wide receivers. They’ve never blocked before. We just had one show up on campus and he’s never been in a three-point stance in his life. You have to be able to get him on the sled and get him in the nutrition bar and build that physical and that mental toughness over time.”
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