The Virginia Tech Hokies suffered their most painful loss of the James Franklin era against Pitt, but the new head coach’s immediate reaction said plenty about the culture he is trying to build in Blacksburg.
Virginia Tech had an opportunity to win the game before kicker John Love missed a 36-yard field goal as time expired, allowing Pitt to escape Lane Stadium with a 35-33 victory. It was a devastating ending for a Hokies team that fought until the final seconds. Franklin’s first instinct after the miss, however, wasn’t anger or frustration.
He immediately went over to Love and showed support for his kicker.
That’s the type of moment that can get lost in the aftermath of a heartbreaking loss. Love undoubtedly wanted the kick back more than anyone inside Lane Stadium, but Franklin made sure his player wasn’t standing alone after the biggest mistake of the night. It was a small moment that said plenty about the man Virginia Tech hired to lead its program.
James Franklin Sends Message to Virginia Tech Fans
Franklin carried that same perspective into his postgame press conference. Before discussing everything that went wrong against Pitt, he made it a point to recognize the Virginia Tech fans who created an electric atmosphere.
“Thank you guys for coming out and covering Virginia Tech football,” Franklin said. “We appreciate what you do. I want to thank the fans. We’ll start with that. It was a phenomenal environment, and the place was rocking.”
Franklin believes that crowd helped Virginia Tech remain in the game during critical moments. The Hokies ultimately came up one kick short, but Franklin doesn’t want that ending to change the support surrounding his team.
“We were in this game because of the fans,” Franklin said. “They kept us going at critical moments. They made it very, very difficult on them. So the fans were great. Keep coming out and keep supporting us. I promise you we’re going to get better from this.”
Pitt deserves credit for surviving that environment and leaving Blacksburg with a two-point victory. For Virginia Tech, however, this becomes the first real test of how Franklin’s program responds when things don’t go its way. The Hokies were inches away from celebrating one of their biggest wins of the young season, and instead they have to live with a brutal ending.
Franklin’s actions afterward might matter more than anything he could have said.
He supported his kicker when it would have been easy to focus on the miss, thanked Virginia Tech fans when frustration could have dominated his press conference and promised the Hokies would improve. One loss won’t determine where Franklin takes Virginia Tech, but moments like these offer a pretty good glimpse of how he plans to lead it.
James Franklin’s Message to Virginia Tech Kicker After Heartbreaking Pitt Loss Turns Heads