Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - BREAKING: James Franklin to Virginia Tech a Done Deal? | Belichick’s First ACC Win This Week?

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

VIRGINIA TECH targets JAMES FRANKLIN in what could be the most transformative coaching hire in ACC football. Is this the grand slam move that reshapes the conference landscape?ALEX DONNO and KENTON GIBBS break down why FRANKLIN's unique buyout structure makes this deal financially brilliant for the HOKIES, how his DMV recruiting dominance could redirect PENN STATE commits to BLACKSBURG, and why eight wins a year would earn him a statue next to FRANK BEAMER. The discussion covers which ACC coaches like MANNY DIAZ at DUKE and BRENT KEY at GEORGIA TECH might be targeted for major openings, plus an in-depth preview of NORTH CAROLINA versus SYRACUSE featuring devastating statistics on the ORANGE's quarterback struggles and BILL BELICHICK's conservative coaching philosophy.Tune in for insider analysis on VIRGINIA TECH's path to ACC contention and the coaching carousel reshaping college football. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Virginia Tech is strongly being linked to hiring James Franklin as their next head football coach. If the Hokies can get this over the finish line, it wouldn't just be a home run higher. It would be a grand slam. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Just based on what their program has been, I don't think anybody would have considered like Virginia Tech to be a top three or even top. top four of open jobs right now. But if they can get this over the finish line,

they would be operating like a top job. Thank you so much to the everydayers for making Lockdown ACC, your first listen. We're available free. Wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack, former NC State defensive linemen. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown Keynes. And on this loaded episode, we'll talk about the Week 10 ACC football slate. North Carolina might be about to get their first power four win and their first conference win, maybe. We'll talk about potential coaching candidates within the ACC who might be lured towards other jobs. But if the ACC can bring this one in, Kenton, when I first started to see these reports,

I thought it was the fake news, right? A lot of times when you're on social media, you know, you can't always believe a headline the first time you read it. but reputable reporters are running with the idea that there is mutual interest between Virginia Tech and James Franklin to become their next head football coach. Mutual interest and why would there be mutual interest? Number one, we're seeing numbers thrown out there like a possible 10 million per year salary for Franklin, which is I think more than double what Virginia Tech has ever paid a head coach before if they can get that over the finish line. a commitment from Virginia Tech's athletic department, Kenton, which up until this point, the entire athletic department has been operating on what you could call Power 4

as a shoestring budget of about $122 million per year. They want to expand that budget to north of $200 million, and showing ambition like that with football would be a big part of that. I mean, if Virginia Tech can bring James Franklin, this would be, I'll say it again, a grand slam higher, KG. Donno, this is a grand slam hire for a bunch of reasons. You want to know one of the biggest monies, finances. And I know what you're thinking.

Why would the money and finance of it make sense for Virginia Tech? They're going to have to pay a coach big money. In the words of former ACC legend, Lee Corso, not so fast, my friend. You see, when everybody talked about, oh, my God, the buyout clause in James Franklin's contract is so horrible. It's so terrible. I mean, there are worse bio clauses, you know. But he is stipulated that if he makes less at his next job, they have to cover the difference between what he was making in Happy Valley

and whatever he makes at his next job. So he can take an extreme discount, an extreme discount. He can come in and say, give me 50 bands a year. For those of you who don't know, a band is $1,000. But obviously, he's not going to. going to do that. He's not going to say, give me 50 bans, but it's going to be, he can take a very deep pay cut because in reality, he's not taking a deep pay cut. Penn State has to come in and backfill for every dime he would have made if he were still at Penn State. And that works out

for both sides because, in the words of Andre 3,000, you're only funky as your last cut. And quite honestly, James Franklin's last cut stunk. It was horrible. It was not a very good song it was not at all something that we wanted to listen to so you put yourself in a position where you're not leveraging financially a massive hey if this doesn't work out we're on the hook to pay you 80 million dollars type of buyout and you get a coach that is a proven winner and that has recruited the heck out of the hot beds of talent that are right near you yeah has cooked in that DMV he goes into that DMV and says oh yeah I got mighty nice players y'all I got over there. It'd be ashamed if somebody were to take him to the middle of

Nowheresville, Pennsylvania. Well, he's going to be doing the same thing now, just in the middle of Nowhernsville, Virginia. This is an excellent hire. And the middle of nowhere'sville thing is the last thing I'll say. It takes a certain type of person to be happy and happy value. Like, that's just a fact. I don't care how much you paid me. You would have to pay me the type money my kids, kids, kids would not have to work in order to do media for Penn State with all due respect to that, you know, university or what, it takes a certain type of person.

So that same type person could also go to Blacksburg, Virginia. Blacksburg is like Manhattan compared to state college. Comparatively, yes. Comparatively, yes. So, but that's what I mean, Donald.

It's a situation where you were looking at this deal and saying it takes a certain type of guy to want to be in this job. It takes a certain type of guy to succeed in this job. It takes a certain type of guy to recruit the DMV well. James Franklin checks all back.

And that recruiting of the DMV area is so important. And it's actually something that's gotten the attention of Penn State fans. Like I have seen some worried reactions because something that's been happening for the past few weeks since they hired James, since they fired James Franklin, I should say is they've had numerous class of 2026 verbal commits, decommit, right? Back off of their Penn State commits. Look at their options. A lot of these players from the Northeast from that DMV area. So like James Franklin can, if he lands at Virginia Tech, he can probably convince a lot of those same players who were committed to Penn State.

Hey, come play even closer to home. And I'm the guy who recruited you. I'm the guy who sold you on Penn State. Let me sell you now on Virginia Tech. And, you know, being able to recruit that area, which James Franklin has shown in the past, is really important because that area of the country is really rich in recruiting. Like it's one of the more underrated areas, right?

people always talk about Texas and Florida and California, Louisiana now, but the DMV area is a big-time football recruiting hotbed as well. And Franklin can get those players in. And again, like this is someone, and I know, listen, James Franklin is not perfect. If he was a perfect head coach, wouldn't be out of a job right now, right? But if you consider the types of candidates that we thought Virginia Tech would be going after versus a guy like James Franklin, and I know, the standard was so high at Penn State that he got fired, Do you want to know why that standard was so high?

He raised the standard because when he took over that job, I know everyone thinks about the perennial powerhouse they were under Joe Paterno, but after the paterno era, after the scandal, after getting decimated by sanctions, James Franklin was the guy that built that program back into a powerhouse. And he raised that standard. And so you're telling me, he could potentially go to Virginia Tech where, you know, your road to the playoff, we love the ACC, but, you know, there are, there are conferences where your road to the playoffs, probably a little bit tougher than the Atlantic Coast Conference.

So you get that. You know, you go into a program that is so starving for wins because Virginia Tech hasn't been nationally relevant since, you know, the mid years of the Frank Beamer era. Like you're talking early 2000. So they're going to be starved for a guy to raise that profile. And then we're also talking about Virginia Tech willing to now put in financial. resources into football that they've never been willing to put in before. Like they are trying to catch up with the type of money being spent by the powerhouse programs. I think James Franklin would be a hell of a guy to help you meet that standard. Absolutely. And a lot of people don't understand that the reality of, and this is an absolute fact about

Penn State. So this is not something I'm making up. This is not something that I'm ha ha, he, he pointing out and all that about Penn State. This is just the truth. People tend to remember the good times if a relationship goes on long enough. And that's what happened with Joe Paterno. But what people don't remember about that relationship between Joe Paul and Penn State and what Penn State was on his way out in Joe Paul's last 10 years, because in the middle

of the 2011 season, we all know what happened off the field, some situations that kind of forced them out. In those last 10 years, how many 10 win or more seasons do you think? think Penn State had? I'm going to say two. Three. In those last 10 years, right? Wow.

And then, and then after you get rid of Joe Pott, now mind you, we're talking about the same Joe Pott that there was a time where consistently early 80s and all that, and you were consistently looking at late 70s early age, you were consistently looking at Joe Paul having that team be darned their undefeated every year. So that's what people remember. But folks don't remember towards the end, I'm not saying he was terrible. I'm saying there were some struggles there. And then you consider what happened after Joe Paul.

Now, how many 10-win seasons do you think they had after Joe Paul and before Franklin? Before out zero. Correct. None. Bill O'Brien had nine wins and then eight wins. And then he took off. He jettisoned out of town. So why people want him back?

I don't know. But, you know, that's a thing. It took James Franklin rebuilding that program from Ville. very, very little. It took James Franklin, reestablishing that program, to who they were. Again, one of the billion reasons

I do not like Bill O'Brien as a head coach, Penn State has been known for what? What's always on the back of a Penn State jersey, Donno? What, just a number? Just a number, because they always say it's about the team, not those players. Do you know who was the Penn State coach that put names on the back of those jerseys?

Bill O'Rine. So, in long story short, James Franklin had to reestablish a culture there. And he did. He built that place up, brick by brick, and got to where he is. Now, is his last performance not great? Yes, but that's why I say the financials and the buyout clause works in all parties' favor here. Because he's still going to get paid.

Virginia Tech is in the situation where they can, you know, hold a little bit of that coin to say, you know what? Maybe we'll use this in the aisle. Maybe we'll use this on facilities. at least maybe we use this. And Rev Share, whatever the case may be, because rev share is not a minimum that you have to spend. Revsure is a cap on how much the university can spend.

You can spend as little as you want to, but it's capped at $20.5 million. You can drop no dollars into these players account. You could send no bankroll to thug. You could do that if you wanted to. But it would not be wise if you want to win. So you could take that money, drop it into your rev share, and create yourself a winner with James Franklin.

And Virginia Tech, last thing I'm saying, Virginia Tech is one of those teams, eight wins a year, you'll get a statute. You'll be right up there with Beamer. Right. You'll be right below Beamer in terms of all-time coach. Yeah. And if Virginia Tech, if they can get this higher over the finish line, it would make the ACC a better football conference. To have James Franklin in your conference and to have a Virginia Tech that's willing to invest in football, that makes the ACC better. And hopefully the ACC can avoid losing coaches to other jobs.

We'll talk about who could be possible candidates when we come back. He's Kenton Gibbs. I am Alex Dono. Keep it locked right here on this new episode of Locked on ACC. Folks, Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more I-IHS Top Safety Plus pick awards than anyone else. From footwork to breath work, athletes sweat all the details. Mazda brings this same intention to how we craft every model.

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All right. So Kenton, who do you think within the ACC, prime candidates to maybe be called upon for some of these open, you know, Big Ten SEC jobs? I would say the hottest candidate would probably be Brent Key at Georgia Tech, but it's hard to see him leave his alma mater. I mean, he loves that program. Same thing with Jeff Brom at Louisville. I'm sure Jeff Brom is going to garner some interest.

other parts of the country, but they're both coaching at their alma maters, essentially working their dream jobs right now. So I'm going to say this about Georgia Tech, and this is with all due respect to Georgia Tech and what they have been. That is not a school where eight wins a year gets you a statute. Six wins a year, you might not lose that job. You might not lose that job for at least a decade or so. And that's just the reality of what we have seen out of Georgia Tech out of late.

With that being said, key ain't leaving. he ain't leaving and and neither is bram but i think that you'd have a easier chance convincing bram than kee and let me tell you why bram has a succession plan in place for louisville if he leaves he knows a little brother take this thing over yeah take what you got to do but take this thing over i trust you you're my second ex man you make it happen here you're an alumna this place too you know how this place this place is too get it going i don't see that same thing to the same degree with a proven name because with all the respect, Brian has been a heck

of a coordinator for years. He's been a good coordinator for years and he's again a Louisville God. So I think that you'd have a better chance of convincing him than Key, but I don't know. I'd have to disagree with you. I think there's another guy that's going to be the hottest. Simply because

of what we're talking about, how likely you are to get him to lead. There's a guy at a basketball school. That's winning some football games. I knew where you're going. Mani. Mani Diaz. Not only that, look at the guy before him and what he's doing when you give him a real budget.

When you give him a real budget and say, hey, we're going to give you a place where all these sickos love football. They love it. Can't get enough of it. Look what he's doing. I think that Mandy Diaz would definitely be in consideration for a lot of these top jobs

and these hot jobs because he's proven that he can recruit at a high level in the Southeast. He's proven that he has now, he's now a little bit better at all the CEO stuff that makes a program run. And he's done it at his school that with all due respect, the investment is not there.

The buy-in is not there overall in totality. I don't want Duke fans coming here and say, oh, they paid a lot for the quarterback. Yeah, how's that stadium going? Yeah, how's that gathering friend interest going? You're the best football team in the triangle by a mile. You're the only decent thing smoking in the triangle in terms of football.

And yet you can't fill that stadium when you are playing a nugget team. You know, so I think Manny is a name that a lot of people can look at because I would say, Yo, boy, Mario, but the reality is not only he's another one who's at his dream job. Yeah. Not only is he at his alma mater. We're also seeing things from Mario that we're like, we've been asking, have you fixed that game management stuff yet? We've been asking the question has been asked and it has not been answered.

Most of the question about Manny Diaz, you ask him, but for the most part, he has answered. Well, and Manny Diaz is in a unique situation because, okay, the Penn State job is open right now. I don't necessarily think he's first on their list. I think the guy who was first on their list was the guy who just extended his deal with Indiana. I think Sigmetti was the top guy they wanted. That's not happening. I think they could want Matt Ruhle, who they could probably convince to leave the, I know, I know. Same thing, right?

I, I, I, I, overrated, but he's a, he's a Penn State alum. He's a Penn State or whatever. But Manny Diaz also has ties to Penn State. Was a really successful defensive coordinator there under James Franklin for a few years. So Diaz has the Penn State ties. He knows everybody there. He recruited some of the players that are there now. He's got the relationships and everything.

So I could see Penn State going in that direction if it doesn't work out with rule. And then also a job that's not open yet, but could come open at any time. Mani Diaz also has ties to Florida State. He's an alum of the Seminoles. So, I mean, Kent, if that Florida State job were to come open, and again, Florida State fans, they're throwing tomatoes at their screen that they're watching this on because that he would be far from their first choice. But I'm just say, coaching searches don't always work out the way you want them to work out.

I think Diaz is a guy that, you know, he may not be the first or second choice, but I wouldn't rule it out. Who is their first choice? Who is their first? So if you had to speculate and say this is Florida State's first choice, who would it be? Some role? Honestly, I don't know because I see, I see people bring up wanting to bring Jimbo Fisher back. It's like, did you forget how that ended there?

Hey, hey. Weird. If you want to bring Jimbo Fisher back to that program, go for it. I think it would be great for you. I think it would be wonderful. I mean, listen, as a Miami guy, please. And they're going to say, hey, Jimbo went eight and one against Miami. That's true.

He did go eight and one against Miami at Florida State. not the same Jimbo, not the same era of football. The game has changed. I don't think Jimbo has. I think that would be a horrible, horrible idea. I'm not joking. That would be one of the worst ideas that you could possibly imagine for Florida State. You've done it.

We have played these games before with Jimbo. Don't get me wrong. Won a national championship there. Did a great thing. How did that tenure end? Right? Come on. Yeah.

It ended very, very bad. And not only did it end poorly from that standpoint, academic progress, degree progress standpoint, they weren't eligible for a bowl game because of how bad it was at the end with him. Like this is, again, this is, come on, come on, stop this foolishness. Stop this mess. Stop playing. Stop playing Florida State fans. You know what? If Jimbo is what the fans want, sometimes you got to get the people what they want.

And I'll tell you. But that is, again, if I'm looking and I'm saying, who do I want here as a Florida State fan, Manning, come on down here, though. Come on down here. Because didn't he coach Duke to their first ever win over Florida State or was that Elko? I thought it was him. Oh, I think it was Dia. Yeah, it was last year, right?

I mean, yeah. Yeah, so it was Diaz. Brother, come on back home. Come on back home. Come do your thing here where you'll be loved. You'll be appreciated. We'll forget all about that Miami thing. As a matter of fact, we'll appreciate you more because we'll say you're

secretly sabotaged Miami for us. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Great job, manny. We appreciate you. Now come win some ballgames, now that you know how to do the executive thing. Coming up next, is Bill Belichick about to get his first

ACC win and first power four win as head coach of the Tar Heels? You want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. Folks, I have been having so much fun on the prize picks app. I've been playing prize picks since 2021. It is addicting and it's so much fun. Every day we make decisions.

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Prize picks, it is good to be right. So Kenton Gibbs, the reason why I ask you if North Carolina is about to get their first conference went, and they seem to get a little closer every week, right? I mean, it came down to overtime and deciding to go for two and not getting there in the first overtime against Virginia. North Carolina has been better. The last couple weeks, they're very close against Cal. prior week. They're going up against the Syracuse Orange team on the road this Friday, Friday at

7.30 p.m. Syracuse is favored by two and a half points, which is to be favored by two and a half at home, it's basically a pick-um game. And quite frankly, Syracuse, Syracuse has been awful since Steve Angelly got injured to the point where like, when you watch Fran Brown's news conferences now, it looks like he's about to cry. Like the man hasn't showered in over a month with the way that team has been playing, right? You only shower when you win, Fran Brown says. So, Kenton, I'll ask you, is Fran Brown going to be showering on Friday night after this one? That Syracuse team has been following the way of American singer Tom Petty. You know why?

Because they've been free falling, ladies and gentlemen. This has been a very, very tough time for them. And when you say winners get washed, that facility must stake. It must a freak. And you know, they play the dome too, Donno. So it's not outdoors. All that fun is just, it's just marinating right there. But no, in all seriousness, you know, Fran Brown is a guy that he takes winning extremely serious.

You know, that he's not one of those guys. It's like, hey, long as the check clear, you know what I mean, whatever, whatever. He's not going to start talking about, hey, I've got a family that loves me or long as God thinks I'm okay. That wins and losses don't matter. Let me add one thing. The thing we just talked about in the previous segment, a month ago, we would have mentioned Fran Brown among ACC coaches

that would be hot candidates. They've just been so bad for the last month. We don't even bring it up. And it's not his fault. It's the quarterback play. However, we've got what we like to call a good old-fashioned mid-off at quarterback here. You've got Ricky Collins, who's been bad since he took over.

You got Gio Lopez, who's been terrible all season, pretty much. So, you know, North Carolina is, better, especially defensively. Defensively, they have battened down the hatches at a very, very high level. Yeah. I could see it. I could see North Carolina getting their first win here. I'm going to give the nod to Fran Brown only because I believe he is a superior coach by a good amount.

At this point. Over the greatest of all time? Yes. Yes, Donno. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I used to be a really good. I own the sack record of Cass Tech.

If you were to say me going up and pass rushing against whoever their best edge rusher is now, I'm sure that wouldn't work out. Actually, I'm 30. I could probably still pass rush better at high schooler. But in about 10 years from now, Dono, even if I still have that record, I'm probably not going to be better than that. I pulled something in my hip getting out of bed this morning. I'm 41 and the body's going downhill. When I hit that 40 ball, it may be a difference.

I may be, statistically speaking, the greatest. This past rush or gas tank history, statistically speaking. You know, even though we got Diorne Walker playing in the NFL right now for the bills, even though we had Vernon Goldstein get drafted top 10 overall. I may be that, but that was what I once was. You know, you're making me quote all these singers. I believe it was, it was Tim McGrathson and I ain't as good as I once was, but I'll be as good once as I ever was.

This may be Bill Belichick's once to be as good as he ever was. But he's not as good as he once was. He's lost. Well, I think the past rush is going to be. I watched North Carolina had six sacks against Chandler Morris and Virginia last week. That's the reason why the game was as competitive as it was. It was a defensive battle last week. And, you know, when the opposing quarterback is Ricky Collins, you may be able to win that defensive.

I'm not confident in picking either side. I just want to make that clear. Like, I'm with you. I might lean ever so slightly to Syracuse. And part of that is you talk about the quarterback battle. Here's the stat on Gio Lopez. David Hale pointed this out. Gio Lopez, he would have been a great quarterback in like the 1930s

before the advent of the forward pass, okay? So Gio Lopez on throws beyond the line of scrimmage versus power four defenses this year, he has completed 56.6% of his passes in those situations, which is 46th out of 66 qualified quarterbacks. his 6.57 yards per attempt are 60th among those 66 quarterbacks. 46.2 QBR is 65th out of those 65. And finally, Gio Lopez on throws beyond the line of scrimmage has zero touchdowns and five interceptions on the year.

So that right there is why Syracuse may win a game for the first time in a long time. Donald, I don't know if that's Fran Brown or if that's Gio Lopez's stats, but I'm holding by those because something stinks, something smells terrible. That's God off. Again, at first I was like, you know, Max Johnson with that behind me, he might not need to play. If you got him on a team, you got to try something. Yeah. Zero.

Congratulations. If you're listening to this podcast, you have a better touchdown to interception ratio than Gio Lopez on passes beyond the line of scrimmage. We're not talking about deep ball. 20, 30-yarders and like, oh, yeah, you know. We're talking about one yard or less past the line of scrimmage. Just one yard. Now, listen, I'm not, I'm nobody's quarterback. I've never played quarterback.

You're telling me that you haven't had one opportunity to hit like a drag route for a touchdown or something? Yeah, no. You ain't snuck a fool back out in the flats and been able to hit you a little something? You know, this is, this is embarrassing, man. What are they doing? Again, I think that Bill Belichick's rigidity and refusal to change will be the undoing of this team in this game because this is terrible. That's just terrible. I think that they, again, North Carolina's defense continually improved.

I will give them credit for that. You know, I know people are thinking, oh, man, this must be a real spooky Halloween of Ketons giving UNC credit. Yeah, congratulations. It will be. But with that being said, I really have less than zero faith in this offer, less than zero faith. at least with Syracuse, although their offense has been terrible as well, I know Fran Brown's willing to do something. He's willing to mix it up.

He's willing to try something to say, you know what? We're just going to keep throwing spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Do you remember that when they beat Clemson, and this is back when we still thought Clemson might be good, but they kept onside kicking after they scored tight. Like Clemson couldn't get the ball. It's like, okay, Fran Brown, Fran Brown has some stones. Like he is willing to take some risks out there.

Yes, as opposed to Bill Belich, who's coaching. to, I don't know. He doesn't coach like a guy who like, hey, this job means the world to me because he's out chilling and then tuck it on the, on the biweek. He's not coaching like a guy that's got nothing to lose because his play calling has been very conservative, very man. He's not coaching like a guy who's saying, I've got to protect my legacy as the greatest of all time.

I don't get it. I don't understand what's happening with his coaching philosophy. What I do know is his coaching philosophy combined with this talent is producing more else than I could possibly imagine. Well, on our next episode, we'll give you some picks for the other games coming up this weekend in the ACC. We had to get that in there because, again, like, we may be on high alert. On Friday night, UNC might be about to secure their first conference win and first

power four win of the season. He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. Make sure you follow him on X at TGIF underscore Kenton. Follow me at Alex Dono and on Lockdown Keynes. and we'll talk to everybody next time on another episode of LockdowneACC. We are part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.