College Football Is Better When Virginia Tech Is Relevant

I remember the day I decided to go to Virginia Tech like it was yesterday. That was 10 years ago (somehow), and now I’m old as hell. I was between Clemson, South Carolina and Virginia Tech, and eventually chose the closer school that I enjoyed visiting the most. I wasn’t good enough to play baseball in college anywhere relevant, so I decided I wanted to go to a big football school. Virginia Tech’s football dominance in the 2000’s was a major factor in my decision making, as crazy as that sounds. I knew that one day, they were going to figure it out and return to relevancy. 

What I didn’t know is that it would take this long. Every year I was in Blacksburg, the football team got worse. My freshman year (2016) was the second year without Frank Beamer. They still had all of his recruits, and a very talented squad. They went 9-4 that year, led by the very talented Jerod Evans. After that season, I had hope. 

Well, it was all downhill from there. The next year, Virginia Tech went 6-7. They were horrible, but I still rooted them on every game. 2019 was better and the team actually went 8-5 somehow, keeping Justin Fuente’s job safe for another year and giving the fans another reason to stay bought-in. 

2020, my senior year, was where it all fell apart. A 5-6 covid season killed all the vibes Frank Beamer left behind before his departure. This is when I started doubting my decision… did I pick a football school, or was I bamboozled? I remember asking myself, is Virginia Tech football dead? Deep down, I still had a glimmer of hope, but it was surely dwindling. 

The one thing we had going for us was that we always beat our rival, UVA, every season, and we made a bowl game every season. At one point we had a 30+ year streak of consecutive bowl game appearances. When those two trends died, with a loss to UVA in 2019 and missing a bowl game in 2022, I honestly thought it was over. Justin Fuente was fired, and we moved on to Brent Pry. 

Hiring a coordinator from Penn State was a big deal back then. Did it work? No, it couldn’t have gone worse honestly. It was clear that Pry was a great coordinator, but not a head coach. Once again, the Hokies made the wrong hire in the post-Beamer era, and this one hurt a lot. After continuously buying back in year after year, the vibes couldn’t have been worse. For some reason, part of me still believed we would figure it out. I’d compare it to having a child who’s kind of a piece of shit. You still love and believe in the kid, you want him to figure it out and you’ll never give up. That’s how I felt at this point of my fandom. 

During the Brent Pry era, it was a brutal time to be a Hokie fan. I remember being pretty negative about the squad, and having alumni constantly telling me “they are going to figure it out, be patient.” I tried, but it was easier said than done. We were running out of hope, and on borrowed time. Every year the Hokies struggled made it a little harder to return to relevancy, and the Virginia Tech football aura continued to dwindle. 

In 2025, Virginia Tech went 3-9. The team game up, they lost to ODU and fired Brent Pry midseason. I thought to myself, here we go again. I remember telling everyone that if we didn’t hit on this next head coaching hire, it’s over. Well, it’s starting to look like the Hokies finally ended up hitting a home run. 

We are four games into the James Franklin experience, and you can already tell he’s completely changed the culture in Blacksburg. The best indicator was the gritty 21-14 win at Boston College in the rain last weekend. That’s a game the Hokies 100% lose with Justin Fuente and Brent Pry. That win solidified what I’ve been hoping for the last decade… the Hokies are back. 

College football is better when the Hokies are relevant. Look back at the last 30 years, there are so many great moments in the sport involving Virginia Tech. From Michael Vick putting us on the map, to Tyrod Taylor and Logan Thomas keeping the momentum going, Blacksburg was a hotbed for college football. There are so many great recruits in the area, and most importantly, Virginia Tech has the best, most loyal fan base in the sport. If seeing Lane Stadium sold out every game for the last couple years doesn’t confirm that, I don’t know what will. 

The PITT/VT game this weekend is the biggest game in Blacksburg since Ohio State came into town over a decade ago, not because of what it means for postseason or ACC aspirations, but because of the current trajectory of the program. If Virginia Tech wins this game on primetime Friday night, with the whole country watching, not only will the alumni and fans know that we’re back (we already do), but more importantly, the nation will know we’re back on the map. This game means something, and that’s not something I could say for the majority of the last decade. 

When I was a student at Virginia Tech, we had home games against Clemson and Notre Dame. We had College Gameday on campus and we had plenty of primetime games, but we never won any of them. This weekend, the Hokies have a chance to change that narrative. It’s finally time for Virginia Tech to win a big game at home. It’s the final infinity stone on their return to relevancy, and luckily, I will be there to witness it. Win or lose, I will still root for the Hokies with all of my heart, but I’d be lying to you if I said a win tonight wouldn’t mean something. 

You can start to feel the excitement from the national media around Virginia Tech’s return to relevancy. It would be good for college football if the Hokies return to the dominant force they were in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Luckily, they finally have the leader they’ve been missing since Frank Beamer retired. College football is better when the Hokies are relevant. You’ll see… just watch. The sleeping giant of Southwest Virginia has officially awaken.