James Franklin isn’t just going after Penn State commits – he’s bringing staff with him as well

When Penn State fired James Franklin, it was never realistic to expect his recruiting classes or his staff to stay put in Happy Valley without him. Two days into his tenure at Virginia Tech, Franklin has been in talks with multiple current and former Penn State commits, but he has already closed the deal with the recruiting personnel who helped him build those classes. 

On Wednesday, BlueWhiteIllustrated was the first to report that Franklin’s general manager of personnel and recruitment, Andy Frank, and his chief of staff, Kevin Threlkel, are joining him in Blacksburg. Daniel Gallen of Lions247 confirmed the report. 

Penn State general manager Andy Frank leaving for Virginia Tech

It felt inevitable that Frank, Franklin’s longtime general manager who came with him from Vanderbilt and was in Happy Valley for Franklin’s entire 11-plus-year tenure, would take a similar position with the Hokies. The only question was whether or not he’d stay at Penn State to help get a crumbling 2026 recruiting class across the finish line or leave before the early signing period. 

With Franklin recruiting so many of Penn State’s 2026 commits in the immediate aftermath of his hiring and the inevitability of Frank jumping ship, it only makes sense for him to leave now, instead of recruiting against the program he will be with long term. 

Since Franklin’s firing, Penn State has been mostly helpless to stop other programs from raiding its recruiting class. Now, with Frank gone, there won’t be any resistance to Virginia Tech and any others until Penn State hires its next head coach. 

Also, along with a search for a head coach, Penn State should consider looking for a general manager to replace Frank. Many head coaches, like Franklin, bring a general manager with them, but some programs, most notably Oklahoma with Jim Nagy, Stanford with Andrew Luck, and Cal with Ron Rivera, have installed general managers to either oversee the head coach and the program or to work in tandem with the head coach to construct the roster. 

With revenue-sharing arriving in college football this season, along with NIL payments and the constant roster turnover in the transfer portal era, the general manager role is as important as ever. It’s too much to expect a head coach to handle everything that leading a program entails in modern college football, and Penn State has a unique opportunity to install an NFL-style front office.