James Franklin says Virginia Tech won the offseason. Now the Hokies need to back it up.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A quote in Virginia Tech's weight room catches Tyson Flowers' attention every time he walks in for his daily work. It's from Will Durant's 1926 book, "The Story of Philosophy," and it reads: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
It's a quote that resonated with Flowers over the offseason. The fifth-year safety, considered the team's leader in the secondary, sensed a significant shift in how James Franklin wanted the program to be run. Finish every drill that was started. No shortcuts. Dedicate yourself to getting better so the team improves.
It wasn't simply a mindset shift. It was a cultural change. Win the day in front of you and keep building momentum over the next set of drills and conditioning.
"I think if we can be excellent in everything we do — excellent in the weight room today, excellent on the field today, excellent in the film room today, excellent in the football today — then, like the quote says, excellence is going to become who you are," Flowers said Thursday. "It's not going to be I wake up on Saturday and now let me go be great on the field. No, you've been great every single day of the offseason, every single day of the summer, every single day of camp. Now, you don't have to try to be excellent. You don't have to try to be great. It's just part of who you are at that point. I think that will transition to more wins on the field."
Virginia Tech safety Tyson Flowers speaks during ACC football media days on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Wins on the field are what Franklin believes will be the evidence to back up Virginia Tech's successful offseason. Franklin was not shy in telling those gathered for ACC football media days that the Hokies have won the offseason, and he said the next step is for the Hokies "to do the same thing during the season."
"We have to show enough evidence in how we play, the excitement that we play with, the pride that we play with, and obviously it also comes down to points given up and points scored and wins and losses," he said. "There's got to be enough evidence that people say Virginia Tech is headed in a really good direction. Not only did they win the offseason, but it's translating to the season as well."
Franklin has reasons to believe the Hokies won the offseason. An initial signing class that saw Virginia Tech jump nearly 100 spots in the 247Sports' composite ranking was a good start. Donations of $20 million and $75 million definitely helped. The hiring of Brian White as athletic director and Brad Bell as the executive director of the Hokie Club were essential to sustaining the success that came after Franklin's hiring.
"If we're going to compete at the highest level, then we need to have a modern, bold, aggressive athletic department. I don't know if we necessarily had that for a long period of time," Franklin said. "College athletics and college football have changed dramatically in the last five years, but really in the last probably 15 years. Having somebody who was going to be able to do that, I think that's been a really important hire. The Hokie Club position is obviously another critical hire."
The on-field product has to back up Franklin's lofty offseason talk for Virginia Tech to begin the process of returning to national prominence. It's a reason why Franklin and his staff, led by strength and conditioning coordinator Chuck Losey, utilized a grueling offseason program that pushed the players to their limits and made sure they were maximizing each moment.
Franklin said the numbers indicate the Hokies are bigger, stronger and faster than they were at the end of spring practice.
"Just staying aggressive; keeping the main thing, the main thing; every day just coming in and giving it our all and not really trying to leave things on the table," running back Marcellous Hawkins said.
Defensive tackle Kemari Copeland said he's proof of the offseason work. He is up to 300 pounds after playing at 283 last season, and he said discipline, competition and being consistent were the three keys the coaching staff constantly mentioned to the players.
"Even just as simple as touching the line. I remember last year there's things like we wouldn't finish, we wouldn't touch the line, and it would just fly by," Copeland said. "Here, they're literally recording the line and stuff like that. It makes you harp on the details. Everything matters because in the game, everything's going to matter."
Virginia Tech defensive tackle Kemari Copeland speaks during ACC football media days on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Copeland, Hawkins and Flowers are three of the players with proven experience on this season's roster. Franklin, as part of remaking the roster in the offseason, brought in players who previously played for him at Penn State or were culture fits from other programs.
Players like quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, wide receivers Marlion Jackson and Que'Sean Brown, offensive tackle Logan Howland and cornerbacks Jaquez White and Cam Chadwick played meaningful snaps at their previous stops. But most of the transfers are expected to contribute at Virginia Tech in the upcoming seasons.
It's not like Indiana's quick transformation. Curt Cignetti brought in players from James Madison and other places who had significant experience, and that helped Cignetti quickly turn around that program into a national championship team in his second season.
"We don't have as much proven experience on the field, whether it's in the ACC or whether it's other places. … It's more potential right now," Franklin said. "Especially when you look at Indiana and how Indiana has done it with being a veteran, old, mature team. We're not that. Taking that knowledge and that information is going to be a big conversation when I get back with the coaches. How do I take that information and use that as part of our strategy and how do we resolve that, how do we find a way to get this team to grow up and mature from a game experience standpoint that they're lacking and not let it be an excuse?"
Virginia Tech coach James Franklin speaks during ACC football media days on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Franklin isn't promising the quick turnaround at Virginia Tech that Cignetti authored at Indiana. Franklin was methodical in building programs at Vanderbilt and Penn State, and he's repeatedly said he wants to re-establish Virginia Tech's program the right way, and the goal for turning offseason victories into wins on the field is the next step in that process.
Damien Sordelett (540) 981-3124
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