Virginia Tech football: James Franklin has a message on Old Dominion Week

Two days after defeating the VMI Keydets 73-3, Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin met with the media on Monday. No more looking back. Well, Franklin did want to mention that he was not happy with his team's 11 penalties for 93 yards. Despite the 70-point win, Franklin stressed that this kind of undiscipline will come back to haunt the Hokies if they don't clean it up.

Then, Franklin turned his attention to this week's game, as Old Dominion returns to Blacksburg. Franklin noted history with ODU's coach, Ricky Rahne. Rahne first worked under Franklin in 2006 at Kansas State, when Franklin was the offensive coordinator. That partnership continued at Vanderbilt, where Brent Pry was also on staff, and stayed with him through the 2019 season, when he spent his final two seasons at Penn State as offensive coordinator.

Rahne has been ODU's head coach since 2020 and has faced Virginia Tech four times, going 2-2 against the Hokies, including last season's 45-26 win at Lane Stadium. That was the game that got Pry fired as head coach.

Franklin addressed his history with Rahne on Monday.

"Obviously, there's a ton of history between me and their head coach Ricky Rahne," Franklin said. "Our families are close, personally and professionally. Got a ton of respect for him and what he's been able to do at Old Dominion. Obviously, he's going to bring a team in here and a program, an organization that's going to be confident. They're going to come into Lane Stadium with confidence. They've won at home and on the road. So, as an organization, we're going to play a confident team."

Franklin noted that many others on Rahne's staff have worked with him before, but with this being game week, all those relationships go to the side for a few days.

Franklin was asked if last year's game added any fuel to this week's matchup. He downplayed it, adding that he's aware, his team is aware, and the Monarchs have their full attention.

"We'll watch last year's tape and be aware of it, but no, I don't think we're going to need to offer things like that as fuel," Franklin said. "But I think the reality is they already have our attention. 2-2 over the last four years is accurate, and the last time we played them was not just a loss, but a convincing loss. So, I wouldn't think I'm going to have to do anything from a fuel perspective; they've earned that. Old Dominion has earned that. So, I think they'll have our guys' attention. I think we're going to have to do any bulletin-board material, any of those types of things. We'll have the Norfolk State game on loop in our facility. We'll also have the game from last year on loop in our facilities."

Franklin explained why last year's game would be on loop at the facility. But, in reality, it's his way of motivating his team. For the players on last year's team, for Pry, that was embarrassing. Franklin would be crazy not to plant reminders.

If you're confident in one thing this weekend, you should be confident that the Hokies will not come out flat against ODU this time around.