After Penn State fired James Franklin, it was inevitable that some of his players would jump ship once he was hired as the head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies. One of the first to jump ship is QB Ethan Grunkemeyer, who has now landed at Virginia Tech after entering the transfer portal from Penn State, where Franklin coached him, and he played as the backup for Drew Allar.
The current expectation is that Penn State transfer QB Ethan Grunkemeyer will reunite with James Franklin at Virginia Tech, sources tell @On3sports. https://t.co/wMrfFrdlE6 pic.twitter.com/PgZyvnCeGq
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) January 5, 2026
However, not many were impressed with Franklin’s first big acquisition from the transfer portal, with many unimpressed by the coach himself, as they felt that he was lacking in quarterback development, as proven by his time at Vanderbilt and Penn State.
“lol. Franklin wouldn’t start him over allar. And now he wants to go to Franklin? Good luck. Franklin stinks at qb development.,” said one unimpressed commenter.
“Huh. Was hoping, for his sake, he would go to a school that maximizes him and has a coherent idea of how to get a foot all to a wide receiver down the field further than 15 yards…Kids good, Franklin just wasn’t good with QBs.” another person added.
“I’m a huge Grunk fan & think his future is bright. With this said, his future development will absolutely take a hit if he ends up in Blacksburg. Franklin’s a solid coach overall, but he’s a disaster at developing QB’s. And his QB coach, Danny O’Brien, is one of the reasons why.” said another one.
“I am actively rooting for grunk but this decision is horrible. Did he forget what happened to Drew,” one fan noted.
“Another qb gone to waste w James and Danny,” said one doubter.
“Franklin can’t develop qbs lmao,” one critic wrote.
Ethan Grunkemeyer Seen To Bring Stability To Virginia Tech
While he lived in the shadow of Drew Allar, Ethan Grunkemeyer soon became the top star for the Nittany Lions after Allar went down with a season-ending ankle injury. He had 123 completions out of 178 attempts for 1,339 yards, eight touchdowns, and four interceptions. His reunion with James Franklin is expected to stabilize the Hokies offense for next year.
Ethan Grunkemeyer is considered a pocket passer, something Virginia Tech needs after losing its top three quarterbacks from last season. With that QB problem out of the way, Franklin can now focus on building around him for next season.
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