Head coach James Franklin’s Virginia Tech football team rebuild continues to draw from his old recruiting board at Penn State. After already convincing four-star linebacker Mathieu Lamah to stay home in Virginia and join him in Blacksburg, the new Hokies head coach has now doubled down on that blueprint, turning former Nittany Lions pledges into the backbone of his first full 2026 class.
Class of 2026 interior offensive lineman Benjamin Eziuka has flipped his commitment from Penn State to Virginia Tech, he told Hayes Fawcett of Rivals. The 6’3, 310-pound lineman had been pledged to the Nittany Lions since June but will now project as a cornerstone inside for Franklin’s ACC rebuild.
For a program that has often seen talented players leave the state, adding a powerful IOL with Big Ten measurables is a statement about how VT plans to play up front.
Minutes later, Franklin and the Hokies struck again. Four-star wide receiver FatRat Brown committed to Virginia Tech, he also told Fawcett.
The 6’2, 190-pound Richmond native was previously committed to Penn State, making this both a blue-chip skill addition and another in-state retention win. For Hokies fans, seeing a local four-star who once looked bound for the Big Ten now headline a revamped VT passing game is exactly the kind of momentum they hoped Franklin would bring.
BREAKING: Four-Star WR FatRat Brown has Committed to Virginia Tech, he tells me for @rivals⁰⁰The 6’2 190 WR from Richmond, VA was previously Committed to Penn State⁰⁰“The best in VA stay in VA”⁰⁰https://t.co/8mGg09mzZO pic.twitter.com/avbZxBOO1N
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 2, 2025
The defensive side is getting the same aggressive treatment. Virginia Tech recently flipped 2026 defensive lineman Garrett Witherington from his Kentucky commitment, as confirmed by Fawcett. The 6’5, 295-pound lineman chose the Hokies in the middle of Kentucky’s own coaching change, reinforcing Tech’s reputation as one of the most relentless poachers on the trail ahead of the early signing period.
Stack all of that together, and a clear pattern emerges: Franklin is leveraging long-standing relationships and home-state ties to flip the script on Virginia Tech’s talent base.
Instead of watching Penn State, Kentucky, and others raid their backyard, the Hokies are now the ones pulling commitments away and building a 2026 class that looks far more like a future ACC contender than a slow rebuild. If this pace holds, nights in Lane Stadium could start feeling like the old days again sooner than expected.
