Last week, I opened the floor to you, the viewers, to pose to me a question that I would attempt to answer to the best of my ability. I received a number of great submissions, ranging from questions about Virginia Tech football and the direction of the program to broader topics surrounding the current state of college athletics. With the season right around the corner, I figured now was as good a time as any to bring some of those questions into the spotlight and give my thoughts.

No. 1: "In your opinion, what’s the ceiling and floor for year one?" - @xandertilock, X

I think a 6-6 floor is fair, as is a 9-3 ceiling. Disregarding the COVID-affected 2020 season and last year's six-game slate that saw Franklin fired after a 3-3 start, he never missed a bowl game otherwise. I see enough "gimme" games on the schedule to justify Virginia Tech being able to claw to six wins, though the second half of the schedule is very daunting.

I believe that the ceiling would include losses to Miami, SMU and one loss to one of Pitt/Cal/Clemson/UVA and that with the amount of 50-50 or thereabouts games, Virginia Tech will drop at least one of those four games. The Hokies are well-set to make a significant jump from the 2025 season, and they made conceivable upgrades at quarterback, wide receiver and tight end, while maintaining their top-2 running backs and presumably gearing up for a full season of Jeffrey Overton Jr. as the No. 2 tailback.

I had Virginia Tech at 8-4, citing a potential 4-0 start with wins over VMI, Old Dominion, Maryland and Boston College to open the season. I do think that the Hokies will end the year in a difficult spot given that they'll have to travel to Clemson, SMU and Miami within the span of a month, but the early-season slate offers Virginia Tech enough to cobble enough wins together.

No. 2: "In the age of NIL, it’s hard for fans to follow individual players careers. I look at the roster and see 0 names I recognize. IMO, be able to follow players is a huge draw of the college game. How do you foster this same type of engagement when players are constantly coming and going? Follow up, how do you keep players around?" - Kimby, Discord

To me, part of what made older college football so compelling was the ability to watch a player arrive as a freshman, watch him develop over three or four years and eventually see him become one of the faces of the program. You knew his story. You knew where he came from. You watched him make mistakes as a young player and then, hopefully, watched him grow into a star. That continuity created an attachment that went beyond what happened between the lines, creating a sort of parasocial relationship.

The transfer portal has made that much more difficult. When players can leave after a season or two, it becomes harder for fans to make those same long-term connections. I think that's something every college football fan is going to have to grapple with to some degree.

For Virginia Tech specifically, I think the answer has to be making the players who are here feel like Virginia Tech players, rather than simply players who happen to be wearing a Virginia Tech uniform this season. That's something the program can influence through social media, player features, community involvement, interviews, etc.

The coaching staff also has a role in that. If Franklin can establish a culture where players want to stay for multiple years, that naturally gives fans more time to become invested in them. And that's probably the more important part of the second question: How do you keep players around?

You can't completely eliminate transfers in the NIL era. If a player has an opportunity that makes sense for him either for the money, playing time or for other reasons, you can't expect him to turn it down simply because fans want continuity. But you can create an environment where leaving isn't necessarily the obvious choice. Winning, development, playing time and NIL are all slices in the much bigger pie of player recruitment and subsequent retention. matters. So does making a player feel like he is genuinely valued by the program.

That's where I think Franklin has a major opportunity at Virginia Tech. If he can build a program that consistently wins, develops players and compensates them competitively, there is no reason the Hokies can't retain the core of their roster from year to year.

I don't think college football is ever going completely back to the days when you could expect most of your stars to spend four years in the same uniform. But I also don't think we're doomed to a world where fans have no reason to care about individual players. I think that there is a happy medium if the program taps into its social media well enough and if roster retention is a priority among the coaching staff.