When four-star quarterback Troy Huhn announced today that he was committing to Virginia Tech, he didn’t just pick a school. He followed the man who recruited him, believed in him, and then got fired by the program Huhn once called home.The timeline is brutal if you’re wearing navy and white:
- June 2024: Huhn commits to Penn State and James Franklin
- Early October 2025: Penn State fires Franklin after a 4-3 start
- Four days later: Huhn decommits
- November 19-20: Huhn takes his official visit to… Virginia Tech, where Franklin is now the head coach
- December 1: Huhn announces “Let it all work out, GO HOKIES!”
Twitter immediately split into two camps.Camp 1 – “This is betrayal”
“He was their QB1 for 2026. They flew him out, hosted him, sold him the dream. Four days after Franklin gets canned he’s gone? That’s cold.”
Some Nittany Lion fans are even dragging up old tweets of Huhn saying “Penn State is home” and “once a Lion, always a Lion.”Camp 2 – “This is the most loyal thing a kid can do”
A 17-year-old just watched the adults who promised him the world fire the one coach he trusted most. Then that same coach got another Power-4 job and said, “I still want you.” And the kid said yes. As one Virginia Tech writer put it: “He didn’t flip for a bag, for playing time, or for sunshine. He flipped for the guy who FaceTimed him every week for two years.”The truth is probably somewhere in the gray.
Recruits are told a thousand times: “Commit to the school, not the coach.” But when the coach who spent two years telling you you’re his guy suddenly isn’t allowed on campus anymore, that promise feels pretty hollow.
So is Troy Huhn disloyal for following the only adult in the process who never flipped on him first?
Or did Penn State betray him the moment they handed Franklin a pink slip?You get to decide.
College football recruiting just made sure a 17-year-old from California will be answering that question for the rest of his life.
College football recruiting just made sure a 17-year-old from California will be answering that question for the rest of his life.
Welcome to Blacksburg, Troy.
Disclaimer: The following is an opinion piece. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of any news outlet, university, or recruiting service. Recruiting drama is inherently emotional; reasonable people can (and do) disagree on where loyalty begins and ends.
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Troy Huhn