Virginia

Gateway announces Virginia megachurch founder as new senior pastor

Published

6 months ago

May 25, 2025

Gateway announces Virginia megachurch founder as new senior pastor

Gateway Church plans to announce during service today that the church has a new senior pastor: Virginia megachurch founder Daniel Floyd.

Floyd and his wife, Tammie Floyd, will be leaving their roles as senior pastors of Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Va., a megachurch they founded about 20 years ago that now has five Virginia locations. The Floyds plan to start their new chapter at Gateway around August.

In 2016, Daniel Floyd founded Fredericksburg-based Lifepoint College, a school offering two-year degrees and certificates in subjects including ministry, leadership and biblical studies.

Gateway Church in Southlake has been without a senior pastor since last June, when its longtime senior pastor and founder Robert Morris resigned after being accused of sexually abusing a child in the 1980s. Morris was indicted in March on five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child in Oklahoma and made an initial court appearance in Osage County court May 9. Morris’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4.

Floyd came to Gateway in March to preach a sermon on prayer during the church’s first service since the Oklahoma Attorney General announced the news of Morris’ indictment.

In a Friday interview, Floyd told The Dallas Morning News that before a Gateway elder reached out to him early this year, he had no plans to leave the church he founded. “Honestly, in 20 years, I’ve never looked — I’ve just been really content in the calling that we have right now,” he said.

Tra Willbanks, the chair of Gateway’s board of elders, reached out to Floyd in January through a mutual friend to discuss the possibility of Floyd coming to lead the church. “My first thought was: ‘How would this impact [my] family, and is God in this?’” Floyd said. “And then I think after that, you begin to ask those questions of ‘Do I have what it takes?’”

Floyd said his decision to move to Texas was informed by his daily prayer time and his understanding of what God was calling him to do.

He wakes up around 5:30 every morning, and starts his day with coffee, Bible reading and then prayer for around an hour. “I want God to speak to me before I talk to anybody else, or even before I talk to him,” Floyd said.

Over the past few months, Floyd said, he’s felt God encouraging him to come to Gateway through signs in his daily prayer and Bible reading and through conversations with friends and mentors. “At some point, my wife and I, we were just like — ‘You can’t make this up anymore, how much God is directing and guiding this,’” Floyd said.

Willbanks, who was also part of the Friday interview with The News, said Floyd was giving up a “thriving church” to come and “do a lot of repair work in a community.”

“We needed somebody that understood that for what it was,” he said.

Floyd said he was up for the challenge.

“I don’t want to coast in my life,” he said. He finds the “big task” of leading Gateway both daunting and exciting. “It’s all those emotions in one.”

(From left) Gateway Church elders Oscar Morales, Kenneth W. Fambro, II, Dane Minor, Randy McFarland, Mark Mueller, Tra Willbanks and Brad Moore pose for a photo at the Gateway Church Administrative Offices in Southlake on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025.(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)

Willbanks told The News in January that Gateway set up a committee of about 20 to 30 people, including both staff and members, men and women, to help vet the new senior pastor. The church also added four new elders in January to help vote on a senior pastor, choosing people who were not “in the bubble” of how things were run at the church before June, according to Willbanks.

In discussing what the church wanted in a future senior pastor, Willbanks said humility was a top priority. He said he and Floyd spent time talking about the humility and vulnerability needed to stay grounded while leading a large church.

“[Floyd] called me at one point in this process, and he had told me that he had gone back to some of his closest friends and just asked them … ‘Do I show up like a celebrity?’” Willbanks said.

That capacity for self-reflection was a good sign to Willbanks.

“A narcissist doesn’t do that,” he said.

Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.

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Virginia

Penn State staff members to leave and join James Franklin at Virginia Tech before regular season ends

Published

3 hours ago

November 19, 2025

Press Room

Penn State staff members to leave and join James Franklin at Virginia Tech before regular season ends

Multiple members of James Franklin’s original Penn State staff are leaving State College before the regular season ends to join their old boss at Virginia Tech. The Nittany Lions no longer list Associate Athletic Director – Chief of Staff Kevin Threlkel or General Manager of Personnel and Recruitment Andy Frank on their online athletics staff directory. BWI’s Sean Fitz first reported their departures on The Lions Den message board Wednesday morning. Both were anticipated departures as soon as Franklin took the Hokies job. But, they will not finish out the season under interim head coach Terry Smith.

Both Threlkel and Frank came to Penn State with Franklin back in 2014. At the time, Threlkel was the Director of Football Administration and Frank the Director of Player Personnel. Each has earned new titles over the last decade. But what hasn’t changed is their loyalty to Franklin and inclusion in his inner circle. For Threlkel, that dates back to the mid-2000s when he worked with Franklin at Kansas State and then Maryland before Vanderbilt. Frank, meanwhile, was on Franklin’s first Vanderbilt staff. Both left Nashville to come to State College when Franklin did. Now, both will follow him to Blacksburg.

The duo is the first but hardly the last members of the Penn State football program who will join Franklin at Virginia Tech. It will be interesting to follow Franklin’s first staff buildout at the ACC program. He will bring some more former Nittany Lions on- and off-field staff members with him, without question. Which ones, though, will likely be unclear until after the regular season ends.

Other former Penn State staff members no longer in the directory include:

Brett Arnold, Assistant Director of Player Relations

Chris Mahon, Recruiting Coordinator for Personnel

Rashad Elby, Assistant Recruiting Coordinator for Personnel

Aeneas Hawkins, Assistant Director of Player Advancement & Revenue Sharing Strategy

Follow the Penn State coaching search with Blue-White Illustrated

Blue-White Illustrated is tracking the names to know as Pat Kraft’s search unfolds. Subscribers can see Nate Bauer’s latest ‘buzzworthy’ installment with fresh intel here.

Not a subscriber? Join today for just $1 for the first week by clicking here. A BWI subscription gets you access to:

–Premium insight and intel from Sean Fitz, Nate Bauer, Ryan Snyder, Thomas Frank Carr, and Greg Pickel

—Access to the subscriber-exclusive Lions Den message board.

–Insight from the On3 national college football team, which includes Pete Nakos, Ari Wasserman, Andy Staples, Chris Low, Brett McMurphy, and more!

–Dedicated recruiting coverage from the likes of Steve Wiltfong, Chad Simmons, Adam Gorney, Sam Spiegelman, Greg Smith, and the rest of the Rivals team.

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Virginia

What James Franklin to Virginia Tech means for FSU, Mike Norvell

Published

21 hours ago

November 18, 2025

Press Room

What James Franklin to Virginia Tech means for FSU, Mike Norvell

Florida State football historically has been a program of stability and continuity. In the last 59 years of FSU football, there’s been only one coach (Willie Taggart) who was fired less than five years tenured with the program.

Including Bobby Bowden, who took over the program in 1976, there have only been four individuals hired as the head ball coach at Florida State. That’s a staggering number in comparison to the rival Florida Gators, who’ve had 10, and the Miami Hurricanes, who’ve had 12.

READ MORE: Three honest thoughts after FSU football’s win over Virginia Tech

Although it seems like Tallahassee has been the epicenter of the coaching carousel since the start of Mike Norvell’s run with the Seminoles (for reasons good and bad), FSU and its fanbase historically are not used to their coach’s name being on the chopping block.

So what does Virginia Tech’s hiring of James Franklin mean for Florida State?

Penn State head football coach James Franklin greets fans outside Beaver Stadium before an NCAA football game against Michigan Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, in State College, Pa. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With VT officially hiring Franklin, FSU will miss out on potentially the best fit for the program should they move in another direction after this season.

James Franklin is a great recruiter, known for taking programs that are either in the dumps or wading in mediocrity to consistent winners. His biggest flaw, of course, was not being able to win the big games.

However, would he face that problem at a school like Florida State, which currently resides in the ACC? Would the “big game” curse follow him to Tallahassee? One thing that is certain is that we’ll never know, at least for the near future.

As for FSU and its potential coaching search, the market will largely be between successful Group of 5 coaches and overachieving (but not competing for a national championship) Power 5 coaches.

This is because schools like Florida, LSU, Penn State (and potentially Auburn) will likely get their pick of the litter before the Seminoles, as much as FSU fans don’t want to admit it.

Names to look out for should FSU move on include Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri), Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State), Jon Sumrall (Tulane), Alex Golesh (USF), and even Jimbo Fisher (former FSU, Texas A&M).

The Seminoles currently sit at a 5-5 record with two more opportunities to reach a bowl game. They face NC State on Friday night in Raleigh, and UF in Gainesville two weeks.

READ MORE: Former players, fans eager for FSU to get back on track after win over Virginia Tech

Stick with NoleGameday for more FREE coverage of Florida State Football throughout the 2025 season

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Virginia

Virginia Tech fans react to James Franklin hire

Published

2 days ago

November 18, 2025

Press Room

Virginia Tech fans react to James Franklin hire

BLACKBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – The James Franklin era at Virginia Tech has begun, and expectations couldn’t be higher.

“VT football is saved. I’m excited,“ a Virginia Tech fan said.

“I mean, I think he’s gonna bring a lot to the future,” said another.

“We are so back! I was afraid it’s gonna be a long four years here. Not anymore. It’s gonna be great.”

At Penn State, Franklin led the Nittany Lions to 104 wins, a 2016 Big Ten Championship, and a 2024 College Football Playoff semi-finals appearance.

All of those accomplishments are injecting hope into Virginia Tech fans who have only seen one 10 win season since legendary coach Frank Beamer retired after the 2015 season.

“I’m hoping that he just brings everything that he had once before brings us a winning program gets us what we want maybe a natty,” Freshman Colin Hebeo said.

Franklin replaces Brent Pry who was his defensive coordinator at Penn State from 2016 until he left to become the Hokies head coach in 2022.

After starting the season 0-3, Pry was relieved of his duties, now that Franklin is taking over, fans expect him to turn back the clock to when Virginia Tech was a national powerhouse.

“I want him to bring back what the old Virginia Tech football is like, That’s just straight hype and then like everybody is always got the energy going and we’re winning games make crazy plays, I just want to see that happen again,” Freshman JD Kwitkwoksi said.

Franklin is the most high profile coach the Hokies have had since Frank Beamer, and fans are hoping the big name will bring respect to a team who used to dominate the college world.

“I like it cause it’ll at least make us like not a laughingstock Like we’re not gonna we’re not just gonna go into every game thing. We’re gonna lose like we actually have a chance now,” Freshman Jake Woodworth said.

Franklin will have the backing of the university as the board of visitors approved $229.2 million to the university’s athletic funding over the next four years.

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