The James Franklin effect is already taking shape.

Franklin was fired from Penn State last month after a dreadful start proved to be the last straw, given his lack of success against top 10 teams throughout his tenure. But, last week, Virginia Tech officially hired him to lead its football program, and he is already apparently making his mark.

According to Rivals, five Penn State commits have taken, or are set to take, official visits to Franklin’s new school.

Offensive linemen Benjamin Eziuka and Roseby Lubintus both told the outlet they would be making visits, as did the father of four-star quarterback Troy Huhn. 

Franklin was fired by Penn State after the Nittany Lions’ loss to Northwestern, the program’s third straight defeat and another shocking result after a loss to UCLA the previous week. The Nittany Lions are 4-6 on the season and 1-6 in Big Ten play.

It’s been a lackluster few seasons for Virginia Tech under head coach Brent Pry and his predecessor, Justin Fuente. However, Franklin’s adaptive approach to the modern college football landscape could turn things around quickly in Blacksburg.

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Franklin will be the most accomplished head coach for the program since Frank Beamer retired in 2015 after 29 seasons leading the Hokies. Franklin, who coached at Vanderbilt before joining Penn State, went 128-60 over his 15 seasons as a head coach.

Despite this season’s struggles, Franklin was coming off a 2024 campaign that included a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance and a 2016 Big Ten championship.

“I can’t wait. … I’ve been watching that intro to college football my entire life,” Franklin said in his opening news conference. “It’s something special.

“We were a drive away from playing in the national championship, so I know what it looks like,” Franklin added.

Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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The sports executives whom Mark Walter and his Guggenheim Baseball Management trusted to turn around the Dodgers and make them World Series winners have now enlisted Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman to take on advisory roles with the Lakers, people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Times on Friday.

Walter, the controlling owner of the Dodgers, purchased majority ownership of the Lakers for a $10-billion evaluation and has started a transition from the Buss family ownership by having Zaidi and Friedman become more involved.

Zaidi is an advisor with Guggenheim and he was the former president of baseball operations with the San Francisco Giants and a former Dodgers general manager. He also has been consulting with the Sparks, another team that Walter owns.

Friedman is the president of baseball operations for the Dodgers and has overseen a team that has won three World Series titles in the last six years.

Both are known in the baseball world as executives who rely on analytics. The Lakers have been known as having a weak analytics department, so Zaidi and Friedman will play a role in improving that.

Friedman already has been talking with Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

The Lakers began making changes in their front office when they fired Joey and Jesse Buss as well as some scouts on Thursday.

Joey Buss was an alternate governor and vice president of research and development with the Lakers while Jesse was the team’s assistant general manager and head of the scouting department.

Fresh off winning a World Series with the Dodgers, Walter, who had been a minority owner of the Lakers since he bought 27% of the franchise with Todd Boehly in 2021, promptly sat courtside for the next Lakers home game Nov. 2. He looked on when the Lakers honored the world champion Dodgers at a home game on Nov. 5.

Walter was part of the group that purchased the Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012. Since then, the team has won three World Series titles in five appearances with 13 consecutive playoff berths.

Dallas Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb opened up about why he and teammate George Pickens were benched for the first drive of the team’s blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Lamb explained that he and Pickens were out late at a Las Vegas casino and were disciplined for returning past curfew. The wide receiver also said he wanted to refute reports on social media that he was seen throwing up at the casino the morning before the game.

“That’s a disrespect to even suggest that,” Lamb said, via The Dallas Morning News. “I know how to hold my liquor.”

Regardless of the benching, Lamb and Pickens had themselves a dynamite game.

Pickens had nine catches for 144 yards and a 37-yard touchdown catch. Lamb had five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. Their touchdowns helped contribute to Dak Prescott’s incredible game as he was 25-of-33 with 268 passing yards and four touchdown passes.

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Pickens, who was acquired by the Cowboys in the offseason from the Pittsburgh Steelers, has had a terrific year in Dallas. He has 58 catches for 908 yards and seven touchdowns, as he’s pacing for his best season yet as a pro.

Lamb missed a couple of games with an injury. He has 40 catches for 557 yards and two touchdown catches.

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The Cowboys, despite their stunning trade of Micah Parsons, are still hanging around playoff contention and have a big game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Dallas will enter the game 4-5-1 and Philadelphia will be at 8-2.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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