Andrea Adelson Sep 4, 2026, 06:15 AM ET Close ACC reporter. Joined ESPN.com in 2010. Graduate of the University of Florida. ELM CITY, N.C. -- The day is hot, but not humid, tobacco and soybean fields stretching for miles all around. Toward the Tar River, just past Albert Road, there is an unmarked turnoff that leads to a big shade tree and a small family cemetery. The tombstone belonging to the road's namesake, Albert Battle, sits to the right. His wife, Hixie, sits to the left. Born 200 years ago into slavery, they worked the land where they now rest. Not much is known about their parents, nor how they won their freedom. As the family story goes, Albert was freed at a young age and eventually got an opportunity to buy some of the land he worked when he was enslaved. One of a handful of Black landowners at that time, Battle decreed in his will in 1901 that the land be divided up and passed down to his children and their heirs.

Four hours to the north and west, his great-great-great grandson embarks on a new chapter in his life, as the new head coach at Virginia Tech. James Franklin has the history memorized. A booklet his aunt put together tracing their genealogy sits in a box in his new Blacksburg home, still packed after the move from Penn State. He first visited the cemetery as a 12-year-old during a family reunion, and still has a photo from that trip -- standing with his aunts, sister, mom, dad and cousins in front of an old white clapboard house where his relatives used to live.

"That had a huge impact on me," he says now. "When you talk about the first free slaves in your family, that is a significant story and a fascinating story to understand all that had to be overcome." Now, Franklin is living the American Dream, as one of the most visible college football coaches in the country, and his most recent job has taken him closer to his roots. Virginia Tech is convinced that Franklin is the one to restore its winning tradition and get the Hokies into the College Football Playoff conversation. He's got a tall task ahead of him. Virginia Tech is 16 years removed from its last ACC championship.

We may not get any definitive answer about whether or not Franklin can revitalize the program when the season kicks off Saturday against VMI. But the game is meaningful for Franklin for more than one reason. The three women he lovingly refers to as his aunts will be there. La Wanda Peace, who lives on the family land the Battles left behind just outside Rocky Mount, North Carolina, will drive with her sister, Romaine Peace, and their cousin, Melbadene Battle. Other family members will attend, too, including his sister, Debra, uncles and cousins, 13 total expected. "I have a really small family, and the family that I do have is aging. The window is closing," Franklin said. "I would have loved for my mom and my dad to have seen me become a head coach. They never got to experience that. To be able to share that with my aunts and get them to this first game, it's important to me."