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James Franklin Somehow Correct While Possibly Talking About the Wrong Thing

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Sep 8th, 2026 · 12:16 PM EDT

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This clip was passed around over the holiday weekend. It’s James Franklin wondering why his Virginia Tech player was flagged for high-fiving military cadets at Lane Stadium following a touchdown:

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This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the cadets in the stands.

If you watch what happens after the touchdown, the player goes to the cadets, then he goes to his teammates AFTER the cadet thing and does a handshake celebration. That’s when the ref pulls the flag:

The players are supposed to give the ball back and get off the field in college. You can’t spend too much time celebrating with teammates, which is why so many of them do the boring “let’s jump into each other in the air at the same time” celebration. That doesn’t get flagged.

But to reiterate, in this particular case, it seems like the ref threw the flag because of what happened after the cadet thing. Maybe if Marcellous Hawkins Jr. just got off the field after high-fiving the cadets, he would have been fine. I don’t see any laundry on the field from other zebras before this ref gets in there, but at least this one particular guy saw it a certain way.

I’ve read a couple of articles on this, but they all seem to focus on the cadet thing. I will continue to effort. Am I wrong here?

At the same time, James Franklin has a good take. High-fiving the cadets shouldn’t be a penalty. Let’s get real. But I don’t think that’s why his player was penalized. He was penalized for doing one of those Marcell Ozuna “hand dances” that Larry Andersen dislikes.

Finally, Franklin calls the penalty “un-American” while hammering VMI 73-3. That’s pretty funny if you think about it. Apparently he ran a hook and lateral with 1 second left while up 45-0 in the first half.