The Virginia Tech Coaching Files: Norval McKenzie

Clarity at last.

Virginia Tech officially announced its 2026 coaching staff last week, confirming news that had been reported for some time. Fortunately, there were no surprises.

The Virginia Tech Coaching Files serve as an introduction, or in some cases, a reintroduction, to the men who will be on the sidelines this fall. The first column in this series highlighted the Hokies' new quarterbacks coach, Danny O'Brien.

This week, let's learn more about Virginia Tech's assistant head coach, run game coordinator, and running backs coach, Norval McKenzie.

McKenzie's Background

Age: 42 or 43 | Hometown: Powder Springs, GA

McKenzie, an Atlanta-area native, committed to Vanderbilt as part of the Commodores' Class of 2000. He played four seasons at Vanderbilt before joining the Georgia high school coaching ranks in 2005 at Hiram High School, which is northwest of Atlanta. As a junior, McKenzie rushed for 639 yards and five touchdowns, but could not sustain that production as a senior.

Coaching Experience

In 2008, McKenzie joined his alma mater's coaching staff as a graduate assistant.

Since breaking into college football, McKenzie has bounced around a fair amount. Here are McKenzie's stops on his coaching journey:

It's important to note that McKenzie's time at Vanderbilt preceded James Franklin's arrival there in 2011. The two have not coached together.

Unlike Virginia Tech's new quarterbacks coach, Danny O'Brien, McKenzie has considerable coaching experience, including seven years as a position coach at the Power 4 level.

What Does He Bring to the Table?

If you believe the rumor mill, James Franklin was very close to retaining Elijah Brooks as Virginia Tech's running backs coach. Alas, Brooks announced on Dec. 14 that he would not be returning to Blacksburg. The hiring of McKenzie broke shortly thereafter.

The main differentiator between McKenzie and Brooks is McKenzie's experience recruiting the Atlanta area. Virginia Tech has multiple coaches on staff capable of recruiting the DMV area — we'll cover that later in the series — but did not have a realistic option to head south and recruit the largest population center in the Southeast. Atlanta and its surrounding suburbs produce many talented players each year, so the Hokies should position themselves to compete in this area.

While McKenzie may have experience recruiting in the Atlanta area, he hasn't been overwhelmingly successful. 247Sports credited McKenzie with three recruits in the Class of 2026, two of whom live in the Fort Lauderdale area. All three of his signees are low-to-mid level three-star prospects. 247Sports hasn't credited McKenzie with a signee rated higher than a .9053, which is a low-level four-star. If you talk to people around the Georgia Tech program, they'll tell you McKenzie's recruiting on The Flats left a lot to be desired.

While McKenzie's recruiting abilities may be questionable, his history of coaching productive running backs is much clearer. 

Jamal Haynes started at running back in each of McKenzie's three seasons at Georgia Tech. Over the course of those three seasons, Haynes rushed for 2,534 yards and scored 21 touchdowns. In 2025, Haynes wasn't even McKenzie's most productive running back. That title belongs to Malachi Hosley, who rushed for 697 yards on just 98 carries (7.1 yards per rush) and seven touchdowns.

Just before arriving in Atlanta, McKenzie coached Re'Mahn Davis to a 1,000-yard season at Vanderbilt. In 2019, McKenzie oversaw Javian Hawkins' incredible year at Louisville — Hawkins rushed for 1,525 yards and nine touchdowns. Hawkins followed that performance with another 822 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020.

Before coaching at his alma mater, McKenzie was a Broyles Award nominee in 2018 at Arkansas State.

McKenzie's recent coaching history proves his running backs produce big numbers. 

Is McKenzie a Good Hire?

It would have made a lot of sense for James Franklin to retain Elijah Brooks as the running backs coach. Brooks' running backs always produced, and the run game was always the strength of Virginia Tech's offense. 

With Brooks moving on, McKenzie is a proven replacement who can replicate Brooks' success coaching running backs. The proof is in the pudding — McKenzie's players produce at a high level.

Coaching isn't an issue for McKenzie, but his ability to recruit is a much bigger question. Fortunately for him, Franklin has never had problems recruiting and hired other assistants who can help McKenzie attract talent to Virginia Tech.

It's worth noting that McKenzie may have been a target elsewhere — McKenzie coached under Buster Faulkner at Arkansas State and Georgia Tech, but ultimately decided not to follow Faulkner to Florida. The Gators settled on Chris Foster several days after McKenzie's hiring was reported.

When Franklin was hired as the Hokies' head coach, I hoped he would surround himself with guys who can coach more than guys who recruit. Franklin can attract talent, but it needs to be nurtured and developed.

McKenzie has shown that he can be that guy. Virginia Tech hired a ball coach, and fans should expect Hokie running backs to thrive in the coming seasons.