Cash-strapped student, 19, makes $5,000 by beating big media to James Franklin-Virginia Tech story. Here’s the bold move he made that reporters missed

He checked in on a paywalled CBS sports message board for Hokies, where fans were tracking a private plane that departed the local airport in Blacksburg, Va., near VT (1). They believed it carried members of the Hokies search committee tasked with finding a new head coach (2). Eagle-eyed fans noted the plane landed in State College, Pa., home of ex-Penn State coach James Franklin — a former Big Ten Coach of the Year who has led teams to 15 bowl game appearances (3). Many feel he could both reverse the Hokies’ weak recent on-the-field performance, also bolster their recruitment for the future (4).

With the plane en route back to Blacksburg, users on the message board put the call out for someone in the area to get to the airport and catch a glimpse of the search committee — and gauge their mood — as they disembark. Large, known as “BigGuyHokie12” online, didn’t particularly feel like leaving the party.

But he was hungry, and told the group that, due to the high cost of living, he often only eats one meal a day. As such, he agreed to head to the airport if someone bought him a pizza.

“I was like, ‘Well, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna capitalize on it. I'm gonna get me a free meal,’” Large told Moneywise. “I didn't think anybody would be a taker. And then I had eight people [who] were like, ‘Hey. Go to the airport. Post your Venmo later. We'll pay you.”

As pepperoni promises rolled in, Large hauled himself to the airport for an encounter that exceeded any (pizza) pie-in-the-sky expectations that he, or his fellow Hokies fans, could have imagined.

A lucky touchdown at the airport

Large arrived at the airport in time to meet the plane and, in a scene that he described as “out of a movie,” the gate in the chain-link fence where he and other onlookers gathered suddenly opened and one of the passengers — retired VT coach and current search committee member Bud Foster — disembarked and walked right toward him.

“I was like, ‘Hey Bud, can I get a picture?’” Large recalled. After taking a selfie, Large asked if the team had signed Franklin to an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) — essentially an agreement to collaborate.

“He looks at me and says, ‘Uh, what are you talking about?’ And then kind of smiles and winks at me and walks away. Doesn't say anything to anybody and walks off.”

Large posted the selfie and exchange to the message board, earning instant legend status among fellow fans. And as the message board lit up, so did Large’s Venmo account.

“I was expecting maybe $20 to get a pizza,” he admitted. But when he arrived back at the party, he and a group of friends watched, stunned, as the money poured in.

“It goes from $800 to $1,500 to $2,000 in 15 minutes, and we're just like, ‘What is going on? This is crazy.’”

By the end of the night he’d earned $4,600. He woke up to $1,000 more, plus ESPN reporting what the interaction with Foster suggested the night before — that Franklin was likely to sign with Virginia Tech (6). At the time of his interview with Moneywise, his earnings totalled $5,700 plus one lasagna, which was baked by a fan who lives nearby who reached out to him on social media (7).

“How does this happen in 12 hours?” Large exclaimed, still in disbelief. ”I think it's just the community of Blacksburg as a whole. It's very telling of the people here, how much they care about football and how much they care about the students.”

Punting it forward

In the wake of his good fortune, the question remains: What will Large do with his windfall? Though only 19, he says that he’s “kind of a money man” who buys and sells cattle, claiming to turn a $2,000 investment into $10,000 in about two and a half years. The cash cows, so to speak, help him afford rent for his apartment near campus, along with groceries like chicken nuggets, instant noodles and anything that might complement the deer he said he recently harvested.

An education, however, isn’t cheap, and he’s still “got a crap ton of debt.” Despite that, Large said he won’t pocket the entire $5,700. While he’ll invest some in a money market account, he also plans to donate some to a charity that his fraternity works with called Sleep in Heavenly Peace, which builds beds for underprivileged children (8). He also started a fundraising page for the cause through his fraternity (9).

The charity resonates with Large because he said he grew up around “a lot of poverty” in southwest Virginia, with kids who didn’t have beds and either slept on couches or a mattress on the floor.

“I don't think any child should have to sleep on the floor, especially when we have people who can raise this money. We have the labor within the fraternity to build these beds,” Large said.

“That's kind of the major goal” for the windfall, he added, noting, “I don't need all that money.”

Meanwhile, Large and his fellow Hokies fans can sleep soundly because, mere hours after he spoke with Moneywise, news broke that Franklin signed on to be VT’s next head coach.