On Tuesday, Virginia Tech and Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced the hiring of Brent Pry as the school's head football coach. Click here to read the official school announcement.
"We are excited to welcome Coach Pry, Amy, and their family to Virginia Tech and the Blacksburg community," Babcock said in Tech's release. "I'm confident that Hokies everywhere will come together to embrace and support them as we enter this new chapter in the history of Virginia Tech football.
The former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Penn State on James Franklin's staff, Pry was in Happy Valley for eight seasons. He has more than 30 years of coaching experience under his belt, a career that started in Blacksburg as a defensive graduate assistant on Bud Foster's staff from 1995-97. He was part of the group that defeated Texas in the 1995 Sugar Bowl, a team that included interim head coach J.C. Price.
In its release, Virginia Tech announced Pry will retain Price as an associate head coach/defensive line coach. After mutually parting ways with Justin Fuente two weeks ago, Price was named the interim head coach, and he led the Hokies to a 29-24 win over Virginia to retain the Commonwealth Cup last Saturday.
Pry, an Altoona, Pa. native, graduated from Lexington High School in Lexington, Va. and has ties to the Commonwealth. He's recruited the likes of Brandon Smith (Mineral, Va.), Devyn Ford (Stafford, Va.) and Yetur Gross-Matos (Fredericksburg, Va.) away from schools in Virginia since joining Franklin's staff in 2014. He was Franklin's co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Vanderbilt in 2011-13 and followed him to Happy Valley.
A University of Buffalo graduate (1993), eight of Pry's defenses in the last 11 seasons have finished in the top 25. Under his watch, the Nittany Lions led the Big Ten in total defense (328.8) in 2020, and in 2019, the defense led the nation in fewest yards per carry (2.6) and was fifth in rushing yards allowed per game (95.0). Ten players from that 2019 defense earned All-Big Ten honors, too, led by linebacker Micah Parsons and Gross-Matos at defensive end.
Pry was a 2017 Broyles Award nominee for the top assistant coach in the country, and he's consistently put together good defenses with great talent.
"On behalf of Amy and our family, we are extremely grateful to President Sands and Whit for extending us this opportunity at Virginia Tech," Pry said in the release. "Working for Coach Beamer and Coach Foster as a graduate assistant in the 1990s, I was privileged to have been a part of this program as the Hokies established themselves as a national power, consistently proving they could beat anyone in the nation.
"Even after I departed Blacksburg, I always continued to appreciate Virginia Tech, its great players, its championship teams, and its wonderful traditions from afar. The resources, facilities, university backing of Athletics, and phenomenal fan support that Virginia Tech enjoys made this a very desirable situation. But just as importantly, the opportunity to raise our children in a community like Blacksburg also has great appeal. We can't wait to meet the team, the support staff, and Hokie Nation. We will be prepared to hit the ground running in order to attract the type of student-athletes to Virginia Tech who can help us achieve sustained success. Go Hokies!"
Two weeks ago on Nov. 16, Whit Babcock held a press conference to announce the Hokies were mutually parting ways with Fuente and listed characteristics for the next head coach.
From the outside, Pry checks all of those boxes. He's a culture hire, like men's basketball coach Mike Young was for Babcock back in 2019.
The one attribute Pry does not possess is head coaching experience. Babcock said he "preferred" someone with that level of expertise, but wouldn't rule any assistant coaches out. He also mentioned having someone that fits the community is very important, and Pry has lived in the Commonwealth, like Young (Radford native).
Pry is the son of Jim Pry, who was VMI's offensive coordinator from 1984-88. The Keydets set 13 school passing records and one NCAA record under the elder Pry in 1984, per a 2018 article in the Roanoke Times from Doug Doughty.
https://twitter.com/aaronmcfarling/status/1465709822519644162?s=20
Pry was coached by former Tech offensive coordinator Brian Stinespring at Lexington High School, who helped him get the GA job in Blacksburg on Foster's staff. Pry has many ties to the Commonwealth and has recruited at a high level everywhere he's been.
Despite not being the flashiest hire - Tech was rumored with now-Florida head coach Billy Napier (Louisiana) and Iowa State's Matt Campbell - Pry checks the boxes, knows Virginia, has connections and can cultivate a solid culture. He has relationships with Price and Hokies cornerbacks coach Ryan Smith, too, who was once a GA under Pry at Penn State, so there is potential that he retains one or two of the current coaches on staff.
The biggest question that remains: Who will Pry hire as assistants? Keep an eye on his next moves as the Virginia Tech head coach.
Penn State bio: Link