There's no question that Brent Pry fits the culture in Blacksburg. He has 30 years of coaching experience under his belt, learned from James Franklin at Penn State and has coached almost everywhere, from Group of Five schools to the SEC and Big Ten.
It's his first time as the head man, however, and that will take some getting used to. Instead of overseeing 40 or 50 players and 10 staff members, it'll be around 120 and 30-to-40. There are a lot of things that are different, from the responsibilities to the pressure. How will he handle the ropes? Only time will tell.
What I can give insight into is what a Pry-led football program will look like. He covered a multitude of topics in his Thursday press conference, from his philosophy, recruiting and roster management to his coaching style, playcalling thoughts and his staffing plans.
While we won't touch on assistants and support staff - hires should be made relatively soon, and Pry mentioned he was hoping to hire two coaches by Sunday - because how he's going to structure his organization is still to be determined, we'll touch on many of the other topics. Specifically, we'll go into heavy detail about his roster management thoughts, recruiting philosophy, whether he's going to give up playcalling duties and his coaching style.
Roster Management
Managing a roster for a college football program used to be a tasking job. Then the transfer portal was created, which upped the stakes. That doesn't even factor in recruiting, which is a game of its own.
Speaking with Pry, he understands what the roster management looks like in the short term: The transfer portal.
Virginia Tech has a solid recruiting class - currently No. 20 in the country, fourth in the ACC, per 247Sports - but with the coaching carousel, everything is up in the air. That can both help and hurt the Hokies, just like the portal.
Pry was honest when asked about the "quick fix" and how to adjust the roster in the coming months. He actually knew what question was about to be asked when it was brought up. Clearly it's been on his mind a lot lately.
"Transfer portal. We have to," Pry said. "I have to get in there with this new staff and figure out what are our needs really. You can ask people, but their opinion might be different than mine or the quarterback coach I hire. We have to evaluate these guys and figure out what we are going to do in the portal then it has to happen very fast.
"Believe me, I've been screenshotting portal entries the last week. We had a guy that was his full time job at Penn State. He monitored the portal, evaluated it, vetted it and if he thought it was worth it got shot out to the position coach."
Virginia Tech's current team is full of players from the transfer portal. Raheem Blackshear (Rutgers) and Jordan Williams (Clemson) are just two guys who transferred in and have had an impact. Pry mentioned that Penn State had two defensive linemen from Temple and Duke that they recruited out of the portal who had huge roles in Happy Valley this past season.
This offseason Tech is going to have to hit the portal hard. Moreover, with the defensive scheme change, which Brandon Patterson touched on in his Friday story, it'll be crucial for Pry and his staff to get the players that fit their style of play. Potentially having a full-time staff member, whose sole job is to sift through the portal, can go a long way in that area.
One of the other things Pry mentioned was putting together a "good-bad-ugly reel of the guys on the team." That's another item that he'll hit over the next few months where he'll sit down and evaluate if the player is in the right position and his strengths and weaknesses.
Recruiting
Another big task that goes hand-in-hand with roster management is recruiting.
As previously mentioned, Tech has a solid 2022 class with some talented prospects. J.C. Price has done some in-home visits with Virginia targets over the past few days (and took the Commonwealth Cup with him), and Pry has connected with some commits on the phone. Chris Coleman highlighted where players in the current class stand on Wednesday.
In the long run, however, Pry outlined some important recruiting goals, headlined by becoming a force in the Commonwealth.
"We’re going to recruit our footprint," Pry said. "We’re going to recruit everywhere, but our footprint is going to be the emphasis. There’s been a sense of pride on this football team for a lot of years about the guys from the state of Virginia coming here and being successful.
"I know how good the state has been to Virginia Tech. I’ve had a ton of former players reach out to me in regards to that, and we’re going to work our tails off to bring those Virginia kids to Blacksburg. We’ve had a little success doing that up to Happy Valley, and I think it ought to be easier to do that here."
Under James Franklin at Penn State, Pry recruited well, especially Virginia. Bringing a mentality and experience like that to Blacksburg is huge, and should give Tech an advantage around the state.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch ran a story a day after Virginia Tech parted ways with Justin Fuente about why his staff rarely won battles in the state. It's eye-opening and paints a picture that, for those who understand how well the Hokies used to be at getting in-state talent, is disappointing.
Pry wants to change that, and he had similar points to what men's basketball's Mike Young said in his opening press conference. The bottom line: Relationships matter.
He's learned that at many of different places, but it was heavily emphasized by Franklin at Penn State.
"When it comes to recruiting, he is relentless in the details and following through and being thorough, building those relationships with the high school coach, with the trainer, with the parents, with the uncle, with the barber that cuts hair," Pry said of his close friend and former boss Franklin. "I think over 12 years with James, just his relentless effort on the recruiting front and being actively involved as a head coach is very important to me, and I don’t see that being any different."
Playcalling
Pry has been around the block, and since 2002, he's always had the defensive coordinator title (either co-coordinator or coordinator). The lone exception is his 2007-09 stint as the defensive line coach at Memphis. That means he's always had control over the scheme of his unit, but most importantly, playcalling.
He'll bring a defensive coordinator to Blacksburg, but handing over the reins for the entire group is going to be difficult for him. It's a necessity with the numerous responsibilities Pry has inherited, though.
"It’s going to be hard to let go of calling those plays," Pry said. "I love calling the defense. But I’m going to hire the right person and the right group of guys. I’m going to be very involved early, and when it feels like it’s the right time, those play-calling duties will be turned over. Whether that’s after spring or after Year 1, we’ll see what it looks like."
Who Pry hires to be his DC and the preexisting connections the two have are important. Pry's defenses, dating back to his days at Louisiana in 2002 and Georgia Southern in 2010, have been exceptional on a national scale. When he gives up responsibilities to his coordinator will be very telling in terms of trust, and how involved he is with the specific position groups - linebackers especially - will be intriguing.