On Tuesday, Virginia Tech and Brent Pry announced three additions to the football program's operations staff.
Travis Taylor is the new Director of Football Operations, replacing Josh Bost, who held the title of Senior Director. Kevin Juszynski (Assistant Director of Football Operations) and Jake Schell (Football Operations and Analytics Assistant), who both worked with Pry and the operations staff at Penn State, also join the team.
Carrie Lynne Wolford, formerly Tech's Assistant Director in Student-Athlete Academic Services, is also a part of the group, which will report directly to Michael Hazel, Pry's Chief of Staff.
Travis Taylor
A Valdosta State alum, Taylor comes to the Hokies from Western Kentucky, where he held the same title. In three seasons with the Hilltoppers, he oversaw travel logistics, community service efforts, helping student-athletes, assisting with camps and official visits, and working with university housing officials.
He's been around the block, with stops at Southern California, Georgia Southern and UAB. Taylor also had a previous stint with WKU from 2014-15.
Taylor is the fifth person to hold the "Director of Operations, Football" title in the last four seasons:
2019: Danielle Bartelstein, Matt Transue
2020: Kevin Cristello
2021: Josh Bost
2022: Travis Taylor
Bartelstein now works for the College Football Playoff, while Transue is at James Madison and Cristello is at Coastal Carolina. That position has been a revolving door, but it seems like Taylor will provide some stability.
He's got a football background and a championship pedigree. Taylor was a three-year starter at wide receiver at Valdosta State and a member of the teams that won the 2004 and 2007 Division II National Championships.
He's worked as the director of operations in a few places, but was also the Director of Player Engagement at USC. He has experience dealing with academics, financial aid and admissions, so he's very well-rounded.
Kevin Juszynski
A Penn State grad who worked directly under Hazel in Happy Valley, Juszynski will be the liaison between the football program and marketing, creative media, HokieVision and other departments.
He'll work in sync with Taylor and help coordinate team logistics, camps, Virginia Tech's Pro Day ahead of the NFL Draft, among other things. Juszynski will also help work with those that oversee the football facilities.
He's got some NFL experience, too, after working with Kansas City during the Chiefs' training camp in 2021. At the NFL Draft in Nashville, Juszynski was part of NFL Green, a program that mitigates the environmental impact of the major events.
Virginia Tech never had an assistant director of football operations in six seasons under Justin Fuente, and now there are two. That goes to show how important the $2.25M that was laid out for support staff in Pry's contract (and excess funds) are to building up a program.
Jake Schell
Another graduate of Penn State, Schell worked directly with Brent Pry when he was the defensive coordinator under James Franklin.
Schell got his start as a video manager in 2018 and worked his way up to being a defensive student assistant over the past three years. In his new role in Blacksburg, he'll deal with roster management and practice preparation, along with combing over analytics. Schell will also help out the rest of the team with day-to-day operations and special events, such as on-campus recruits visiting.
The Support Staff
With all of that said, here's a breakdown of Virginia Tech football's current support staff.
Numerous positions previously existed before Pry arrived, but many - including four in recruiting and all five analysts - did not. Pry having the resources to bring in people he is familiar with and are capable in certain positions has been huge, and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of overlap. There are more bodies and everyone has a specific assignment, which is likely more efficient.
For example, the strength & conditioning department is really the only time where a title repeats. Outside of "Assistant Director, S&C," there are only two identical titles: "Offensive Analyst" and "Assistant Director, Football Operations." Unique roles allude to the Hokies being able to do more things and evolve as a program.