Brent Pry and Virginia Tech football announced five staff additions on Wednesday morning, along with some shuffling of roles.
The Hokies added four assistant coaches â Jens Danielsen, Cannon Montgomery, Bryan Whitehead and Jireh Wilson â and one support staffer in Trey Neyer. Danielsen (assistant offensive line coach) and Montgomery (assistant running backs coach) will join the offensive side of the ball while Whitehead (nickels coach) and Wilson (edges coach) are on the defensive side. Neyer is Tech's new director of player personnel.
"I appreciate the commitment from Whit Babcock and the administration to continue providing resources to be successful and support our student-athletes," Pry said in the program's release. "I'm really excited about the new assignments for our staff, as well as the new additions. We have hired some incredibly talented teachers and individuals who will fit well into the culture of Virginia Tech."
Danielsen comes from West Virginia, where he worked alongside now-Tech offensive line coach Matt Moore as the run game specialist and centers coach. He worked his way up after spending time as a quality control coach at Mississippi State, a graduate assistant at Baylor and a co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Navarro College (JUCO).
Montgomery, the son of Hokies offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, was most recently at Houston Christian as a graduate assistant helping mentor quarterbacks. He's a former graduate assistant at Auburn who previously worked at Tulsa. He played for his father with the Golden Hurricane and was a four-year letterwinner as a wide receiver.
Whitehead joins Tech after spending three years coaching nickels at Southern Miss. He's worked with Tech defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes before at Wisconsin-Platteville (2016-17) and at Wofford (2018-20), where he oversaw defensive backs. In between his stops with Siefkes, he was the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin La Crosse. His group finished second in the WIAC in scoring defense (22.6) and ranked third in total defense (369.0) and rushing defense (115.8).
Wilson ventures to Blacksburg from Kennesaw State, where he tutored defensive backs and safeties. He was previously at North Greenville (D-II) as the defensive coordinator and Gardner-Webb as a defensive assistant and co-special teams coordinator. He tutored All-American cornerback Raequan Ousley there, who was fourth in the nation in passes defended (20). A Wofford product who was a First Team All-SoCon pick under Siefkes, he got his start in coaching at NGU as a GA.
Neyer is the former West Virginia director of player personnel who was on the Mountaineers' staff since 2020 in various roles. He has a decade of experience that includes time at Miami (OH) and Alabama, where he was a student assistant and part of two national championship teams.
Pry also announced three current coaches on the Virginia Tech staff are shifting into new roles.
Co-offensive line coach Brent Davis will oversee tight ends, indicating Stu Holt will be solely the special teams coordinator now. The former Army offensive coordinator was brought on as an analyst in 2023 and found a role in helping Tech's running game. He was a Broyles Award nominee in 2017 while with the Black Knights, given to the top assistant coach in the country.
Shawn Quinn, who mentored star linebackers and nickels, will have an outside linebackers coach title now. Pry's first hire in Blacksburg, he's coached linebackers nearly his entire career. After the departure of defensive coordinator Chris Marve, he called defensive plays for the Hokies in the Duke's Mayo Bowl vs. Minnesota.
Xavier Adibi, who was an associate linebackers coach, is the program's new inside linebackers coach. He joined the staff as an analyst in 2022 after serving as the defensive coordinator at East Texas A&M. He was an All-American at that position for Tech who finished his career (2004-07) with 298 tackles, 30 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and six forced fumbles.