Contracts for nearly all of James Franklin's on-field assistant coaches have been finalized, giving a clearer picture of the head football coach's initial staff.
Virginia Tech fulfilled multiple open records requests made by Tech Sideline in recent weeks, confirming a coaching staff that's been recruiting for the last month but hasn't been publicly announced by the athletic department.
The school previously confirmed Brent Pry's return as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach and $1.5 million compensation this year. The former Hokies head coach is also due another $1.86 million in 2026 as part of his amended buyout.
The group of contracts released Tuesday puts offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Ty Howle as the next highest-paid assistant at $900,000 annually, with $400,000 as a base salary and $500,000 in supplemental compensation.
Defensive line coach and run game coordinator Sean Spencer, who worked with Franklin and Pry at Vanderbilt and Penn State and was brought over from Texas A&M, will make $750,000.
Two coaches who were retained are next on the compensation ladder, with receivers coach and offensive recruiting coordinator Fontel Mines and offensive line coach Matt Moore due to make $600,000. Mines can also earn a $75,000 retention bonus if he remains on staff on Feb. 27 this year.
Other assistant salaries include running backs coach and run game coordinator Norval McKenzie at $550,000, quarterbacks coach Danny O'Brien at $350,000, special teams coordinator Doug Shearer at $350,000 and nickels coach Vic Hall at $300,000.
Assistant tight ends coach David Rocco is listed as an analyst and will make $150,000. Though reports have linked his father, former VMI head coach Danny Rocco, to Franklin's staff, Virginia Tech said it had no records of his employment or could not find them.
How exactly Franklin fills out the rest of his staff remains to be seen. Reports link former Hokies defensive back Anthony Midget to a cornerbacks job with Virginia Tech. Midget is in his second season as the assistant cornerbacks coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who qualified for the playoffs and will play this weekend.
Franklin said during an ACC Network segment at the Tech-UVa men's basketball game on Dec. 31 that the Hokies still need to hire a safeties coach who will have a co-defensive coordinator title.
If Midget joins the existing roster of coaches, a safeties coach would give Virginia Tech 11 on-field assistants, one more than is allowed to go on the road recruiting. However, since the NCAA loosened rules in recent years about who is allowed to do on-field instruction, schools have gotten creative with their staffs, creating coaching positions that have no off-campus recruiting role.
All of the on-field assistants other than Pry have contracts that run through March 1, 2028. Pry's deal lasts until March 1, 2029.
Combined, the nine confirmed on-field assistants (not including the analyst Rocco) are due to make $5.9 million, below the $9.5 million at Franklin's disposal as outlined in his contract, though a few positions remain unfilled.
Virginia Tech also released salary figures and titles for a host of Franklin's support staff, a group headlined by head strength coach Chuck Losey ($350,000), general manager Andy Frank ($300,000) and chief of staff Kevin Threlkel ($275,000).
Other staffers include two directors of revenue sharing strategy, Brett Arnold and Rashad Elby, director of creative media Caleb Tyler, director of high school relations Christopher Mahon, director of operations Tristin Iannone, assistant director of revenue sharing strategy Aeneas Hawkins and assistant director of player personnel Karsyn Kehler.
Though not an exhaustive list of staffers, those seven, plus Frank and Threlkel, were praised by Franklin on signing day for helping put together the Hokies' top-25 class in a small amount of time.
All deals for the support staff go through March 1, 2027.