Brent Pry And The Culture of Accountability

Brandon Patterson

May 20, 2025 40

What does accountability look like at Virginia Tech under Brent Pry? (Ivan Morozov)

Virginia Tech football head coach Brent Pry was back on the postseason coaching clinic circuit this year, and he again talked about the role of his five fundamentals:

We looked at them all a few years back. If you’d like a refresher, click here.

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Brent Pry

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40 Comments

ChazB May 25, 2025 at 8:52 AM

excellent article! NIL paychecks last season created a caste like system with some " elite" players letting everyone know it. Poor attitude left many worry more about looking good on the field vs holding their assignment and trusting one another. loss of containment, filling wrong gap or just standing still until the playground over you were too often displays on the field-- most likely reflections of the preseason culture. perhaps a team of "B" players will do better than a few prima donnas set of cornerbacks & one LB along with a few unproven linemen & Safety who felt left out on the NIl money train. Let's Go... Hokies!!! 2-0 vs SEC!!!
yukoncornelius May 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM

Overpromise and underdeliver. Same story for the past 3 years. All of the prior comments in the replies reflect the same mindset. Now is the time for results. Aspirational rhetoric is for losers action/results are for winners.
Richouse May 21, 2025 at 7:47 PM

Let's see how the first two games go. Then we can start talking about accountability.
MDHokie79 May 21, 2025 at 11:12 AM

How about HC accountability for clock/TO management, among other things that have not gone well?
1. mcannaday May 21, 2025 at 8:25 PM
  
  its about the players. Stop blaming coaches for lazy, undisciplined athletes who are coddled in the recruiting process and jump to a new school when things get tough. Football "practice" used to be hard as hell. You were so ready for a game you could not wait. College sports are different.
2. TDVick May 22, 2025 at 4:51 PM
  
  Yes. Account for thyself, Pry. Lot's of room for improvement. Maybe the fans should keep a "S*** the bed" for his mistakes and see if he gets punished.
  1. TDVick May 24, 2025 at 3:35 AM
    
    should read "S*** the bed list." It would be very long.
MaroonMark May 21, 2025 at 1:29 AM

maybe Will can start adding red x's to people's profile who get the week long ban for TOC violations :)
1. Will Stewart May 21, 2025 at 10:30 AM
  
  ?
kpileski May 20, 2025 at 10:11 PM

Linebacker accountability from the chart matches play on the field.
vtgriff09 May 20, 2025 at 8:34 PM

1) If you have to teach players to hate losing...then you recruited the wrong guys. 2) If the players tell the coach we need more accountability, it reiterates how wrong WB got this hire. That means that the players recognize they have no respect for the coach.
1. teaysvalleyhokie May 21, 2025 at 1:32 AM
  
  Yes and no. I bet a vast majority of his HS recruits came from major winning programs (at the HS level, one or two star athletes can mean a spectacular season). So, when you bring in young guys, it's not so much that they hate losing, many have no idea what it is. This could be their first exposure to losing. In the past, I've seen NFL programs that seem to be perpetual losers, and they seem to really get used to losing. I think it's normal, if a program loses consistently over a period of years, that guys will think that is the default and get used to it. Losing needs to be uncomfortable. And now that we pay players, it's a fine line. Some guys will get mad and say (maybe to themselves) "Well, I did MY job well, it's that slug over there that caused it" when losing becomes something to be held accountable for.
tspoon5 May 20, 2025 at 6:26 PM

Accountability can mean a lot of things. I'm curious what the players meant by "more accountability". For themselves or coaches? Sounds like Ferg is inherently holding players more accountable in the weight room (and wherever they run). Good to read this article about player accountability, but curious about his systems for coach accountability. What is he doing to coach coaches and improve himself. My glimmer of hope for this season was Pry admitting he needed to improve in the 2-minute drill. If he's taken focused time to improve there, that's the biggest tipping point to me. As a DC, he didn't have to manage clock. Know that he's identified a weakness in his "game", curious to see what's changed. Other than W/L, that's the main curve I'm grading him on this season. I like all the other moves he's made with coaches and transfers. Might be too little too late, but shows growth.
Spartacusjones May 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM

Maybe the number of players going into the portal this year had something to do with "accountability" discussions
hokie0611 May 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM

VT is an engineering school after all, but sure feels overly complicated
japaha May 20, 2025 at 4:19 PM

I don’t blame Pry, I blame Babcock! 1st time HC at a school like VT? Who else is going out of their way to pay $3 Million for a DC that doesn’t have a Natty under his belt? If they paid Pry $2 Million they’d have more money for players!
1. NMB Hokie May 20, 2025 at 8:22 PM
  
  I don't believe that is true. NIL money does not come from the salary pool to my knowledge.
  1. TDVick May 24, 2025 at 3:45 AM
    
    This is a clueless response. The point is that he was overpaid. The money doesn't float off to the sky, if it had been saved. Either some competent assistants would have been hired - unlike the two the were fired after their contracts were extended (Thanks, Whit - typical weaka** blunder) and have caused another few million to be burned. To take a very precise view of what you posted, YES - perhaps at the time Pry, you might technically correct that salary money could not be used for NIL, well NOW is it going to be and NOW that money should be looked at as squandered, because it could have been put in something called a "bank account" and used to upgraded this year's teams. Either way, things have been handled very poorly.
okiedokeyhokie May 20, 2025 at 4:00 PM

NONE OF THIS MATTERS unless it starts with holding his coaching staff to these standards. Does anyone need to look further than the S&C results? His coaches needed to be coached. ESPECIALLY with their lack of experience! (See Saban) Hopefully he hired the right guys for his style this time! He will never be the a$$&@le! Not in his DNA. I hope he hired it!
NativeBurger May 20, 2025 at 3:56 PM

Probably too little too late.
HokienGeorjaw May 20, 2025 at 3:22 PM

I went too see our WBB team play at UGA. Across the street, was their football team practicing for their playoff game. Coach Smart was yelling every explicitive at his players. He was taking no prisoners. And I didn’t see any ice cream trucks. I thought to myself, I don’t see that type of fire from Pry. He is a nice guy. But I don’t think he understands the firm but fair mentality
HardTimes May 20, 2025 at 3:21 PM

Those numbers are a feel good chart. Real accountability is having hard conversations and when people are told things they do not want to hear. OR the expectation is not that great which is why we had the results we did last year.
budforpresident May 20, 2025 at 2:45 PM

Can the fans give red x's for each of his coaching blunders? I am pretty sure he would be under disciplinary review from last seasons brain farts...
Coattail Hokie May 20, 2025 at 2:32 PM

About this time every year we lose a player or 3 to criminality. I have no reason not to expect the same.
1. tallahasseehokie May 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM
  
  Look at Georgia- we are choirboys compared to them.
  1. atlhokie1 May 21, 2025 at 11:46 AM
    
    They have a Natty from their non-choirboys.
2. Hokie101 May 20, 2025 at 6:20 PM
  
  With 85-120 18-25 year old males we are fortunate to have no more than 1-3 Probably below the national average
Tallwino May 20, 2025 at 2:21 PM

I agree with a lot of the criticism but am anxious to see this year. New coaches and supposedly better cohesion with the players. Has Pry been a student himself? That is, has he learned from his mistakes and learned things he was weak at? Sure, three years of schooling for Pry is a lot. If he still has bad grades this year then kick him out. Before parting ways, if that happens, better have a solid and proven coach ready to move in. And lots of money on hand. For now lets all be thinking: GO HOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!
anotherdamnyankeehokie May 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM

Coach speak 101.
1. Richouse May 21, 2025 at 7:44 PM
  
  Nailed it.
WestyHokie May 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM

His system seems excessively complicated, especially for sports. I've worked in Fortune 300 companies whose culture behaviors were more clear and easier for employees to grab onto and execute.
Lancelot Link May 20, 2025 at 1:03 PM

He remains a lost ball in high weeds until on the field performance proves otherwise.
1. bamahokie1 May 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM
  
  Indeed
ToledoHokie May 20, 2025 at 12:29 PM

This guy has literally no clue how to fix things, if he did he would have done so. He knows all the textbook answers, but doesn’t know how to evaluate talent, hire qualified coaches, or motivate players to reach their potential. He should be so pissed off with our results he can’t see straight. At this point his words mean nothing. I appreciate the article, but it’s all BS at this point…it comes down to wins and losses. And he has no track record to make anyone think this year will be any different.
1. bamahokie1 May 20, 2025 at 1:03 PM
  
  Yup
  1. 134510Hokie May 20, 2025 at 7:15 PM
    
    Amen, brother
2. hokies3n8 May 20, 2025 at 3:56 PM
  
  That is a fact!!! Is it me or Tech sports in general has done the same thing the past 2 years, keep the same plan expecting a different result however it's the same, I believe that's insanity!!!
  1. atlhokie1 May 21, 2025 at 11:47 AM
    
    Pretty much on spot.
3. George Baylor May 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
  
  Holy Toledo, you are spot-on. Pry is way over his head as a head coach. He could be successful as a position coach or DC, but in 3 years going on 4, he has shown he is not a head man. I do not expect a winning record this fall and getting to 6 & 6 is not a given.
  1. 134510Hokie May 20, 2025 at 7:15 PM
    
    yep!!!

Brent Pry And The Culture of Accountability

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