Virginia Tech hires Brent Pry to be head coach

Virginia Tech hired Penn State DC Brent Pry to be its next head coach.

As the college football head coaching carousel continues to spin at a dizzying pace, Penn State now finds itself in need of a new defensive coordinator. Brent Pry, who had been the defensive coordinator for James Franklin since 2011 between stops at Vanderbilt and Penn State, has officially been named the new head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies. Virginia Tech announced the hiring of Pry as head coach on Tuesday, welcoming back the former Hokies assistant coach for the first time since 1997.

Pry was a graduate assistant coach for the Hokies from 1995 through 1997, where he worked under legendary Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster for three seasons. Pry went on to develop more defensive coaching skills with stops in various roles with Western Carolina, Louisiana-Lafayette, Memphis, and Georgia Southern from 1998 through 2010.

Pry then joined Franklin at Vanderbilt in 2011, reuniting with Franklin for the first time since crossing paths at East Stroudsburg during Franklin’s playing days. Franklin quickly made Pry an assistant head coach with the Commodores with a co-defensive coordinator job title. When Franklin was hired by Penn State in 2014, Pry was among the many assistants that made the trip to Happy Valley with him. Pry continued to split the role of defensive coordinator for two seasons before taking on the sole responsibility for the defense beginning in 2016.

“Even after I departed Blacksburg, I always continued to appreciate Virginia Tech, its great players, its championship teams, and its wonderful traditions from afar,” Pry said in a released statement on Tuesday. “The resources, facilities, university backing of Athletics, and phenomenal fan support that Virginia Tech enjoys made this a very desirable situation. But just as importantly, the opportunity to raise our children in a community like Blacksburg also has great appeal. We can’t wait to meet the team, the support staff, and Hokie Nation. We will be prepared to hit the ground running in order to attract the type of student-athletes to Virginia Tech who can help us achieve sustained success.”

Penn State head coach James Franklin offered a statement as well, congratulating his longtime friend on finally getting the opportunity to take the next step in his career.

“I’m truly excited for Brent and his family,” Franklin said in his statement. “He’s a passionate leader who’ll inspire his team to play their best football; but his greatest strengths are his dedication, relatability and humility. It’s those characteristics combined with his deep understanding of X&Os that will serve Virginia Tech and the entire Blacksburg community best.”

So what does this all mean for Penn State? For starters, Franklin now needs to find a new defensive coordinator. But before he does that, he may need to know what assistant coaches may follow Pry to Virginia Tech as well. It is a pretty common occurrence that a coordinator may take a few assistants with him to his new job, so there is a chance there could be a little more turnover on Franklin’s staff this offseason.

Regardless of who else potentially leaves, Franklin knows finding a defensive coordinator is among the top items on the to-do list right now.

On a related note, I suppose this means Bill O’Brien is out in Blacksburg.

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