virginia tech hires brent pry as head coach

By Carter Hill

Staff Writer

November 30, 2021

BLACKSBURG — After two weeks of searching, Virginia Tech has found its next head football coach, Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced Tuesday afternoon. The Hokies are set to hire longtime Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry as the program's 35th head coach.

“Coach Pry owns a winning track record on the football field, as well as a history of developing young men into leaders off the field and in the classroom,” Babcock said. “He’s earned his way up the coaching ranks, and we believe he is the right person to lead Virginia Tech Football and to achieve the goals that we all aspire to attaining. He and his staff will aggressively recruit our region to keep in-state recruits home and attract the talent necessary to win championships in Blacksburg.”

Pry spent the last eight seasons on James Franklin’s staff at Penn State, with the last six serving as the Nittany Lions defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

The 51-year-old followed Franklin to State College from Vanderbilt after serving as the program’s associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator, initially taking that same title in his first two seasons at Penn State.

Prior to his time in Nashville, Pry spent time at Georgia Southern, Memphis, Louisiana, Western Carolina, and interestingly enough, as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech from 1995-1997, which overlapped the playing days of current interim head coach J.C. Price. Additionally, current VT cornerbacks coach Ryan Smith was on his Penn State staff as a graduate assistant.

“On behalf of Amy and our family, we are extremely grateful to President Sands and Whit for extending us this opportunity at Virginia Tech,” Pry said. “Working for Coach Beamer and Coach Foster as a graduate assistant in the 1990s, I was privileged to have been a part of this program as the Hokies established themselves as a national power, consistently proving they could beat anyone in the nation."

Price will remain on staff as an associate head coach/defensive line coach, according to the release.

The Altoona, Pa. native also spent time at Division II East Stroudsburg, and as a student assistant at Buffalo, where he finished out his playing days after transferring away from Division II Maryville College.

Pry graduated from nearby Lexington High School in Lexington, Va., where he served as both an all-state quarterback and defensive back while his dad, Jim, served as the offensive coordinator at VMI.

Though he hasn’t been a head coach before, he knows the state of Virginia well, and he’s proved it in recruiting by bringing in the likes of Brandon Smith, Devyn Ford, and Yetur Gross-Matos to suit up for the Nittany Lions.

That’s exactly what it is, a hire to recruit. As Babcock will immediately put his new head coach to work trying to keep together a highly regarded 2022 class.

Pry replaces Justin Fuente in Blacksburg, who was let go after nearly six seasons — with a $8.75 million buyout — in which he posted a 43-31 mark, and 28-20 in conference play. He’ll be tasked with putting back together one of the better programs in all of the ACC.