The money we pay him will offset from his buyout - Link Here, Page 18
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The money we pay him will offset from his buyout - Link Here, Page 18
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But I'm confused if we're the ones paying his buyout AND his salary. It's the same amount of money regardless, right?
Correct. If we hire Pry, the athletic departments gets a "free defensive coordinator".
Yes, but we budget an amount for it so if he gets hired away, we don't suddenly have to come up with a DC salary from the couch cushions or cutting elsewhere.
Neighing my own horn
https://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/1332687#comment-1332687
Dang, horses are smarter than people!
Again, the idea of this entire "Reinvestment" into Football was that we weren't gonna have to pinch pennies anymore, right?
And now we're hiring a defensive coordinator at least partially because he's effectively "free"....
Color me extremely unimpressed
Would you be impressed if the extra money helped to bring in elite defensive position coaches (TGray at CB, Dex at S etc.)?
Nothing in particular will make me excited about bringing back a guy who put together a defense they got absolutely run off the field by ODU.
I assume you're talking about at Tech and that ODU didn't play PSU. The ONLY time Pry was even a little directly involved with the defense was in Marve's first year. He made a point back then about how he was giving the vision to Marve, then helping him a little as a new coordinator, after which he would be hands' off.
Just because he USED to be a DC does not mean he was acting as DC at Tech. I think he said on a number of occasions that he was relying on his coordinators and that he was trying to embrace the head coach job. Further, he recognized the failures on the defense and he fired Marve and hired a new one.
Just because he wasn't a good HC doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good DC.
If we hire him, whatever we pay him to be a JMFF assistant would come out of what we have to pay him for the buyout. Unless we were to hire him for MORE than we owe him for the buyout, he gets the same amount of money from us, whichever pot it comes out of.
IF he were to get a job somewhere else and somebody else was paying him, then that amount would be subtracted from what we owe him for the buyout. That would, theoretically, save us some money. Unless he can find another job that pays more than the buyout, his bottom line gross pay for 2026 and 2027 is what we owe him for the buyout. Where that comes from is the only variable. If we hire him, it still all comes from us. If somebody else hires him, our part gets reduced by that amount.
I didn't read the whole contract and I'm not going to, but I didn't see the duty to mitigate language that was in JMFF's PSU contract and Brian Kelly Killed a Guy's contract with LSU. In the terms of those contracts, it's just not that much money (says the guy who will probably never make $6.3 million combined in my entire life).
Yeah that's a fair point. Pry is being looked at for SEC DC jobs right now. If he gets one and we hire a DC for less than Pry's contract, we're saving money.
Pry and theoretical SEC school have no incentive pay him more than we owe him, so theoretically expect them to sign him some nominal non-embarrassing amount money.
This all highly theoretical because the mouse is now saying it's a done deal that he's back.
ESPN just now said its official
Well at least we fired him as HC vs saying give him one more year now that he has financial backing to flip the roster etc like Wisconsin and BC are doing
If Franklin doesn't bring in an absolute baller of an OC, I will be extremely upset.
Small time busch league move if this happens. I am totally OUT on this staff if Pry and Howle are the hires
100%
If Franklin can't do better than Howle, he's cooked before he even coaches his first game.
Lol at "busch" league. A cursory Google search returned one entry that said
HAAAA
We are so fucked (in my opinion)
Lol thinking for yourself is always discouraged when it comes to new hires.
I'm not getting fooled again.
I mean, I'm not super excited for these hires either. The difference between Pry hiring Bowen and Marve and JMFF hiring Pry and Howle is experience. I'm willing to see how it plays out. But if Chesney has UCLA rocking and JMFF flounders in BBurg I'll be rubbing it in everyone's faces too. Don't get me wrong.
But you're saying you're already out on this staff before a ball has even been kicked. I'm at least willing to sit around and see how the first season goes. If we start 6-6 in '26 and fail to win more than 8 in '27 I'll be out on JMFF.
Until then, though, trust in JMFF I guess. What other choice do we have?
If you think Pry is the right hire, then do it. Don't do it because of the money.
Did Franklin or some administration staffer say it was because of the money?
No... but his salary goes against money already paid/promised.
In my mind, it could have been as simple as Franklin and Pry wanting to work together, and Pry saying "man, I'm good in terms of money with the buyout I'm owed. Let's use the rest of the budget to get an incredible staff." I have no inside knowledge of their discussions, but given the mutual enthusiasm for making something work and how highly the two men speak of each other, I can see this being a "let's use the situation we have to make everything else better" kind of deal.
Gotcha. It seemed like others were saying he was doing it because of that reason (he's "free" so they can use the money elsewhere).
I wholeheartedly agree - if he's a great candidate, do it for that reason, just a bonus of not having to pay him (at least initially).
Wait until Pry hires Marve to coach linebackers...
JSMMFH, this is a horrible hire. I already had questions about Franklin's decision making.
Just giving you a leg for JSMMFH alone.
Is that another spelling for "Kevin"?
I don't like the "feel" of it, for sure, but the way I figure it is we hired Franklin for a reason and we have to let him configure his staff the way he wants to. We trust his knowledge and instincts or we don't, and if not, we don't hire him, right?
Me, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but I doubt he's worried about what I think either way.
Same. Pry was a decent to good DC for JMFF, so I'm okay with him taking this job at Tech. With the Jimmies and Joes that JMFF will be pulling in, I'm sure he'll do fine.
It's clear JF has a deep relationship with Pry. I imagine JF has 100% say on who he's bringing on for staff and this isn't a save money thing. So I'm ok with the hire and any hire JF makes initially. I have trust he's going to take VT back to the level it was in the 2000s.
I'll be honest, I'm not really digging this move. I see many ways it could go south. And I kind of just wanted a break from Brent Pry. I like the guy a lot, but he's not a head coach.
But I can't really get too mad because if he had been at Penn State this year, or had moved on from Penn State and was rejoining Franklin from another team, to get the band back together at VT, I would be pumped.
I just couldn't believe how bad our linebackers were when we had Pry as HC with a linebacker specialization, defensive coordinators, and miscellaneous other coaches responsible for developing their skills. And they were abysmal. It's like they were coached on where to lineup, but after that it was, "if the guy with the ball comes your way, tackle him."
Yeah, be concerned if Quinn stays LB coach. Interestingly, after Marve was fired, Quinn was kept on.
I am feeling a 3-hour stomach ache coming on....
Franklin wants to push for a natty - at VT or after. He's going to load his staff with who he thinks will make a difference, and apparently he thinks Pry is the guy. We wanted Pry when he was Franklin's DC, so history would suggest this could be a good match.
I'm more curious how the players will feel about this move. They seemed checked out under Pry's leadership. How will they respond?
Sometimes your best employee isn't necessarily the best person to promote into leadership. It's a different skill set. Hopefully if Pry can return to a singular focus he'll get that defense humming again.
To add, I wonder if his time as a head coach will even improve his capability as a DC. He now knows what it was like to plan an offense and special teams (even if they weren't good). Your aperture on your specialty usually widens whenever you're forced to view said specialty from another/opposing perspective.
Absolutely. It's the extreme version of cross-training, or the reverse of a management training program. The value in both of those is understanding the needs of other "departments" so you can add greater value to the entire organization. Pry's storyline isn't finished, chapters are still being drafted. The guy clearly helped recruit Franklin to VT (even if it was only by not disparaging the program or administration). Some of the greatest steps forward come with a healthy dose of humility - learning where one is strongest and where they may need further development.
In the meantime, Hokies get to benefit from yet another unique storyline. Has this ever happened before? Coordinator becomes HC, fired and replaced with previous HC, then returns to coordinator position for old boss at new school? This is the kind of story for telenovelas - ESPN talking heads are going to eat this up next season. More eyes on VT = more $$$. Brilliant.
We had ESPN headlines yesterday that kept VT in the news on CFP Selection Day. Coincidental timing - I think not.
Forgive me if I am wrong, but wasn't targeting/hiring Pry on no one's radar? I don't remember anyone clamoring for Pry before it was announced, but then once it was, it was more rationalizing the hire because he was a "great DC and former Hokie."
One person (maybe bar) mentioned him as a candidate. The primary reason behind hiring him was trying to sprinkle James Franklin magic on Blacksburg, he was the choice because he was a great DC and former Hokie.
The "we wanted" is referring to the fact we hired him, not any message board or fan clamoring for him.
I remember the post, because it gave me the same feeling I had when someone first dropped Fuente's name in the 2015 coaching search threads.
Boy, that didn't age well tho...
Like many others, I truly have mixed feelings and don't really know what to think of this move. While you can make an argument for it, I feel like there are a ton more questions and uncertainties than there are positives at least initially. We know Pry certainly was a very strong DC at PSU. He obviously was ill-equipped for a head coaching role and failed miserably at that here. Could he be more successful stepping back down to a coordinator role? Likely, but things weren't just bad here - they were abysmal. Even if he had many other duties on his plate as HC, the defense was largely atrocious under his watch ultimately. And for a coach labeled as a LB specialist, that position (both recruiting and coaching/development) was awful during his time here as HC. That to me gives me a lot of anxiety.
Now could he do well with strong staff and recruiters around him? Certainly, I think if Franklin is picking those spots that fit and complement the defensive staff around Pry like he did in the past, that could mitigate some concern. But does that give me the warm and fuzzies if we can't trust our DC to make good assistant staff evaluations? We know he was also particularly bad at hiring assistants here at VT - which is one big reason that he was fired in the end.
At the end of the day, Jimmies and Joes win the games, so if we can recruit at a high level it masks a lot of flaws. But given the budget we have now, are we selling ourselves short? I had little doubt Pry would have a role on Franklin's new staff in some capacity, but I didn't anticipate DC right off the bat.
I'm trusting in Franklin here and he certainly has earned it. But if the defense struggles early on here, the fans are likely going to be extremely upset. Huge risk bringing Pry back in a high profile role this soon, but the man may have a chip on his shoulder and want to redeem himself. By all accounts he loves VT and was key in helping get Franklin to Blacksburg. So mixed feelings for me, but trusting the process. And I'm hopeful Franklin is going to assemble an all-star cast around Pry.
And I'll also add that I respect Pry for wanting to jump right back into coaching this year. It was heavily rumored he turned down a couple SEC DC opportunities recently. His willingness to jump back in and the buyout being offset by his new salary to me shows a man who is eager to prove the doubters wrong. Unlike Fuente for instance who was happy to take his parachute and disappear...speaks volumes to Pry's desire to compete as a coach.
I think the best possible scenario is the experience does this very thing and injects just the right amount of ruthless asshole we needed from Pry.
If I was Pry, I don't think I would want to take the demotion at the school that just fired me, I would want to move on from VT.
If I were in Prys shoes, I'd do everything possible to stay in Blacksburg. But I'm bias because I love the area so much
He loves VT and the area. He doesn't want to leave for a long while
As a Dad with younger kids, he has to love the consistency staying in the same school system. I imagine there's a lot of sacrifice they go through moving up in the coaching ranks.
I do wonder how much his personal life factored into it. Coaches move a lot, but he's moved ~twice in 15 years? Does he want to get back to relocating his family every 1-3 years? And now his kids are middle school aged - a tough time to move a family. And he gets to work for his best friend again.
Definitely a hit to his pride (would be a hit to mine), but I can understand doing it as well.
meh, he just crushed recruiting in 2 weeks. The man clearly knows what he is doing. If he believes Pry is the DC we need then I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.
I may have missed them but has any player come out and stated that they quit on Pry? If it was truly that bad those things tend to come out.
I have wondered this myself. I had this idea that, because there were SO many transfers on the team last year, and our team was so 'super buns' as my kids say, that there was no loyalty or buy in for VT at large and Brent Pry in general.
They did play harder after Pry was fired, and so I don't know how that jives, but honestly, if JMFF wants Pry as his DC, then I'm good with it. He did pretty well at Penn State, and our defense has been SO BAD. Heres hoping we get the ship righted quickly.
I am giving Franklin the benefit of the doubt, but I would much rather that he appointed Pry as a analysist rather than a specific coach. To me Franklin just piled a bunch of kindling under his new chair before he has coached a game. I really hope his other coach hires hit it out of the park.
To this whole idea -
Yes, that's exactly it. Franklin, coming in right off a firing, sat and thought to himself "that was fun. Getting fired was fun. I want to hire the worst people possible, so I can get fired again, and then potentially not be able to work in D1 again, at least for a number of years."
OR
He wants to do well and is hiring the guy he thinks will help him do it, kind of like when he had him on staff at Penn State.
I don't actually think he's doing this but if I just got fired and they paid me $49M to fire me then someone else immediately offered me a job with a similarly ridiculous contract. I'd be riding the 'for cause' border pretty tightly.
I don't understand your point.
his point (and neither of us actually think this is happening, but it is a remote possibility) is that JMFF isn't here to win but is just in it to keep himself busy and hang out with his buddies. He's paid. He's golden. He doesn't need to work. That's his point (regardless of whether or not he actually believes it)
If that's the case, why put together a top 25 recruiting class in two weeks?
All the Pry haters need to take chill pill. Franklin did it at Vandy with Pry, again at Pedo State with Pry, so why not do it here with Pry.
He's said it himself many times, he wants to win a national championship and if Pedo State doesn't want him to do it there, he'll do it somewhere else. If he thinks Pry gives him the best chance of doing that, then go for it. Actually, if he wins a natty here, idgaf if Howdy Fucking Doody is the DC. Just win. Go Hokies!
If Howdy Fucking Doody gets us wins, hire him.
He just got a fat paycheck for being fired. In an immoral and extremely unlikely scenario he agreed to coach VT to coast along and get fired again for another fat paycheck.
Succeeding pays FAR better than failing. Yeah, maybe you get paid to go away. But if you get another job, they payout for firing will likely be less. Then, if you got fired twice, you're not likely to get the up-front job you could then get fired from, at least in D1, which means getting fired from a third place pays next to nothing.
However, succeeding, teams pay you MORE, and then having continued success, other teams want to pay you EVEN MORE.
So sure, if you don't want to actually coach anymore, failing is a good way to get a nice payout, then not coach.
Yes I'm well aware my entire comment was TIC which I made pretty clear.
You said you didn't think he was doing it. Yet you made the comment anyway, which seems like you said it because there is at least a chance he is doing that. If you thought there was a zero chance that's what he was doing it, why say it, unless you were trying to be funny? If that's the case, a little hyperbole may have helped you (like Franklin is trying to ride a wave of firings to fund his retirement, because getting paid to do nothing is better than getting paid to do something).
So - you made the comment (as opposed to not saying anything), and I argued why it didn't make sense.
I think if we get the talent that we expect to get under JMFF our defense will be fine. Probably not great, but fine. (Pry's defense at PSU)
I think the more interesting question is who will be our Offensive and Special Teams coaches. VT hasn't had a consistently good offense, like, ever. We've had a couple of decent offensive output seasons but they were largely on the backs of elite talent more so than coaching. One could even argue that those offenses were good in spite of the coaching. We've been pining for competent offensive coaching for years. Are we finally going to get that under JMFF or is Blacksburg truly a cursed town where offense comes to die?
Stu Holt has been probably the worst coach on staff since Newsome and it's not really even close. I don't want him anywhere near anything related to football in Blacksburg. (side note: when I saw us try to run the opening kick off out of the back of the end zone vs UVA last weekend I knew we were cooked. WTF was our ST thinking?)
Holt is so bad. The punt protection has gotten sooo many nearly blocked punts and then we cant even cover. Somehow we are also the only team who return every kickoff and I awear our average starting field position must be the 12 yard line.
For anyone apprehensive about Pry as DC (count me in this camp), Sons of Saturday's podcast on it will make you feel much better.
This pod released last night is a good listen. I was not thrilled with it when I first heard it, but I am ok with it now. This pod had a lot to do with that.
Whats a TLDR of the pod?
Franklin got burned at PSU this season by hiring big name coordinators that didn't pan out well. He is therefore hiring guys he knows and trusts as coordinators from their prior work with Franklin. Based on Franklin's resume at Vandy and PSU prior to 2025, this could work out very well if VT supports Franklin as promised.
Got it. Thanks!
Hopefully he takes a reduced salary and Franklin is able to make a big-time OC hire.
Overall, the move is a gamble that probably works out OK. It will be interesting to see how he wants to scheme his defense in 2026, if he tries more of the 3-high safety look or goes in another direction.
This is also interesting from a defensive position coach hiring perspective as it makes it more likely that Price or Cheetah is retained assuming Pry can choose some of his defensive staff. Personally, I like the idea of keeping Price and JGW/Adibi/Prioleau in support roles, but not anyone else.
I can't logically understand how anyone thinks this is remotely a good idea. Is this just a matter of "In James We Trust"?
He was at least a competent DC before (and some years top 10).
If he was coming from another program as a fired coach, no one would give it much thought.
Pretty sure he's a proven DC at the P2/4 level. May not be elite but has fielded some damn good defenses in his time.
edit:
This right here that Mattboard just posted
I'm not arguing that part at all. His defenses at Penn St. were good. What I'm talking about is the fact that we just fired him because he couldn't deliver, and now we're talking about letting him right back in the locker room. The same locker room that he lost in it's entirety by halftime against ODU.
The same locker room that will be roughly 90% different than the one he had.
The same locker room that probably felt the rift that Pry was feeling from the fans, administration and boosters.
The same locker room that was feeling heat and pressure to perform under intense conditions.
I don't think he necessarily lost the locker room as much as the locker room lost hope after the USCe loss and the pressure of having to prove battle worthiness for a lame-duck coach.
By all accounts, from what i've heard first hand and elsewhere, the players loved Pry.
In a different role. That's really important here.
He's not being asked to be a head coach, he's being asked to be a DC, a position in which he's been very successful.
Exactly, the responsibilities and measureables are not the same for a DC as they are for a HC. He failed miserably as a HC.
As a DC at PSU, he was very successful. At VT, the defenses weren't successful, but that was because he didn't hire good coordinators and coaches, not because he was a bad DC.
There a many great coordinators who were promoted to HC, spectacularly failed, and then became great coordinators again. I think the list starts with the previous 2 Detroit Lions head coaches.
I don't think you can say this for certain
Especially when it doesn't fit your narrative.
Lol well if you're going to skim over every comment I make and say to yourself "well this can't be true because it's part of his narrative". Then that defeats the purpose of a conversation, and it's something you're choosing to do, for whatever reason. I can't help you on that. I can treat you the same though when you share your own opinion.
It seems like some of y'all are actually offended that I have a different perspective and won't just get on board to spin every single thing the new staff does as a positive. Sorry but that's just plain soft
We missed you DCWilson
The ONLY thing you said was "I don't think you can say this for certain." Which is just a denial of what he said without giving any substantiation as to why you say that. What roles/responsibilities make you think a head coach (who isn't also the DC - which you said he was for a year, which I countered) is tied to performance of the defense?
Plus, after I said he wasn't DC for a year, you changed your story to the HC and DC have overlapping roles.
AND, when challenged on him being a good DC, you changed your narrative to that he can only be good with elite talent.
You keep changing and finding excuses to try to support your view that he is a poor candidate as DC.
Judging from the reaction I'll refrain from taking it any further. Maybe we can discuss it another time
And hey if we get Johnson and Clarke (or similar Michigan flips) I'll split the difference and buy you a bucket at Tots next home game
You have stated what your narrative is, and you push it at every opportunity.
So in your world I can't make any more posts about the team because I took a position on the hires?
Sorry but that's not going to happen. If you don't like them just skip over them. You don't have to agree, heck you don't even have to read it
A different perspective is fine. Posting it incessantly as a response to any rational explanation or speculation gets old and tired. And, to be honest, this latest response offered nothing except a disagreement with my comment.
I post just as much as the next person, definitely not more.
Man, it's not even disagreeing. You made a claim and I'm saying let's step back, I don't know if we have enough information to know that for sure. Which unless someone was in the room with Pry during his time, I don't think we do
He wasn't the DC - I can say that for certain.
We ALL get it - you don't like the Franklin hire and you hate Pry as a coach and want him fired off into the sun. But posting the same narrative against every post that speculates why Franklin hired this person or recruited that kid gets really old fast.
I'm oddly ok with this. Now bring on Fuente as OC and we will have completed our coaching trinity 😂
I generally don't love hiring Pry as a DC. BUT! If Franklin could somehow build a world class coaching staff from exclusively VT castoffs, and win with it I would be strangely into that. That would be one hell of a movie script!
Potentials, assuming any VT link and under the age of 60
OC/OL/TE - Tyler Bowen
DL - Cornell Brown
OC/QB - Brad Cornelson
DC/LB - Todd Grantham
DB - Torrian Gray
DB - Kysheon Jarrett
OC/RB - Adam Lechtenberg
DB- Anthony Midget
DB - Brian Mitchell
WR - Aaron Moorehead
DC/LB - Tyrone Nix
WR/RB - Kevin Sherman
OC/TE/OL - Brian Stinespring
DL - Darryl Tapp
OC/WR - Holmon Wiggins
I'm not seeing a world class staff out of that.
You're definitely missing DC/LB Jack Tyler currently the DC at East Texas A&M
but if we're also just going on anyone who's coached here
OC/OL/TE Jeff Grimes
OL Vance Vice
OC/QB Scot Loeffler
CB/S Justin Hamilton
OC/QB Brad Glenn
OL Joe Rudolph
WR/RB Zohn Burden
CB/S Ryan Smith
DL Charley Wiles
Add Dyrell Roberts to that list
Glad he is getting accolades, but man can we get him somewhere else? Who is letting our guy waller in that dump of ECU? Some Hokies need to pull some strings and step him up!
"Can't you just trust that I'm a really really good defensive coordinator?" ~ Brent Pry
Honestly, I've wondered what would happen if a team had Fuente as OC and Pry as DC. As long as Corn was no where near that staff.
Would they have to share the house?
I imagine the house dynamic would be like the house in Landman
"GOD GIVE US PATIENCE"
It'd be genius if they tried that and it worked.
But fans might get out of control if it didn't work really, really fast.
Unfortunately, I think they've already paid Fuente his buyout, so VT wouldn't save any money with his hire. One huge advantage of Pry is that (I think) you're getting him for free for a while.
Franklin and Pry go back many years and had great success together. Pry's father coached Franklin in college. They know each other and can move forward with their strategies instead of focusing on getting to know each other. This will accelerate the transition.
One way to take this is that the university gave Franklin the leeway to hire whomever he saw fit, regardless of the budget and/or what the athletic department/fans thought of it.
A different view - Imagine Pry went to another peer school, say Syracuse, Kentucky, or even BC, and failed as a HC, but has the same Defensive Coordinator resume and relationship before with Franklin, and was willing to step back into a DC role for VT. We would all be thrilled.
We should also assumed he learned a lot about himself, what needs to learn and grow from, and how to level up over the last 3 years.
Here's a 3 coach blind resume comparison
Coach A: 4 years FCS position coach, 7 years FBS position coach, hired as DC
Coach B: 1 year FCS position coach, 1 year FCS DC, 2 years FBS position coach, 1 year NFL position coach, 1 year FBS position coach, hired as DC
Coach C: 2 years Div 2 position coach, 4 years FCS position coach, 8 years FBS position coach, 1 year FCS DC, 11 years FBS DC, 4 years HC, hired as DC
Rank in order who you would take
Bud Foster
Chris Marve
Brent Pry
Correct on first and last
Middle is Kirby Smart when he was hired by Alabama
Marve only had 6 years as a position coach.
hey, 2 for 3 ain't bad when I was just shootin' from the hip
How about
2 years FBS GA (defense), 2 years FBS defensive quality control, 1 year FBS assistant position coach, 1 year FBS position coach, 2 years FCS position coach, 2 years FCS DC
That was a safe FCS hire for HC, and Beamer's record for Murray State proved that.
That's actually Jack Tyler
Hm. Very similar careers.
Just read in the Roanoke Times that it's done.
im way more worried about the OC hire than Pry tbh. Apparently he interviewed at Arky and MS St but stayed here.
Should the Virginia Tech Athletic Department be renamed James Franklin Country Club or what?
In Franklin's mind, Virginia Tech was done with Pry when Pry was shown the door. So what exactly changed enough for him to think it would be totally kosher to bring him back?
Is Babcock just a total pushover and promised Franklin way too much? Should Babcock be put out his ass for more recklessness? Did he think the SEC and Big 10 would be impressed by this hire?
How about Pry's mindset? Does he really think Virginia Tech fans want him back? How can he keep pretending? Just let Franklin take the hit? He was compensated generously. Why not walk away after the damage you caused? He is a total failure. We all know it. The players quit on him. They knew he had to go. And the Big 10 was no better than the ACC just a few years ago when Pry was there. They were worse in many ways.
Babcock to Pry at time of firing: "We're going in a different direction. Your results aren't even worth bringing up because they're so bad, and we can't afford to waste another day."
Just a couple months later: "Welcome back! Glad to have you!"
Where is the outrage over this hire?? I don't get it. I could visit any five Division 3 schools and probably come away with a better candidate for DC at Tech. The guy might currently be a waterboy. You can't rule him out until interviewed. That's how useless and counterproductive Pry is.
Did Franklin even look around at all, or was he hell bent on creating his country club when he knew Whit would allow it?
He interviewed at least one other offense of coordinator who accepted the job at Ole Miss. He allegedly interviewed a handful of defensive coordinators as well, but landed on Pry after interviewing a bunch of defensive players to see if they were OK with it. Matej Sis shared this in boundary corner pod.
I think most people recognize that the skillset to be a headcoach is completely different than the skill set necessary to be a defensive coordinator. Pry clearly doesn't have the organizational chops to be a head coach. But there's a body of evidence that suggests he's somewhere between a not-that-bad and very-good defensive coordinator.
holy talk-to-text Batman!!
Yea that was sent mid dog walk
Cleaned it up for y'all
I think "Bud Foster's Agent" is arguing that hiring Pry is an offense of coordinator :p
Bud foster is on the record stating that hiring pry for dc is a great idea
He knew he wasn't up to the task when he applied to be the head coach, but if by some chance I'm wrong and he wasn't in it for the money, he should have applied somewhere else. For Virginia Tech to be the ones to rehire him after he swindled tens of millions from the school means there is no leadership in Tech's administration. It's not so much Pry's stupidity or Babcock's spinelessness as it is Franklin's audacity. Franklin is now Whit's caretaker. Notice all the props he gave Whit at the introductory press conference. Whit needed that fake endorsement.
Is this a Stu Holt burner account?
his bio states he started out as a hoo fan...cannot be trusted
These are some takes here. Not good ones, but they are takes.
Edit: Going to try to offset some of the downvotes here...its his first two comments yall
He's starting off with a bang, that's for sure.
A bang, or a whimper? I can't decide.
He's complaining about Franklin, when clearly VT's football future depends on Franklin right now. And he's talking about how Pry "swindled" millions, when Pry just signed on to be the DC, essentially for free, which means he loves the game AND VT. I don't know how it will work out, but Franklin is willing to gamble on Pry, and the price is definitely right.
You don't take that as odd? He comes in HOT, and these are his only two comments? Pretty sure he created an account just for this. Let him have the downvotes.
Edit: who creates an account just to start off negative, when a LOT of people have excitement about Franklin and the recruiting class he just brought in. Something stinks, BAD, about this account and these comments.
Daddy chill
I'm gonna ignore any more from him (assuming they are similarly inflammatory), but I get the feeling those might be the only two comments we actually hear from that account.
How would he have known this? Plenty of coordinators find out that the head coaching job is not the same as the coordinator job. Even ones that go on to successful head coaching careers elsewhere sometime don't excel at the first place they are the HC.
This is quite the accusation. Coaching hires don't work out all the time. If VT wasn't ready to pay out the money agreed to in the contract, they should have never signed it in the first place. I'm not a big fan of these deals personally, but if the school agrees to it, then they are bound to pay it.
I think swindled is quite a stretch. Did he provide the desired results? Absolutely not but to swindle implies such a negative connotation and is just mud slinging.
definition of swindle - "use deception to deprive (someone) of money or possessions."
Id say lane kiffin swindled Ole Miss
Whit Babcock might've swindled himself and the Athletic Department hiring coaches for high above their market price. It's not like we didn't spend on the last staff or on NIL
You have all of two comments, this one and the one before complaining about hiring Pry. It's almost as if you created this account JUST to bitch about that. You clearly didn't read through the thread to see why some people don't consider it a bad hire, or you did ACTUALLY create this account just to bitch about this. Is this really Sam Siefkes? DC Wilson? Rayo?
Hell, you insulted Pry, Franklin, and Babcock. Maybe I get Babcock, but as far as any of us know, he had next to nothing to do with this hire - there was a whole search committee (that he was not on), and most everyone on here likes the Franklin hire. And, given the way you're bitching about Babcock, it seems like you're unaware of the process of how Franklin was hired.
So I don't know what exactly your deal is, but I'm guessing not an actual Tech fan and someone who created this account just to bitch about Pry. I hope nobody else on here gives you the time of day.
If someone makes a post with different opinion than you it's bitching, but if they agree with you it's just sharing their opinion
When you use words like stupidity, spinelessness, and audacity, that's just bitching. If you give thought out rationale as to why you disagree with something, that's having a discussion and hoping for a well-reasoned response.
In your case, you kept changing your argument to support your notion, then just stated the opposite of someone with absolutely no reasoning.
I don't mind if people have different opinions than me, I just ask that they provide some thought behind it and then we can discuss. I'm even willing to change my opinion if someone else can give me a better reasoning for their stance than I have for mine. Some people will blindly look for people who believe the same as they do, and take consensus to be stronger than reason. I like learning, so I like hearing WHY people think what they do. And even if someone has the same opinion as me, but based on poor reasoning, I'll question them on that as well.
So no, having an opinion different than mine is not bitching, but what Bud Foster's Agent was doing was definitely bitching.
It's totally consistent and I explained it out multiple times, if you can't follow it that's not my problem. Adding more context (that you asked for) is not changing the overall idea.
Agree to disagree, he's being a bit hyperbolic and I rolled my eyes reading it but that doesn't dismiss the point. And love it or hate, it does take a lot of audacity to bring back the guy that just got fired
You: Pry is a bad DC.
Me: He had top 10 defenses at Penn State
You: He's only good with elite talent.
That isn't context that I can't follow, that's you changing your narrative from him being a purely bad DC, to he's only bad if he doesn't have elite talent. Which you didn't actually provide any evidence for, such as times he was DC and had very poorly performing defenses, other than that you thought he was DC here for a year, and I previously pointed out that he was not.
I'm not going to defend Rayo here. But I am going to say that Penn State had a good defense before Pry arrived as DC and an even better defense after he left. I'm not saying Pry wasn't a good DC. I am saying that his record at PSU could be fools gold.
I'm skeptical of his ability to put an elite defense on the field. I think having talent advantages will help tremendously. I expect JMFF will be able to get the type of talent that VT would need to beat most of the ACC. I think with elite talent Pry will field a good defense. I don't know that it will ever be elite.
This is the type of conversation I like. I had only looked at the defensive rankings while he was there, but he was coordinator for a number of years. I feel like you can luck into having a really good defense if you're a DC for like 2 years, but if you can sustain it, that says something as well. I assume part of a defense's success also has to be the position coaches and how well they are developing the players, in addition to the schemes you run. Some of it is also dependent on your schedule and quality of opponents.
If I was feeling better, I might go dig up a lot of data including year-end rankings for their opponents, whether their opponents ranked in top offenses, I'd look at years from before Pry got there to after he left with all the same data. I'd also look at his defenses from before, but that's a little more complicated because he was listed as co-DC prior to being named sole DC at Penn State and also co-DC at Vanderbilt. Oh, I'd probably also look at what position coaches may have come and gone while he was DC.
Main point though, is that he was DC for 5 years, so I'd think it would be harder to string together, I think it was three non-consecutive top ten defenses and the other two years if I'm remembering correctly were top twenty.
Like you, I'm interested to see what talent level they can recruit at Tech. Some people are good recruiters. Mike London inexplicably was able to recruit two 5-stars to UVA and then promptly did nothing with them. But he did get them to go there. So maybe Franklin and some of his staff are EXCELLENT recruiters and maybe we see better talent levels than we ever have (wouldn't that be something!?). But only time will tell.
I didn't deep dive quite as deeply as you would like. But I do think it's interesting how his defenses pinballed. In 6 years he had 3 top 8 units. In the other 3 years, 23 (not bad) 47 and 55 (meh).
If he went 55, 47, 23, 8, 7, 7 that would be one thing. The volatility of it concerns me tho. Makes me feel like he might be getting credit that he doesn't deserve.
On the other hand, Franklin trusts him. I believe Franklin really wants to win. I don't think he'd take a gamble on this opportunity. So I hope Pry is as good as some people think he is. I'm just not sold.
I want to look at a few things, but one thing off the top of my head is, I would take 2020 out altogether. That season was so effed up from COVID, with tons of players opting out, shortened seasons, players having to sit out games from COVID protocols, etc. (I want to say we had a third string, walk-on linebacker playing for us for two or three games that never would have happened in any other year, as an example). I don't think you can make any judgements on anything that happened that year. 47, 7, 23, 8, 7 looks much better without that 55 in there from 2020.
And of the two you listed as meh, the 47 was his first as sole DC, and, as mentioned, I'd take the 55 out altogether.
Pry at Georgia Southern had them 9th in Total Defense as DC.
Georgia southern ran the triple then. This is exactly why total defense is a useless stat.
Ah the classic "I knew from the beginning this guy was not going to be good" take. Classic. Let's face it. No you didn't. And guess what, nobody knows how's Franklin will do.
(found it on yarn, btw)
Every coach does this. Its kinda how the industry works, you take the guys with you that perform well.
Also welcome to tkp
DCWilson, is that you??
I appreciate your takes, BF Agent. I don't necessarily agree with them because at this point, I'm all in on whatever Franklin wants or needs. But I do like to see some fiery fans upset at an, awkward at best, hire of Pry for DC.
I doubt it. DC's pretty positive about Franklin, and this doesn't start off that way.
Edit: I straight up asked DC about it last night. It's not him.
Wasnt DC banned pre Franklin hire though?
Yes but LBT is irl friends with DCwilson so he would know
What's the backstory on the ban?
I don't know it and it would be unfair to the parties involved for me to speculate.
I'll speculate:
It all began at DCWilsons eleventy-first birthday party. He gave an elaborate speech and suddenly disappeared without warning, shocking all those in attendance. He left all his turkey legs to his nephew who he de facto adopted. That gentlemen left the region during the night taking his gardener with him.
Note: this may be wildly inaccurate.
This story line sounds familiar... Oh, I know! You stole this from Star Wars, didn't you?
It was Babylon 5, and you know it! /shakes fist
Babylon 5 got it from the original British version, Babylon 9 3/4.
LBT has stayed several times that he and DC are friends in real life. I'm sure they've talked off-TKP since the Franklin hire.
Well that makes sense then. I miss that guy.
You aren't the only one.
Thanks for the update. I'm honestly a little surprised you even had to ask. I think anyone who has been here more than 2 years would know that it didn't sound like DC. I know a lot of us give him grief for his bombastic style but his style was clear and consistent. This poster just didn't match that. I knew it wasn't DC
I knew it wasn't him either. I guess I should have added the /s.
I appreciated his style.
DC was much smarter than this guy. Even when he would engage in the goalpost moving we all hated, there was usually something more substantial to his initial positions than the conspiracy-brained mumbo jumbo above.
I'm pretty much with you, except for a D3 guy being a better hire for DC. Part of the DC job is gameplanning and feel for playcall. While player development appears to be lacking for Pry (it was god awful here and he was blessed with 4 and 5 stars at Penn State) his gameplanning and feel for what to call in a game should at least be an upgrade over what we've had since Bud.
This seems like any athletic department that hires Franklin. But he's certainly not showing a lot of introspection on what went wrong at Penn State, or adjusting to his new job. Only hire I've been impressed with so far is the VMI guy
I think it absolutely is showing introspection. Franklin was successful until he deviated from people he was familiar with. That's the lesson he believes he learned, and he's is going back to what (who) he knows.
^^This^^
Franklin appears to be leaning in on what helped make him successful in the first place - going back to what is familiar. And I'll keep saying it... This is the easiest path back to really good VT football. He has a massive rebuild on his hands and having a familiar staff, where cohesiveness shouldn't be an issue, is a massive weight that he wont have to bear as the rebuild takes place.
I'm beginning to suspect that this isn't Bud Foster's agent ....
I thought all of CFB just worked with Jimmy Sexton now to cut down on office space
Did we ever get confirmed contact details for pry as DC? Are we offsetting the football money pool with general fund buyout money? What's the numbers look like?
We haven't gotten anything confirmed for any of the hires that I know of. I have the feeling that Franklin is waiting to have everyone on board before an official announcement, so we are likely waiting until after the PSU bowl game. TwoDeep mentioned the possibility of finalizing titles (Co-ordinators, assistants, recruiting roles, etc) causing some slow-down, but I don't think that's getting in the way of announcing who you're hiring, just some of the finer contract details.
I feel like when a completely new staff joins, We always get this information around summertime. I'm not sure if that's due to the fiscal year ending in June, if that's how long it takes for a FOIA request to be filed, or I'm just imagining this all in my head.
I like the hire. We hired Franklin to lead the program and he is gonna live/die with his decisions. I respect that. Culture matters to us Hokies and we love a good redemption story and at times think differently than others might who have no heart. Nothing tells us that Pry can't be a rock solid DC and have success at a top level. I'll choose to root for this to work for now and if it doesn't will look for Franklin to be swift in moving on and hold all his coaches accountable for results. Good luck Brent!
Yup.
I threw DV's at both comments because accusing Pry, Babcock and Franklin of professional malfeasance bordering on corruption is beyond the pale. Pry and Babcock have consistently demonstrated a deep love for Virginia Tech and the athletics department in their time at VT and have undoubtedly made countless sacrifices to improve the programs they oversee. Franklin has demonstrated professionalism and leadership in his career with a high level of success in an uber-competitive industry. I highly doubt BFA can provide any credentials to back up his flaming indictment of the integrity and dedication that these three men have demonstrated over decades of professional work. Let the man cook.
And again...Yup.
Man I stayed away from this thread because I could see the negativity coming a mile away and.... Yep
Threads like this convince me that some people aren't happy unless they are miserable all the time. Personally, I think Franklin putting the band back together here with an actual competitive budget deeper in the heart of the region he was always recruiting in a conference much easier to compete in than where he was is like inviting a fox family into the henhouse. Pry proved himself a great DC under Franklin before, absolutely no reason he can't do it again just like how Steve Spagnolo was a terrible head coach but still one of the best DCs in the NFL with the Chiefs.
I think people's hearts are getting in the way of their heads a little. It's awkward. Fans wanted a breakup and instead we're in a FWB situationship still.
Get results on the field and all will be forgotten. But damn if this defense is anything worse than probably 30th in the country next year, a good portion of the VT fanbase will be calling for Pry's head (whether it's deserved or not).
You are right, but at the same time 30th would be an astronomical improvement on where we were with only the Yards per Game not being ranked below 110th, and that was only because our offense was so bad it gave up countless short fields
VT Defense Value (rank)
Opp Points/Game 32.4 (#113)
Opp Yards/Game 399.9 (#84)
Opp Points/Play 0.482 (#117)
Opp Yards/Play 6.0 (#110)
Opp 3D Conv % 46.32% (#124)
Opp 4D Conv % 66.67% (#117)
Opp RZ Scoring % 92.31% (#130)
I'd suggest we build a statue if the man if we could get to 30th in 1 season
Wow, I knew it was bad, but that gives a whole new perspective.
If we get into the top 50 in all categories in one season, I'd consider that a win. Then, top 10 in year 2!
Dude, if we get to top 30 next year, I'd be over the fucking moon! Talk about a turnaround. Given our current roster, I'd be happy with top 50.
So would I!
If anybody makes assertions about how we should be 30th or higher, without first seeing what the roster turnover looks like, needs to check their expectations. We were BAD this year. We got some nice recruits signed, but we're still pretty far off of a roster that should/would could be ranked that high. If we get a lot of good transfers in from Penn State and other schools, then maybe it would be a reasonable expectation. As of now, I'm giving the dude some time to put together a roster and a year before I start having any expectations beyond incremental improvement.
Yeah, some people have pie in the sky expectations. We have FR coming in that will help but, I don't expect the world of them yet.
The pie in the sky expectations aren't completely unreasonable tho. In the last few years with free transfers and nil we've watched teams all over the country completely overhaul their rosters in a single off season. Just look at Uva. It's certainly possible. I get the sense that a lot of folks around here are still stuck in the mental model of "it takes a few years to get the guys in to the system so let's not have expectations for a few seasons" and I just don't buy into that bullshit anymore. 10 years ago, sure. But now? No way. Good coaches can take a team from 3-9 to 9-3 basically over night now.
True, but most teams still aren't an overnight success, that is the outlier.
Is it possible in Blacksburg? Absolutely.
Will I be shocked if we see moderate improvement instead of a super fast turnaround? Not at all.
You're not kidding. Saw this on FB yesterday.
In my CFB 26 dynasty yeah
Gotta love the off-seaon
Interesting insight from Bud Foster on his podcast regarding the pry hire - high level Bud is very on board with the hire and think it was a great decision.
https://fosterandfriends.buzzsprout.com/2130828/episodes/18379208
also alludes to additional UVA alums who may become coaches for us
But what does Foster's agent think??
Huh I guess that really wasn't his agent, huh
Andy Bitter posted the Pry DC contract details over on TSL
https://virginiatech.sportswar.com/article/2025/12/19/details-on-brent-p...
Looks like we are essentially getting a good deal on a DC with the reduced buyout and reasonable salary after the buyout cash is spent
$0.2M 2025
$3.0M 2026
$3.3M 2027
$1.6M 2028
$0.4M 2029
$8.5M for 3 years as a DC + buyout.
It's a very solid deal considering VT could have been paying this AND a DC salary for the next two years. Saved around $2.5M for the rebuilding efforts.
So it looks like he is basically just getting his buyout and then if he is here in 2028, he would get paid $2M to be the DC. That is some real $ for a DC, but knowing how things escalate in college football, that will likely be just inside top 25 or something crazy.
$2m would make him the 10th highest assistant of 2024 source
But what would 2M in 2028 make him? Its essentially the same cash flow as the buyout for us and then 2M in 2028