Texas A&M defensive line coach Sean Spencer is a target for the defensive line coach job at Virginia Tech, sources tell @CBSSports.Spencer, who has been at A&M the last two years, worked with new VT head coach James Franklin and DC Brent Pry at Penn State from 2014-19. pic.twitter.com/mlTDgqYlmp— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 21, 2025
It seems that his best years were when he was working under Franklin and Pry at Penn State. He was also one of the recruiters for Parsons and Barkley.
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Going to watch how he does. Tough to judge but he had three 5 🌟 on his line this year and they were only 19th in yards per play and allowed over 4 ypc in the rushing game.
{checks VT's defense stats this year}
I'll take it.
Likelihood of us having three 5 🌟 and seven 4 🌟 DL to work with though?
Give them credit on sack %. Got to the QB on over 11% of passing opportunities. Seems like really good against the pass but mediocre against the run but didnt watch enough of them to say if that was a DL problem or a LB problem or both.
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/team/texas-am-aggies/stats
You make a good point. All I'm saying is that I see the possibility of serious improvement, and I'll accept a top 25 DL. I'm also hoping the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. This guy is a proven P2 coach.
For the time being, In Franklin I Trust.
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/team/virginia-tech-hokies
TAMU had:
There's an argument this guy isn't great - he got fired as (co?)-DC at UF. But it's also not like Texas A&M is trying to get rid of him. This is a poach.
Adding to this... Spencer last 4 stops are TAMU, UF, the Giants, and PSU. Per wiki, he had 4 draft picks and another 2 who received all big 10 honors in three years coaching at PSU:
Actually Elko was already working on hiring over Spencer. He tried to keep Elijah Robinson on staff when he replaced Jimbo Fisher but Robinson went to Syracuse to be the DC/AHC at Syracuse. Robinson got demoted by Fran Brown so was seeking an exit back to A&M.
Regardless, Spencer is an absolute upgrade over what has been here and hopefully can bring his Coach Chaos persona to our DL.
I can dig it
This is a big time hire. LFG!
What does this mean for JC?
There are a lot of rumors/reports that he is taking an off the field role for medical reasons.
Then that's an excellent solution. Keeping him would be big for morale and donors (he's extremely well liked and know Pry has a soft spot for him).
Happy. And hope he took a lot of notes from Elko to share
We are building out a staff of guys who have done it before and done it at a very high level with a lower budget in a much better conference.
From where we have been the last couple years, I really don't know how anyone can be disappointed with these moves. All of these moves together should vault us back to the top of the ACC almost immediately.
Yeah but why didnt we poach nick saban to be LB coach and ryan day for qbs? Are we not even serious?
splash splash!!
And what if it doesn't? What then? I'm not disagreeing with you, but thought it would be interesting to play devil's advocate here.
Let's say Franklin only wins 5 games year 1 and like 7 in year two. How will we feel then? What will we need to see in year 3 to feel good about this hire?
If recruiting and donations are up, then it's fine. If they've flatlined/are declining then it's a problem.
for the critical thinking fan who can see beyond wins, sure. But for a majority of us who just see Ws and Ls, I think the fanbase would be up in arms if Franklin only wins 12 games in 2 years.
You know what's wild: excluding the covid season, that would literally be the worst two year stretch of JMMF's headcoaching career. He won 14 games his first two seasons at PSU. He won 16 his last two seasons ('24 & '25).
So maybe 12 wins in 2 season would signal something to be alarmed about.
yeah, I think it absolutely would be. FTR, I don't think he'll do that badly
VT plays in the ACC. We need to go to a bowl next year or all this momentum will dry up quicker than my front yard in August. If he only wins 12 games in the next years the alarm bells need to be going off 24/7 and a deafening decibel level.
7-5 or 13-0. Im not picky for year one.
It's a good question. I kind of feel like we still have that "patient fanbase" that would be alright seeing a 2+ win improvement from year 1 to year 2 and be willing to give year 3 a fair shake. Not everyone, but i think that'd be the most popular stance.
We won 3 this year and pissed away 3 more games that should've been wins. With what we had and the coaching we had, we really were a 5-6 win team. Pretty sure Franklin and Co. will not be worse than that; that's hard to imagine.
Curious what games you think we pissed away this year besides Wake.
My biggest gripe with the Pry era was it felt like we would do everything possible to end up with 3 more L's a year than we deserved. But for the most part this year, it seems like the games we lost we basically just got our ass kicked.
Vandy only other one that comes to mind for me
SCar doesn't fit since you can't piss away a game you never led in.
Maybe Louisville? Only other one with a second half lead right?
I wouldn't even put Vandy in this category. IMO they were the superior team both from a raw talent and a coaching/discipline perspective. They just played with their food for the first half.
Yeah there were other games we had a shot in, but to me "pissed away" means VT was decidedly better and did very stupid things to pull a defeat from the jaws of victory. My "piss away" games of the Pry era would be:
FIFY
Yeah, that's probably how i should've worded it.
I was thinking Wake, Vandy and Scar games. Felt like we were very much the better team in the SC game and definitely so in the Wake game. The Vandy and Louisville games we had a chance, but like someone else said, they stopped playing around after halftime. Probably more like 2 winnable games but point still stands, I don't think Franklin will allow any worse
It's going to be interesting to see if Franklin can be victorious over the "coastal chaos" that has taken over the whole ACC. High spending universities, and good programs like FSU, Miami, and Clemson haven't found the answer yet. FSU was the last team to go undefeated in league play. What are people's thoughts about that?
Since eligibility rules will be removed it willbe good to have a guy that recruit Parsons snd Barkley to VT, I think we could mske some waves with those guys
I'm not young enough any more to keep track of a Rayo and a Nayo
via GIPHY
What about mayo though? Does anyone have any thoughts?
I'm good thanks, doesn't rhyme in my head when i read it
Rayo, Nayo, and Mayo don't rhyme????? how are you reading these in your head?
Rye-o, nye-o, and may-o
I needed this laugh rn more than you'll ever know, so thanks for that
Applause such a great response for so many reasons. This really got me laughing.
Matej has upgraded our status from targeting to expected to hire Spencer.
replay review?
I see the targeting, expecting, confirmed spectrum more like weather warnings. They mean something, but I'm not really sure what.
Do we have tacos on the plate or bowls of taco ingredients sitting on the counter?
Ben just called for roughing the passer.
#GoACC
In my unbiased opinion, this is a great hire. You can always trust a Sean. Be wary of Shawns, though, and run the other way from Shauns.
I need some Chaos in my life. It's good for you in doses
https://x.com/spencechaos/status/2003577823920013534?s=61&t=Q_LiV9Kp7sK0...
Confirmed I think
Couldn't have given him fresh swag to get a photo?
Glug glug
Give me that Sacksburg action Coach Chaos. 💥 💥 💥
Run game coordinator, is that for real? I understand the DL coach being able to offer valuable input for the offense, but that seems like a strange double role to have.
Run game coordinator for the defense. Wiles had the same title a few years ago
Ah, got it, thanks. I had no idea.
Run game uncoordinator, amirite?
Yes
Run game chaos agent.
Keep your eye on this.... Spencer was a big reason he committed to A&M
Dear god, yes!
I hope January 2nd is a massive day in Hokie history with guys like this coming to the good guys
6-3 239 DE Rylan Kennedy is in the portal too from A&M
Good. Outside of linebacker, I'd say edge is the position of most need on defense.
Solomon, pls.
We're gonna need a bigger boat..
The good news just keeps coming our way.
Let's go!