DC Announcement Pry-ssr

I know a lot of people have probably already seen at least part of this and heard a handful of breakdowns, but I wanted to create this post anyway. I put this one together a little differently. I don't like posting transcripts, because I think it invites people to read the text and not watch the video and, in doing so, lose some of the nuance or context to the conference. Anyway, to save myself some time, this is a copy-paste of the youtube transcript that I attempted to edit for clarity and to be slightly more brief, I apologize in advance for any wonky wording or formatting. I took out commentary about Moore and the schedule because they have their own threads and I didn't think they were worth the space on this, already lengthy, post.

On S&C interview process and Ferguson's Promotion:
"[We] went through an interview process and had four candidates for the position. I wanted Jarrett to be the guy at the end and he was."

"[I'm] excited about what Jarrett brings to our program. The mental and physical toughness, the accountability. Everything that helped shape him as a player I see in him as a coach and, I'm excited about the feedback from our players and staff is already very positive."

On the DC interview process:
"[We] couldn't be more excited about Sam, as we went through the process he just kept impressing me. I kept hearing positive things, I kept learning things that kept moving the
needle for Sam."

"Our search process is never going to be rushed, I want to get the right people
for our players, for our staff, for me, for Virginia Tech. I just don't believe
that those are any type of decision that you rush."

"We had 10 serious candidates, 6 of which I met with in person. Most of those were 4 hour interviews, two others multiple phone conversations and zooms, and then the 9th and 10th multiple conversations, zooming wasn't necessary."

"These searches take on a life of their own and we took a genuine and honest approach to it... ...the coaching carousel and the coordinator carousel kind of all feeds off of one another so [we] didn't want to rush it and make a hasty decision."

On Sam's previous experience/accomplishments:
"[At Walford he coached] the number one defense in the league back-to-back years and the number one rushing defense back-to--back years. Year one with a 3-4 scheme, because that's what personnel allowed and year two a 4-3 scheme because that
was what the Personnel mandated."

"What they do at the Arizona Cardinals with situational football [is something] I hadn't been around, hadn't seen. Not everybody's doing it, not at that level. [They are] specific and thorough with situational football, which was a weakness for us... ...[Sam] was very involved in Arizona's many facets of game planning. When you have two NFL head coaches reach out and tell me that this guy is going to be a successful coordinator in the NFL, that's impactful."

"In the end the confidence I had that he'll lead our defensive coaches, our defensive players, and that we will improve defensively. That made the decision for me."

QandA:
Q: I think this was a name that not a lot of casual fans had heard of before this process. When did he come on your radar, who put him on your radar?

Pry: "I did know about Sam... ...Jesse Luketa is out there playing at Arizona, that was the first conversation. I talk to Jesse often enough, just kind of about the coaching and the scheme out there. Of course Ryan Smith is coaching out there, Ryan GA'd for me at Penn State and coached here."

"We garnered candidates from multiple phone calls that we received and also looked analytically at who's fielded some really quality defenses over the last couple years at different places, of course agents talk and field names. Mike Hazel did a great job with the surface-level initial research on guys and we had a working list of 20 candidates, we zeroed things in and then we took it down to 10 and Sam made that 10."

Q: You said in December you were looking for somebody that has experience in calling plays. Sam has a little bit of that, but none of it at the power five level. What did you see in him through the interview process that made you comfortable with this hire even without that wealth of experience behind it?

Pry: "I think a couple of things, his five years coordinating is very valuable. He has a path similar to my own and his ability to do what he did at Wofford and at Platteville. To go to a new place with new challenges and do it again that's impressive, that's consistency at a high level. He had productive defenses and did it at Wafford with two different structures. Not many guys that I know have done that, that's challenging."

"As I mentioned, his football IQ is very impressive and then the NFL experience to me [the Cardinals] are doing it at the highest level. The game planning, the play calling, the situational defenses and the guys that he was around are some of the best and when they're telling me that he's ready to do this and they know he's going to be an NFL coordinator, head coach one day."

"That needle just kept moving for Sam. He's composed, he's poised, he's got confidence. A lot of things and traits that I look for that say he's he's more than
capable."

Q: In the press release you mentioned he's defensive coordinator, is he going to coach a specific position or is he going to oversee the entire defense as the coordinator?

Pry: "He'll oversee it all, he'll be a walk around coordinator."

Q: Do you expect to fill an inside linebacker position in terms of coaching?

Pry: "Sam gets in town late [1/29/25] and he's going to meet with each of our defensive coaches and then he and I are going to sit down at the beginning of the week and kind of sort through position responsibilities and needs. Do we bring in an additional quality control person to assist him with some things who is familiar with the package? So, we still have some work to do there"

Q: You mentioned in December there would be additional shuffling or adjustments on the coaching staff, is he going to be part of handling that?

Pry: "yes he will"

Q: You mentioned the multiple schemes he ran. When he was talking to you about the scheme he envisioned, when you look at the scheme you've run the last three years, is that what he wants to do or are you open to having him adjust the scheme to how he sees fit with the Personnel?

Pry: "I'm not just open to it, I'm excited about it. What he ran at Wofford and what they do in Arizona I'm excited about. I think it involves us over the next several weeks sitting down watching film, watching cut-ups, having discussions about what we've done well that we want to keep, what marries up well with what he wants to do, and what our personnel will allow."

Q: You bring up Wofford a lot and the SOCON. A lot of people might say that FCS experience isn't quite as valuable as FBS experience. Can you explain why you think it is and what the intricacies are in the SOCON that made that experience worthwhile?

Pry: "Again, my personal experiences in that league and what it meant to me. I coached in that League at Western Carolina and at Georgia Southern there's good football players, there's good coaches, it's competitive and you know when you win the league back-to-back years and you do it on the back of your defense it speaks
Volumes"

Q: Sam hasn't called a defense since 2019. When you look at bringing Bud Foster in his advisory role, how much is that going to help, especially early on as Sam gets his feet wet?

Pry: "Obviously, Sam's excited about Bud being involved, I'm excited about it. That's one of the other things we'll work through, what is that really going to look like, what does Bud want it to be, what do we need it to be, but I'm excited about that and for Sam the opportunity to spend time with Bud attractive as well"

Q: During the 7-week process of vetting and getting to Sam when you're attacking the transfer portal, do you think of potential players to fit the mold that can have flexibility and be able to fit multiple schemes?

Pry: "No I don't think so, we wanted talented guys with proven skill sets that fit our locker room. We had 40 official visits in 13 days while we were preparing for a January 3rd bowl game. Outstanding job by the staff. We wanted as many options as we could get on the table and then we can pick and choose what guys we bring into this roster, but I feel good."

Q: You mentioned what the Cardinals do defensively a couple times. Could you explain, maybe in layperson terms, what is so unique about how they approach their defense and what Sam's role was in that?

Pry: "It's multiple fronts, so 4-3, 5-2, 6-1. Challenging stuff whether it's pre- snap or post-snap. The ability to play with three safeties on the field there's some teams
doing that and that's been attractive to me for a couple of years now and they do a really nice job with it and when you're coaching the middle linebackers you're at the center point of it all, that's a challenging spot when you're coaching all of those moving parts that guy better be really strong and do a nice job with it."

Q: You brought in a lot of safeties in this class. Did you do that with the anticipation perhaps adding (unintelligible)?

Pry: "It's been on my mind. I want that field overhang player to have those types of qualities to give us flexibility, whether we hired Sam or not we were going to start to dabble in it."

Q: What were the challenges of recruiting defensive players in the portal when they didn't know who their defensive coordinator was going to be?

Pry: "It was easier when you're a defensive head coach and you've got some proven success. You can talk their language and so there's reassurance there and then obviously with the defensive staff intact, Xavier Adibi did a great job with linebackers and Shaun Quinn helped out there as well, so we were able to still be pretty aggressive and I think we did a bang up job."

Q: Did the number of power programs searching for a coordinator complicate or slow your search at all?

Pry: "That was a small factor, to be honest we had a candidate coaching in the championship game and that's what probably delayed it more than anything. I was going to stick to the process, we'd done too much homework, too much work, too many conversations. We were going to see it through, which takes some work. That coordinator carousel was rolling all the time and you're talking to other head coaches and you know trying to stay one step ahead of it."

Q: While Sam has called defenses he has never recruited at the FBS or P4 level. How do you envision him in the recruiting process?

Pry: "We'll have to still talk through whether he'll be one of the 10 coaches on the road. More and more your coordinators are remaining on campus and with the ability to put other coaches on the road, that's something we'll talk about, but one of the questions that I asked people that I know and trust about Sam is people skills, relatability, a guy that I trust and love, Jesse Luketa, absolutely loves Sam as a person, just spoke volumes about him and Jesse is salt of the Earth, so things like that help you feel good about that process and obviously the NFL piece, more and more college players want that NFL touch in their development, they want NFL film, they want NFL techniques and certainly Sam's going to bring that to us."