Coming Off Injury, Virginia Tech OL Brody Meadows Looking To Make His Mark

BLACKSBURG, Va. — One phrase was persistent when talking to Virginia Tech offensive lineman Brody Meadows Friday: consistency.

That applies in consistent availability — Meadows sustained a foot injury in the preseason and did not play in 2025 — an issue that dogged the unit in 2025. Head coach James Franklin said after practice that in conversations with offensive line coach Matt Moore and assistant offensive line coach Jens Danielsen, the staff had expressed that they thought they were working with a unit that possessed five to six capable players ready to go out.

For a two-deep that needs to reach as close to 10 players as possible, it's essentially a recipe for disaster. And Virginia Tech found itself in trouble immediately. Both Meadows and graduate transfer Jaden Muskrat missed the entire season, clearing two of Virginia Tech's top seven linemen off the books before the campaign had even got underway. Graduate student Montavious Cunningham was restrained to four games (all starts), forcing Virginia Tech to turn to a litany of redshirt freshmen.

Meadows' injury was initially a short-term deal, but the persistent nature made the team decide to "go ahead and get it fixed early", ending Meadows' junior season.

"They felt like they had five or six guys [last year] they could put out there on the field, and just razor-thin from a depth standpoint, so I do think we have more depth," Franklin said. "Where we're at with our starting line ranked in the ACC or nationally, I'm not sure. ... But I like how those guys are working. I think we're getting better every single day. We have good size and good options. We've got to rep the heck out of the seven guys that we think are truly first-teamers, and figure out who the best five are."

In Meadows' last injury-free year, he played 304 snaps in 2024 at guard, logging a 63.6 overall offensive grade on Pro Football Focus. Throughout camp, he has worked at right guard, part of a lineup that should welcome Cunningham back into the fold while also seeing center Kyle Altuner — he started all 12 games in 2025 — come back, too.

Right now, Virginia Tech's offensive line seems to have either Justin Terry (Ohio State, West Virginia) or Logan Howland (Oklahoma) as the man at left tackle, and returnee Layth Ghannam at left guard. Altuner and Meadows seem set to start at center and right guard, respectively, while Cunningham has done reps at right tackle. Aidan Lynch, who was on the second-team at right tackle during Aug. 6's practice, also garnered a mention from Meadows.

"We have four great competitors at offensive tackle, and each day they're rotating different sides and different reps, and it's just really competitive," Meadows said. "This is the most competitive room I've been in since being here at Tech."

That also applies to the strength of the unit. All but one of the 22 offensive linemen on the roster now weigh above 300 pounds, a byproduct of new strength and conditioning coach Chuck Losey's weight regiments and an upgraded nutritioning.

"Credit to the strength staff and the nutritionists — this whole summer, they've been honest about eating right, sleeping right, training right, and for us to get strong and not just be big, but be built," Meadows said. "It really starts with nutrition. [Director of football sports nutrition Austin Mark and football assistant dietitian Avery McKinney are] giving us like detailed plans of how to eat, when to eat. And then Coach Losey's just killing us in the training room. I mean, he is doing his job."

Here's the O-line clusters for today's fall camp:

1st: Terry, Ghannam, Altuner, Meadows, Cunningham

2nd: Howland, Austin, Ricard, Eziuka, Lynch#Hokies
— Thomas Hughes (@thomashughes_05) August 6, 2026

That's not to say Virginia Tech's offensive line has stayed entirely healthy. Offensive tackle Johnny Garrett, who figured to be in the two-deep and potentially be a starter at right tackle, is out with a "long-term injury", per Virginia Tech. Howland and Terry missed the spring due to injuries, but both are practicing and appear to be trending towards being fine for Week 1 against VMI (Sept. 5). One thing that's helped with the collective process is the community between the offensive linemen.

Meadows and the other O-linemen have gone to cookouts and karaoke nights at Moore's house, where Meadows has belted out "Chicken Fried" by Zach Brown Band on numerous occasions.

Does Moore sing? Apparently, according to Meadows, yes. The exact songs are unknown, but Meadows remarked that they're songs from the 1980s and 1990s.

"Trust me, a couple of us are some rough singers," Meadows joked.

But back to the football: Moore's biggest lesson that has been bestowed onto Meadows has been consistency.

"There are good days, bad days," Meadows said of what he's learned from the O-line coach. "Just be consistent. Like, don't get emotional. Just be the same person each day, and that's all you can ask for."

It's also been getting the group out of doing just football. That includes the cook outs and the karaoke, but also making sure the guys know that there's more to life than just football, even if that is the main focus.

"Coach Moore is huge for the players, like hey, life is not all about football," Meadows said. "We've still gotta be students, we've still gotta be sons, brothers, whatever thtat may be. So, he's shown us great respect for that."

That's helped serve as a grounder for Meadows, who now finds himself entering his fifth year of college football. What would he say to those freshmen whose shoes he once occupied?

"You just keep fighting, keep going, keep going, and keep going," Meadows said. "As a freshman, you're gonna make a lot of mistakes. The biggest part about those mistakes is just learning from that mistake. It's OK to fail as long as you learn from that fail."

Virginia Tech experienced tremendous upheaval last season in the midst of Meadows' injury. His then-head coach Brent Pry was fired after an 0-3 start, followed by Franklin's hiring just over two months later.

And all this happened when Meadows was sidelined after playing in 24 games over the previous two seasons. The 6-foot-7, 332-pound then-redshirt junior figured to be an option for the Hokies, but now, he's back and ready to realize that.

"After you come off an injury like that, you just have to make your mind up," Meadows said. "I'm gonna be all in, leave nothing on the table. I have nothing to lose, just get the job done."

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