Everything From Virginia Tech HC Brent Pry On Wednesday Ahead of Week 2

Virginia Tech football head coach Brent Pry spoke to the media following Wednesday's practice; here's the entirety of what he had to say.

Brent Pry Media Availability (9/3/25) pic.twitter.com/fi6uptpZSO
— Kolby Crawford (@kolby_crawford) September 3, 2025

On Takye Heath:

"Good. I tell you, he is a really exceptional kid. Been through a lot since he's been here and always got that nice smile and he keeps persevering and I'm happy that he's in a good place. So, we need him. He's very talented and he's got a big heart, good teammate."

Q: You've said that a couple times about [how] you didn't think [that] he was going to make it at some points. Is it like that with a lot of players that come through programs or do do many of them come back from the brink like that?

"I think that's part of it. I mean, some of them, there's just greater challenges when they get here and it's not just in Year 1. Sometimes it's Year 2 and it's when things compound. And maybe it's an injury or there's a family issue or there's a a playing time issue or there's some trouble or maybe it's school. And it just, it's a lot and fortunately, he stuck with it and [wide receivers coach Fontel Mines] has done a good job with him and [assistant wide receivers coach Cam Phillips] and comes from a good program. Loren [Johnson, Heath's high school coach] did a good job with him in high school and good family and just what y'all asked him. I mean, you go out there, you're finally excited, you're going to play, you go out there against Rutgers. And I mean, for an 18-, 19-year-old kid, that is a lot, it's hard to go through that kind of stuff. So, anyways, he's in a good place and we need him. He can help us this year."

Q: Could you see in like your conversations with him recently that [the] fire, that drive was still there even when you're discussing if he is on the brink of being able to play at this level or not?

"It's not so much play at this level. It's the sacrifice and investment and how hard it is and adversity and sometimes it's easy for guys to quit and as much as you encourage them and support them and sometimes it gets away from you. But he hung in there enough and trusted us enough. But he's one of those guys. He got a little bit of success and he just gained confidence and with him, it was easy to see. He walks in the building, he's got that great smile. If it's on, you know he's having a good day and and then sometimes when he's down, you know [and] you see it right away. So, we see a lot more smiling these days than frowns."

On Heath's dropped pass:

"Yeah. 'You know what happened? Tried to run before I caught it.' We emphasized so much on those third-and-medium situations, man. We got to get north south, make sure we hit them sticks. And to be honest, I think that was a little bit of it. He was so anxious to to turn up because he hasn't been fearful. I don't think that was it. But we got to be sure-handed. I sent Coach Mines and Coach Phillips a thing today on Larry Fitzgerald. All of his NFL career, like the drops each year. It's like one, zero, two, three. The most was four one time, then it was zero, then it was two, it was like the focus and the consistency. We got to gain that. We got to gain that."

On whether it was good to get Heath going quickly:

"Yeah. Yeah, it sure was."

Q: Is it good to see them contesting for balls?

"You're talking about Donovan [Greene] and Ayden [Greene] and them. We have to make contested catches and I'm going to be honest with you, we need to make more of them. Well, you look around the the the good wideout rooms in the country and I mean that they're making those catches. And we made some good ones the other night, but there's a couple that, you can look at the one that Donovan had and the one that AG [had], they both had a chance and you can say, 'Ah, that would have been a tough catch.' Or you can say, 'You got to come down with that.' But we got a good room. I'm excited about that room. And Isaiah Spencer's getting better all the time right now. Cam Seldon's getting better all the time right now. We got some young guys, Cam Sparks, uh Luke Stuewe. There's a lot of guys in that room that you can get excited about. So, it's a good group."

On updates to Terion Stewart, Brody Meadows and Jaden Muskrat:

"Yeah, Stewart had a really good day today. Had a good day yesterday. Just keeps progressing. He was smiling today. He got team snaps out there today. Going extra with the trainers and the strength staff. That thing's trending the right way. Both linemen [Meadows and Muskrat], I think are still longshots [to play against Vanderbilt on Saturday]. One of them was dressed out today full and did some things. The other one still wasn't even full. So, we'll see. But we've got that next group of guys, they just got to keep getting better every week. Tommy Ricard and Lucas Austin and those guys, they just got to keep coming. Hannes Hammer, and they're doing that. Aidan Lynch, I mean, it's a great group. As long as they keep getting better each week, hopefully, we can stay healthy if we need them. Hopefully, it's not till Week 6 or 7 and they've got a whole another month of practice under their belt."

Q: If Stewart can go, is that a different element to this ground game?

"I think he's a great compliment to [PJ Prioleau and Marcellous Hawkins] and he's a great compliment to those guys. He's a talented ball-carrier. I think that's evident from his time at [Bowlng Green]. Obviously, is he going to be ready to go get 25 carries? I wouldn't think so. But right now he's trending like he'll play in the game and give us some work."

On Cameron Seldon and his versatility:

"Yeah, I think you saw it. he caught that one and turned up and put his pads down. I see big improvement, kind of the the running back in him a little bit, but his route running is where he's got to make the most improvement and it's coming. His ball skills are getting better and better. And his natural ability to turn and run the ball, it shows up. So, I'm excited about him."

On change in attitude or vibe in practice this past week:

"Yeah, these guys have been great. I didn't see any dip in confidence. They seem more determined and eager than ever. Obviously, the short week, it's challenging. But they pushed through yesterday. They were even better today. Tomorrow is our no-sweat day, so a bunch of them will [be] feeling better. But short week, got home late and these guys have have kind of powered through."

On players-only meeting and how the leadership has been showing up so far:

"It's the best leadership we've had since I've been here. And that's not a knock on the guys that were leaders in the past. We just have more guys that want that and are saying [that] Talking to [Kelvin Gilliam] and talking to [Jaden Keller] and them guysto KG and talking to JK and them guys. They want it. I want to say it's a player-led team. For the first time, those guys are taking it, they barely ask me if they want to meet. I go down for the team meeting and they already got the doors shut and kicked the coaches out."

Q: So, we've asked you a lot about the defensive line so far. Is this as diverse of a group as you have there that can kind of just attack things at different angles and different ways?

"Yeah, it's a deep group that's got experience. It's got a wide array of talent and I think [defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes and defensive line coach J.C. Price], they're doing a great job of plugging them in the right places, at the right times, in the right packages. I got a little bit nervous that first series of the game. We're subbing, we're going crazy. They're trying to go, South Carolina's going fast and we're trying to get. I was like, 'Whoa, we got to let these guys settle down a little bit'. I think over the course of the game, we did a good job managing that. Well, we invested there. We invested at that position. We were intent on building depth and gaining experience to complement guys like Emmett [Laws] and Aycen Stevens and Jason Abbey and continue to give them time and those guys are doing that. I mean, [Immanuel Hickman Sr., James Djonkam, Elhadj Fall, Kody Huisman], they are exactly what we hoped they'd be."

Q: What was James Jennette's offseason like? Seems like he played pretty well on Sunday.

"Yeah, he's earned some brownie points with the coaches. He's always been athletic and moved really easy. It just hasn't transferred to technique and making plays as a defensive player. And some of the things we're doing now structurally lend more to his skillset."

On Michael Short:

"Yeah, I'm excited about Mike. I think the complement of of him and those guys, I think he's going to continue to earn more reps. In fact, I said to [special teams coach Stu Holt], I said, 'We got to get him more involved on [special] teams until his rep count climbs significantly at linebacker.' Let's make sure we're playing him. Those guys, that's like Kaleb Spencer. He didn't play much on defense, and that could change this week. But those guys, man, good football players. We got to make sure we're getting snaps out of them. If it's not on their respective side of the ball, it's on special teams."