Everything From Virginia Tech Interim HC Philip Montgomery After Wednesday's Practice

Virginia Tech interim head coach Philip Montgomery addressed the media after practice on Wednesday. Here's the entirety of what he had to say:

Virginia Tech Interim Head Coach Philip Montgomery Media Availability (10/15/25) pic.twitter.com/qnglhVIJ2n
— Kolby Crawford (@kolby_crawford) October 15, 2025

On if the bye week arrives at a good time:

If if it would have come 3 weeks ago, it would have been a great time. But right now, it's an extremely good time. I mean, to your point, with all the injuries that has occurred and guys trying to work their way back and some of them playing through injury even right now, the opportunity for those guys to get a little bit healthier. In addition to that, we've had to play a lot of young guys and out of those young guys, those guys getting the opportunity for things to slow down a little bit and catch their breath, kind of get back to some of the fundamentals and the technique things. It's been really good for that part of it. And then, just emotionally what everybody has gone through, it's not just the physical presence of what we've gone through, but the mental part of it. And for these guys, it's been a great time for them."

On changing up the schedule in regards to who gets a rest, who gets most reps:

"Normally in your by-week, at least in my background, you did a little bit of good-on-goods. You went back to the fundamentals and some of the drill work parts of it, and then you let your young guys get quite a bit of work. A lot of those guys been playing on scout teams and you gave them an opportunity to to get good offense and defensive work and then get back into the flow of it. That scenario is a little bit different. So, we've done some good-on-good work. We've also tried to use it as an opportunity to get a little bit ahead on Cal. And so, we've kind of mixed and matched a little bit as we've gone through that."

On conversations with younger players about possibly negating redshirt:

"We need everybody in that room. And we've had a lot of guys step up. A lot of guys have been playing really well. Young guys have stepped up and played well. And I think the overall morale of the team, those guys have been playing extremely hard. They've been relentless about their work. The attitudes have been good. We had good attitudes this week at practice. Can't say enough about our leadership and those young guys stepping up and being anxious to get on the field and contribute and try to help us go find wins."

Q: How do you straighten that balance in an off week where you still kind of want to have an intense practice? I would imagine [that] you probably put most of your offensive line in bubble wrap to get through this week.

"I don't know if we put them in bubble wrap, but we want the pace of the practice to be what we want it to be, right? We want the intensity of that to happen. And then we want to be real intelligent about the physicality of the practice. And so, we want to get to our fits. We want to get to our steps. We want to get things ID. We want the initial pace of it to be really good. And then we want to be smart how we're attacking each other."

On the offensive line injury-wise:

"Yeah, we're making progress every day. Guys are working their way through it. We're trying to be smart with how many reps we're giving them. But they're doing a good job with it just like everything else. It's a day-by-day thing. Obviously, living in the training room, living in the hydro rooms, doing everything they can to get themselves back. We talked about this at the first of camp. Day 1 of camp's the best you're going to feel all the way through. So, it's really not trying to get back to 100%. It's trying to get your body the most recovered you can at this point."

On whether Montgomery feels comfortable about his existing roster being the one to finish out the year:

"The one thing I will say is [that] we got a lot of guys in the room that are well connected. They're fighting for each other. They're invested in each other. And that's been really, really good to see. Our conversations, like that, could they still happen? Obviously, they could, but at this point, I feel good where we are. I feel good about our leadership and the connection between our staff and our players and the way they're approaching."

On Montgomery's evaluation of his team at mid-season:

"I think we're a team that has been through a lot of adversity on both sides of it. But I think it's a team that's again, I hate to use the same word over and over, but I feel like this team is really connected. There's a strong bond in there. Guys are fighting for each other. They're battling. They're trying to improve each and every day. And they've been relentless on the field. I mean, you can say what you want to about any of the rest of it. But these guys have have gone out there. They've given everything they've had. They've emptied their tank for 60 minutes. I'm really proud of that part of it and the way they've battled."

On when Montgomery intends to begin preparation for Cal:

"Yeah, we already started sprinkling it in."

Q: Do you set goals for the second half of the season with these guys?

"Obviously, we're trying to win the day and then we're trying to win the week and we're trying to stack good days on good days. We've got our internal goals of what that needs to be and what it needs to look like and and again, those guys have really pushed towards those things. And they've stayed focused on what they can control and not listen to any of the rest of it. It's just stay locked into what we got, what we need to do and that's been really good for them.

On WR Ayden Greene and his growth as a receiver in both play and leadership:

"Honestly, I thought really, last game, he did some really great stuff. From the standpoint of his leadership, what he's doing on the sideline, how he's helping the room, his growth, being able to stay focused, stay locked in, stay disciplined. [He's] continuing to add things to his tool belt as a receiver, whether that's in his breaks or at the top of his routes or the competitiveness that he goes up and attacks the football. He's been really, really good in all those areas. And we need him to be that and so, it's been good.

Q: How bummed is he to have that toe on the line on the sideline on that catch?

"It's a top-10 Sports Center-type catch. He's got one arm being held by the defender. He catches it with his off hand. And he's just barely out. But those are the type of plays that you trust him to make. I mean, he comes back later and catches one down the middle in coverage and does a nice job of battling through the guy. And that's what we've come to expect from him."

Q: Has he been one of those leaders who stepped up in the four weeks that you've been in charge?

"Absolutely. Absolutely. He's done a great job of that. He's taken on more of a leadership role. He's been more vocal. And again, through all the different stuff that has gone on, he's been steady and he's been strong and we've needed him to be that."

On what pops out about Cal on tape:

"They're a talented football team. You look at them offensively, they got a young quarterback, gunslinger that's throwing it around the yard. They do a good job running the football. They mix it up. You look at them defensively, Played a lot more man versus Duke. They do a nice job with their front seven. They really don't want to put their guys in jeopardy on the back end of it. Again, they played a little bit more man versus Duke. So, we'll see how they play North Carolina. But they're extremely talented team. They're a tough team. They're battle tested in that sense. And so, we know we're going to have our hands full, but we're looking forward to the opportunity to get back into Lane Stadium on a Friday night and have the fans out and [have] it be a festive atmosphere."