Five Takeaways Midway Through Virginia Tech Football's Fall Camp

Two weeks into fall camp, position battles, breakout players and emerging storylines are taking shape for Virginia Tech football.

Virginia Tech Athletics

Two weeks into fall camp, there’s already plenty to unpack about where Virginia Tech football stands heading into the season. With position battles starting to take shape, standout performances and depth chart movement to improved chemistry, the early portion of camp has provided a preview of what this year’s Hokies could look like.

Here are five key takeaways from Virginia Tech’s first two weeks of fall camp and what they might mean for the season ahead.

1. Team unity is at a premium going into this season:

After Day 4 of fall camp, tight end Benji Gosnell reflected on the Hokies’ growth, noting the team feels more unified now than it did a year ago.

"The tightest," Gosnell said. "Not one of. The tightest. Yeah, for sure. Before, there would just be some people on the team, not because you don't like them or nothing, but you're just not around them as much. You feel kind of timid or shy to say, 'What's up?' But now there's none of that going on. Like tight ends are hanging with corners. Safeties are hanging with O-linemen. Everybody's getting together at everyone's house, hanging out, talking and that just makes practices more fun because you know each other. It's almost like backyard football with your family. You can be so much more competitive because you have such that greater of a love and a connection with everybody else on the team. Just allows you to compete even harder and play even harder because you love and respect that guy next to you so much more."

Pry echoed that sentiment, saying that the team was far closer than he expected.

"We're in a good place that way but we're still, we've doubled down in that area. We haven't gotten away from it. As players, as coaches, as in planning, it's going to continue to be a big part of who we are."

2. The team is stronger.

It's not stronger in terms of pure poundage. What Pry thinks that the team has improved on is its strength-to-weight ratio, being able to lift more while maintaining the same weight, to hold up when the game enters the fourth quarter.

"I mean, the way it's helped me in the weight room is just being able to do more," Gosnell said. "Coming off of a surgery, you're modified. you're progressively working into things. Right after the season, I was just, bam, right with everyone else. Putting a barbell behind my back, as heavy as I could and squatting it. Being able to squat more than 400 pounds a few times. That was good to get back to, it's just great. You can jump right into it instead of having to work into things."

Pry agreed on the positive impact, stating that the team is moving around faster and working harder. He pointed out load specifically, mentioning that the weights are heavier while not compromising physical health.

"We're leaner, but not necessarily lighter," Pry said. "We just look better in our uniforms. Secondly, we're moving around there, whether it's changing direction or straight-line running. We look like a faster group, all in all. Thirdly, we've been able to work harder, to work a little bit longer because of the conditioning, the shaping, because of the type of summer we have. Our load, when you study what we're doing from a sports science standpoint, our loads are much, much heavier than what they were last year at this time. We're able to put another rack of plates at the end of the segment that we couldn't do before to make sure we're getting as many reps as we can without hurting the guys and setting us back physically. So, there's a lot of benefit right now from the summer we had. And then, between our sports science staff, our strength staff, our trainers, nutritionists, our coaches, just every day it's a conversation at the end of the night. Is the plan for tomorrow still the right plan? From the rep count, from the timing count, you look at injuries, you look at where we were that day. Did we get enough work? Did we not get enough work? Did we overwork them? So, we're trying to be very intentional about the time that we're on the field and the reps that we're getting."

3. Pry is hopeful about the cornerback room and its depth.

Going into 2025, Virginia Tech was forced to remodel its cornerback room, with last year's starters Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane heading to the NFL and LSU, respectively. However, Pry believes that the cornerback room now has more depth and can rely on a deeper rotation moving forward.

"Right now, I'd say it's more of a four-way [battle] between Dante [Lovett], T-Will [Thomas Williams], IBM [Isaiah Brown-Murray], who has a ton of experience in the secondary and then Caleb Brown, who also has a ton of experience," Pry said during Media Day. "Now we got a number of guys that have experience at other places. You know, Krystian Williams has had a pretty good camp. I think Jojo Crim, [Jahmari] DeLoatch at times. It's a good room. There's more depth there. We don't arguably have two guys like Mansoor [Delane] and Dorian [Strong] that could walk in with all that experience and all that talent. But I like the group. I mean, [cornerbacks coach Derek Jones] does to. But it may be where I personally felt like Dorian and Mansoor played too much at times. We leaned on them a little bit too heavy when I looked back. So, I think we'll have a little more depth and a little healthier rotation at the corner position."

Pry went on to talk about Brown and about true freshman Crim, whom Pry believes could turn into Brown in a year.

"He's got length, he's got pretty good speed, technician. I look at Jojo Crim and I say, "That's Caleb in another year," Pry said. "Just a long guy that plays hard, runs pretty good, can lean on you, smart, tough. And again, he's got experience at a couple different levels. He's got a heck of a journey. When I look at a bunch of guys on this team, their stories are really, really special for a bunch of them. How they got to Virginia Tech, out of high school whether they weren't recruited, or underrecruited, or they went big-time and it didn't work out. There's just a lot of good stories that we capture, and these guys, they're a motivated group, they've got things to prove as a team. The guys that were here with us in '24. And then a bunch of guys that got things to prove individually, show people kind of what you're all about."

4. Both Pry and Montgomery are high on Terion Stewart.

The Bowling Green transfer missed spring practice due to finishing up a class, per Tech Sideline's Andy Bitter. Now that he’s on campus, head coach Brent Pry and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery have gotten their first in-person look at the 5-foot-9, 222-pound tailback and they like what they see. While Pry noted there’s still room for growth as he settles into the system, the staff is encouraged by his potential and the skill set he brings to the backfield.

"Terion has really good balance. He's a strong runner, he can make the inside cuts, he's hard to tackle. So, I think first and foremost, we had to find somebody that can carry the ball like that. He's got some things to work on. But he's a smart guy, an experience guy. I think he's got some traits, some of the things that [former Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten] had and then obviously, some other guys in the room can compliment that."

"Yeah, I really do [think so]," Montgomery said when asked if Stewart could be an effective power runner in his scheme. "I mean, just the way he's built. To your point, he's he's not a tailback. He's very stout. The way I would describe him, he's a guy with burst. He's got some long speed to him, but he's very dense when you're trying to tackle him. When you hit him, you feel it just as much as you trying to lay that hit to him. So he's got great contact balance. I think that's very important in a running back. It allows him to continue to move forward. And so I think he's going to be a great weapon for us."

5. Pry and Montgomery are also high on the depth of the tailback room.

Aside from Stewart, Virginia Tech's committee of tailbacks includes Division II transfer Marcellous Hawkins, Coastal Carolina transfer Braydon Bennett and mainstays Jeremiah Coney, Tyler Mason and P.J. Prioleau, who returns following an injury-shortened 2024 campaign."

"I really like the room," Montgomery said during Media Day. "I do think we have some guys that bring different aspects and skillsets to the table, whether that's the guy that can do a lot of shake to what he's got in his weapons. We've got guys with power. We've got guys that are slashers. We've got some combo guys in there. All of them have done a really good job of being able to do things out of the backfield, understanding protections and how they fit within it. But I like our room. Today, we'll get a lot more . I mean, today's [the] first couple periods in here that we're truly live, tackling to the ground, so we want to see that aspects. When you get to the third periods and who can break tackles, who's going to be able to strain [the] defense, [making] that tackle [and] offense things you've got through at the type of back-and-forth banter. So, we'll see some good things today and kind of see where we're at."

Pry echoed the sentiment, pointing to the reserves in particular in what he thinks is one of the "more competitive rooms right now". To Pry, it's only about figuring out how to run the ball effectively, no matter if it's a one-, two- or three-horse effort.

"Yeah, I feel really good about the depth and the quality in that room," Pry said. "I think it's [running backs coach Elijah Brooks] and [offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery] harnessing that, whether it's [Marcellous] Hawkins right now, has had a great camp. P.J. Prioleau is back healthy and has already shown us some good things. [Braydon] Bennett has had moments, then obviously, Jeremiah Coney has done some good things. I think, Tyler Mason [too]. It's as I mentioned last week to somebody, it's one of the more competitive rooms right now. How's that gonna shake out, who's gonna be our three backs that get touches? I don't know that'll go much deeper than now, but it's gonna be interesting to see. I love the candidates, I love the competition. And to me, finding a way to run the ball effectively, that's what it's about, that's the end goal, whether it's three guys, whether it's one guy, whethere there's two guys, we got to be able to do that."