Four Players Virginia Tech Football Can't Lose to the Transfer Portal

With head coach Brent Pry's firing, the door is now open for a month for Virginia Tech players to depart the program.

Sep 13, 2025; Blacksburg, Va.; Old Dominion linebacker Jeremy Mack Jr. (4) dives to tackle Virginia Tech running back P.J. Prioleau (20) during the third quarter. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

With the firing of head coach Brent Pry, the 30-day transfer portal has now opened for all Hokies players. Since Pry's squad has not played four games, players are still eligible to redshirt the campaign and transfer to another squad. However, they cannot play for whichever team that they transfer to for this season. Here's four players that I believe that the Hokies should be working to retain.

The 30-day transfer portal window will open for Virginia Tech and UCLA tomorrow.

Neither played 4 games, meaning players are still eligible to redshirt. https://t.co/wMrfFrdlE6

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) September 14, 2025

No. 1: DT Kemari Copeland

The 6-foot-3, 283-pound wrecking ball of a defensive tackle has been one of the Hokies' key standouts in an otherwise lost season that appears to be more and more unsaveable by the day. The methodology for my selection lies mostly on the intangibles; while Copeland isn't the most refined tackle and still needs to work on technique, according to defensive line coach J.C. Price, “if you had a cookie-cutter D-lineman for me, it would be [Copeland] the guy who squats 800 pounds, benches 600 and runs 4.7. That'd be perfect."

No. 2: WR Ayden Greene

Ditto for Ayden Greene, who has shown flashes of raw athleticism and talent that has been slightly obscured by unremarkable quarterback play. Greene showed his chops again on Saturday, snatching a now career-high 67-yard reception from quarterback Kyron Drones to set up the Hokies' first and only non-fourth quarter touchdown one play later.

Greene possesses one year of eligibility remaining, but this is his first true year as a starter. As anticipated, he's shown flashes, but due to substandard quarterback play and a leaky offensive line, Greene hasn't been able to fully break out. I'm not sure that it comes this year and depending on who takes the reins at quarterback for Virginia Tech for the 2026 season, it may not come at all during Greene's tenure. However, his big-play potential is reason enough to keep him in this top-5 and he remains one of my top candidates for "Breakout Player of the Year".

No. 3: LB Caleb Woodson

Woodson currently leads the team in tackles (24) by a rather convincing margin; the next closest is fellow linebacker Michael Short, who sits at 17. Despite a DWI charge early in the season, Woodson has started the season relatively well, operating mostly under the radar. Should he return to Virginia Tech for his senior season, he will be one of the team's premier mainstays.

No. 4: QB William "Pop" Watson III

"Flashes" are the majority of the reason why I am advocating here for Virginia Tech to attempt to keep Watson. There's also other factors at play here. Drones graduates after this year, which opens up a battle between Watson, Garret Rangel and likely Cole Bergeron. According to 247Sports' Kolby Crawford, following the firing of head coach Brent Pry, Bergeron and his family are "just going to see how things play out for now.”

That's not a decommitment from the program, but for a program like Virginia Tech, which has struggled in recent years to consistently land and hold top prospects, every recruiting battle takes on added weight. If Bergeron decommits and flips to another program, the Hokies need to ensure that a quarterback with continuity remains in the system as a safety valve.