'I Missed It': Virginia Tech's Brent Pry Settles Into Defensive Duties at Spring Game

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Despite the nature of a fired head coach returning as a defensive coordinator to the very stadium that ushered in his exit — following a 45-26 drubbing at the hands of Old Dominion — defensive coordinator Brent Pry wasn't dwelling on that when walking out for the Hokies' annual spring game Saturday.

Instead, his attention was on the game plan.

"I honestly was looking over my game plan sheet," Pry said after the spring game, which the White team won 30-21. "I came out early and I was like, 'OK, well, what do I want to make sure we call?' Spring game's a little bit about making sure you call some things that you have enough film that you can coach these guys on all summer — on what things are supposed to look like."

During the spring game, Pasha Palanker, one of the three pre-game parachuters, crashed into the north end zone videoboard, delaying the contest by an hour-plus. For Pry, the dad in him came out.

"I was out on the field," Pry said. "Scary as all get out... The dad in me says, 'Are his kids watching this? Are they here because their dad was parachuting in?' ... Thank God he's OK."

After the crash, Pry and the staff were on the headsets, and the team engaged through warmups again to avoid potential soft-tissue injuries.

"As it dragged on, we knew we were going to have to warm the team up again," Pry said. "You didn't want to run out there and have a bunch of guys get a soft-tissue injury based on just being sitting around."

The moment offered a small reminder of how different things look for Pry this spring. After three-plus seasons as Virginia Tech’s head coach before his dismissal early last fall, he’s back on the sideline in a more familiar role.

The moment served as a reminder of how different things look for Pry this spring when compared to last. After three-plus seasons as Virginia Tech’s head coach — including a 16-24 record before his dismissal early last fall — he’s back on the sideline in a more familiar role as defensive coordinator.

Pry said the transition has been seamless, and the return to hands-on coaching has brought a renewed sense of energy.

"I missed it," Pry said. "I didn't feel like, as a head coach, I did a good enough job with the emotion piece and energy. I feel like that was a strength of mine as a coordinator and as a position coach. It feels good to be able to pour into these guys that way."

Pry's transition into the defensive coordinator role still took some adjustment. Following his firing on Sept. 13, Pry played a role in James Franklin’s eventual arrival at Virginia Tech. In Franklin's initial press conference held on Nov. 19, he stated that he likely would not have been with the Hokies if not for Pry.

Pry followed suit soon after. On3 Sports' Pete Nakos reported on Dec. 7 that Franklin and Virginia Tech were hiring Pry back to the university — this time, as both the defensive coordinator and as the linebackers coach.

During the spring game, Pry's defense acquitted itself well. The unit racked up 10 "sacks" (essentially two-hand touch due to quarterbacks being deemed non-live) — though six of those were tacked onto true freshman Troy Huhn. Huhn picked up three sacks on his first five plays.

"For our defense, you love 10 sacks," Franklin said. "For our offense, we've got to get that cleaned up."

Those 10 sacks were spread throughout a myriad of different options. Ohio State transfer Eric Mensah and returnee Jason Abbey led the units with a sack and a half. Linebackers Kaleb Spencer and George Ballance, and defensive linemen Grant Karczewski, Mylachi Williams and Daniel Jennings each finished with a sack. Safety Jordan Bass and freshman T-Ron Richardson chipped in half a sack each.

Under Pry, the defense racked up 52 solo tackles and 100 total tackles in Saturday's spring game, with 13 of those being for loss between the two units.

Walk-on cornerback Josh Jones, one of the Hokies' in-state pickups under Pry, also tallied the day's lone interception, picking off a pass from Maroon team quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer that was intended for wide receiver Takye Heath. Pry recruited Jones as a walk-on ahead of the 2024 season.

"He works his butt off," Pry said. "He's smart. He had an injury. He battled back from it. They kept firing at him first couple weeks, and he was getting beat. He was getting beat, and he just kept rolling back out there. All of a sudden he made a play about four or five practices ago, and then the next practice he made another play. All of a sudden he makes a couple plays."

With the spring game now in the books, the Hokies will be available publicly once again when they host VMI in the season opener on Sept. 5. The meeting will be the first between the two schools since 1984.

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