The Unthinkable Reset: Brent Pry's Return To Virginia Tech

Brent Pry talks about his return to Virginia Tech. Read more below.

Jul 24, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry answers questions from the media during ACC Media Days at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The steps back into Merryman Center felt familiar for Brent Pry — and in some ways, so did the role.

After four years of leading the program, Pry was dismissed last September following; however, he returns for the 2026 season in a role that few coaches would ever accept: defensive coordinator at the school from where he was just fired.

Ousted from the top seat and rehired the next year to run the defense, Pry’s reset would seem impossible in most corners of college football. In Blacksburg, it became a deliberate choice rooted in trust, fit and a clear-eyed understanding of Pry's connection to the existing players, plus his defensive pedigree.

“It’s good to be back,” Pry said during his first media availability since returning. “I feel refreshed, excited. Great group of young men to work with. Great staff. Working with Coach [James Franklin] again.”

That reunion with James Franklin, now Virginia Tech’s head coach, sits at the center of the move. Pry and Franklin stayed in contact after Pry was dismissed and again when Franklin found himself navigating his own exit from Penn State. Over time, those conversations kept circling back to Virginia Tech, and to whether the two could make something unconventional work.

It was not a quick decision. Pry said the idea required honest conversations with his wife and family, and an internal reckoning over whether he could walk back into the same building with the right mindset.

“It took a little bit of soul-searching and to find peace with it,” Pry said. “I wanted to be able to walk back in the building and be myself, be positive and be appreciative.”

Franklin, too, needed time. Before assembling his staff, he wanted to understand the weight of asking a former head coach to return in a subordinate role, plus how Pry’s tenure, relationships and reputation were viewed inside the building and across the community. Pry believes that context mattered.

“He could picture it being a real positive and celebrated even in a situation as unique as this,” Pry said.

From the outside, the optics are stark: the former head coach walking past an office that no longer belongs to him. Pry said the reality felt far simpler once he narrowed his priorities. Alignment came first, with Franklin as a leader, steering the program’s direction and doing so with a staff he trusts to operate the way he believes organizations should.

“I had other opportunities to be a coordinator at other places,” Pry said. “But there were a lot of unknowns.”

Virginia Tech was not unknown. Pry’s family is rooted in the area. His children attend Blacksburg High School. And despite the nature of how his head coaching tenure ended, Pry said there was no bitterness pulling him back.

“I love Virginia Tech,” he remarked. “A chance to continue to help Virginia Tech turn the corner and be proud again. I want that.”

Players were part of the calculus, as well. Pry said returning veterans reached out when rumors began circulating, and the support he received from players, staff and the community after his dismissal helped place him in a position to consider coming back.

“I love these kids,” Pry said. “I still want what’s best for them.”

Moreover, when Franklin announced Pry's return to the players, they responded in turn with an ovation for Pry.

On the field, Pry’s return brings familiarity with flexibility. Philosophically, the defense will reflect what he and Franklin built together previously, with roughly three-quarters of the package resembling past systems, according to Pry. The rest will be shaped by evolution and collaboration, incorporating ideas from assistants Nick Perry, Anthony Midget and Sean Spencer, including concepts Spencer used with Texas A&M and the New York Giants.

“What I believe in philosophically and fundamentally will be there,” Pry said. “But I have grown.”

That blend matters for buy-in, particularly up front. Pry referenced proven production from earlier collaborations, including multiple seasons with 40 or more sacks, when speaking with defensive linemen about the ideal system.

Perhaps the most revealing part of Pry’s reset, though, is where he feels most comfortable again. As a head coach, he said he missed the defensive meeting room almost immediately, pulled away by administrative demands and responsibilities that kept him from the granular teaching he values.

“This has been really refreshing,” Pry said.

Franklin insisted Pry coach a position alongside coordinating the defense rather than being a 'float-around coordinator', restoring a hands-on role Pry never wanted to lose. Now, he’s building a playbook, preparing for winter workouts and coaching linebackers — exactly where he believes his impact is strongest.

For Virginia Tech, the move represents a gamble on humility and continuity. For Pry, it is something far simpler: a chance to do the job he loves, in the place he loves, without the weight that once came with the title.

Same building. Different role. And for Brent Pry, it's a normally unthinkable reset that finally feels right.