Will The Hokies Find Success Under New Hires?
In this story:
Virginia Tech is gearing up for a restructured fourth season under Brent Pry. With the recent departures in defensive coordinator Chris Marve and offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen, there is a sense that Pry's fourth season is make or break, and with that, his coordinator replacements are going to have to perform with a depleted squad wrecked with draft announcements and transfer outgoings.
Taking the defensive headset for the Hokies next fall is Sam Siefkes. Siefkes comes from the Arizona Cardinals, where he assumed mantle of the Cardinals linebacker core. Before the confines of State Farm Stadium, Siefkes spent two chilly seasons as a part of the Minnesota Vikings staff. As a Viking, Siefkes assumed an assistant linebackers coaching role in year two, with year one being spent as a defensive quality control coach.
Prior to Siefkes' NFL stints, he led a furious Wofford Terrier defense, which raked in superb stats for the FCS side. Seifkes' defenses ranked first, along with his rushing defense and total defense, during his only two years spent in Palmetto State.
Siefkes also spent two seasons as DC at Wisconsin-Platteville where his squads allowed an impressive 18.9 points per game.
As Pry mentioned in his press conference introducing Siefkes, Siefkes excels in "situational football" and in his ability to adjust his defensive schemes, primarily from a 4-3 to a 3-4. This is something detailed observers could have noticed as a weak point in the Chris Marve defense seen in years past.
The Hokies ranked in the middle of the pack for most ACC rankings last season, proving that Marve wasn't the problem, nor the solution, but rather a mere passenger. Siefkes will bring, at times, odd sets to this Tech defense that can include, at times, up to three safeties on the field, which is out of the box, and there is still a severe lack of data on whether this is something that will excel for a school whose cornerstone is reliant on a hard-nosed defense.
You move from a less experienced Siefkes, to Phillip Montgomery on the offense who has seen football from a number of different levels, each varied in success.
Montgomery made his first big splash in his post-RGIII offenses, which saw quarterbacks of little-known backgrounds (Bryce Petty and Nick Florence) each reel in All-American honors as Montgomery led the Baylor offensive duties.
It will take little time to see the numbers Montgomery raked up in Waco. These numbers include a top-five passing offense for four years running, along with a finalist position for the Broyles Award in 2013.
Yet, in the underbelly of a flashy high-powered offense sits an interesting path after leaving Baylor.
Montgomery was the Tulsa head coach for eight years, which saw him lead the Golden Hurricanes to a 43-53 record.
In one of Montomgery's years (2016), his offense became the first in FBS history to record a 3,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers, and two 1,000-yard receivers, staggering numbers, to say the least. Montgomery also led Tulsa to four bowls, where he posed a 2-2 record and took the Oklahoma side to its first-ever American Athletic Conference Championship game in 2020.
However, in four of Montgomery's last six seasons, his offense did not reach the top five in total offense in the AAC. It doesn't help that when Montgomery was let go by Tulsa, he spent a sole season under Hugh Freeze at Auburn as OC, where his offense was meek, ranking in the bottom half of the SEC for stats involving total offense (10th), offensive yards per game (11th), and scoring offense (11th), with a proven quarterback in Payton Thorne.
Montgomery spent last season in the UFL as co-offensive coordinator of the championship-winning Birmingham Stallions in the inaugural season of the UFL.
It is very possible, that Montgomery is a coach who thrives in a system that is stable, where his burden is lessened. The stats at Baylor, especially post-Griffin, are incredible, and his offensive mind showed flashes at Tulsa, but it is also clear, in frenetic situations, like he faced at Auburn, that his offense can look watered down.
Overall, Siefkes and Montgomery are likely upgrades on Bowen and Marve: however, for this program to get back on track, Siefkes and Montgomery can hardly miss a beat.
Additional Links:
How To Watch Virginia Tech vs Stanford: Tipoff Time, TV Channel, and More
Virginia Tech Basketball: Four Takeaways from Virginia Tech's loss to Boston College
Connor is a recent graduate from the esteemed Sports Media and Analytics program at Virginia Tech. He first found himself writing for recruiting database Rivals.com for just about two years before moving to Virginia Tech On SI. Connor has interviewed some of the highest-ranking members of Virginia Tech Athletics and looks to one day be a full-time writer covering Manchester United, his favorite soccer team.