In Trouble: Virginia Tech’s Rocky Road in the 2026 Recruiting Cycle

Even during now-former head coach Brent Pry's tenure, the Hokies' 2026 recruiting class looked shaky at best.

Sep 20, 2025; Blacksburg, Va.; Wofford attempts to tackle Virginia Tech running back Marcellous Hawkins (27) as he runs the ball. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech football only briefly managed to inch its way into double digits with 10 commitments for its 2026 recruiting class. But even that modest progress feels fragile. The recent dismissal of former head coach Brent Pry has thrown the program into uncertainty, leaving both recruits and current players questioning their futures in Blacksburg, with several decommitting.

My recruitment is still open!!! pic.twitter.com/zGkh9UZuNT

— Zaevion Cleveland (@zae_cleveland1) September 14, 2025

Several verbal pledges are now teetering, their commitments softening as they weigh whether to stick with a staff in transition. Meanwhile, on the roster itself, multiple players could explore the transfer portal. What was already a thin class is now facing the risk of shrinking further, and the Hokies find themselves at a critical juncture: either rally momentum under new leadership or risk falling even farther behind their ACC peers in roster building.

Thomas Wilder decommitted on Sept. 15; he was the Hokies' lone four-star in the 2024 class. Kamdon Gillespie did so two days later. Zaevion Cleveland's 247Sports page still shows him as committed to the Hokies, but his recruiting remains open, per his X account.

The woes extend to the 2027 class, where quarterback Ben Musser pulled his commitment on Sept. 19 in the wake of Pry's firing.

Even among the recruits who remain committed, optimism is hard to find. Take Cole Bergeron, for example — Virginia Tech’s lone quarterback pledge in the 2026 class. Once seen as a steady piece of the recruiting puzzle and a safety valve as the Hokies' lone 2026 quarterback commit, Bergeron now appears uncertain, his status with the Hokies hanging in the balance.

“Coach Pry is a great coach and Virginia Tech is a great place," Bergeron said to 247Sports. "We are just going to see how things play out for now.”

Andrew "Pook" Rogers is another interesting example; the three-star, albeit a four-star on the 247Sports Composite, remains committed to the Hokies. However, like Cleveland, his recruiting remains open and the edge visited Tennessee for its clash against Georgia.

For months, Virginia Tech has found itself stuck at the bottom of the ACC’s recruiting rankings when it comes to sheer numbers. The Hokies hold just nine commitments in their 2026 class — four fewer than rival Virginia, which sits at 13, and a full nine recruits behind Duke and NC State, who are tied for the third-lowest total with 18 each.

That gap is more than just a statistic; it reflects a broader concern about the trajectory of the Hokies’ recruiting efforts. In today’s ACC, where roster depth and competition are shaped by both high school signings transfer portal moves, Virginia Tech is operating from a clear disadvantage in the former. Fewer commits mean fewer chances to land program-changing talent — even with the way that the portal can reshape a program in a year's time, both for good and for bad — and it also creates pressure to retain the pieces already in place.

With the class still lacking balance across key positions, every wavering pledge feels magnified while Virginia Tech continues to search for stability in the post-Brent Pry era. Unless the Hokies can spark a late surge in this class, the 2026 cycle could leave the program scrambling to fill holes well into next year.