Everything Virginia Tech Head Coach Brent Pry Said Ahead Of Hokies First Spring Practice
It is finally time for Virginia Tech Football to begin spring practice. The Hokies are hitting the field this week and this is going to be a big spring for head coach Brent Pry and his program. Ahead of the Hokies first practice, Pry spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say:
Opening Statement...
"Good afternoon everybody, good to see most of you again, some of you new faces but first of all I want to congratulate Coach Robie and the wrestling guys. Great job winning the ACC tournament, I'm anxious to watch the Nationals this weekend. Also, Coach Duffy, their postseason bid. Good luck to them in the WBIT. Awesome to see both those things happening. We just finished up Phase 1 of our winter program. A lot of time in the weight room, a lot of time in the indoor, several 6 a .m. workouts. Pleased with how Phase 1, Phase 1 went. Coach Ferg and his staff, their efforts, been outstanding, very pleased there. The competition, the new talent, excited about all of that, you know, it's time to get on the field. So tomorrow is, it was on us and the guys are excited, the coaches are excited. I'm anxious to see everybody working at the football piece of it together. The coaches, the transfers, the high school editions, off field staff that we've added. It's just good to get everybody out there doing our thing. So, couldn't be more excited and I'll take some questions at this time."
1. On how different this spring will be compared to last year's given that there are so many new faces...
"You know the spring to me is always a reload you know it's about fundamentals it's about guys you know identifying strengths and weaknesses, it's about planning, schemes, attempting to master your craft, do we have more questions this spring than last? You know, as thorough as you are in evaluating talent, whether it's a transfer or a high school player, there's still more to know once they're on your campus to get a closer look at these guys and how they can help us, how quickly they can help us. That's a big piece of it this spring."
2. On some staff shuffling...
" Xavier Adibi had gotten more involved with the rule change last year. And he's an experienced linebacker, coach from playing it, from coaching it. Just brought a ton of value as we were able to allow him to coach more. He really shined and I was impressed. I think the players took to him. I thought Caleb and JK played much better down the stretch. Sean Quinn, we've added more responsibility to Sean. He's one of our stronger coaches and he was coaching that star position. We've added another element to it. He's got both the outside spots, which he has experienced there. And then the ability to double down on Stu Holt, time and investment in special teams. I thought we were pretty good last year on teams. We can be better. And taking the tight end responsibility off of him and putting it on a very strong veteran coach in Brent Davis made too much sense to me. And then, you know, the addition of the new hires, Very pleased with all those things right now. We appreciate Whit Babcock's support, Dr. Sands, to be able to do some of the things we've done, to reinforce our staff, give us the best chance to coach these guys up and get them playing to their potential."
3. On the hire of Trey Neyer as player personnel...
"Yeah, Trey was already on our radar before we hired Matt Moore. And, you know, then Neal Brown and I are pretty good friends and what Neal had to say about Trey was, had the traits and characteristics I felt we needed in that department. We've done a pretty big overhaul up there. I think we've recruited at a pretty good level, but I want to see an uptick there. I think some of the things that Trey can bring that he has brought is going to help us do that."
4. On other programs eliminating spring practices...
"Yeah, I currently, I like the current model. With the transfer portal windows, to me, that's what can affect the whole thing. That's why some coaches out there, and to each coach, you know, what they feel is best for their team. But here at Virginia Tech and for Brent Pry, the traditional spring practice is what I think works here, works for us. I love the idea of the spring game in the stadium with fans, game -like situation for our players and coaches. I think it's a valuable experience that I think helps our team grow. But you know, to each his own. I think moving forward, it just depends on these transfer portal windows. That's what makes it very challenging. to have a true idea of what your team can look like before you head into the fall. So we'll see where that ends up, the windows."
5. On any position changes...
"There's been a couple. So, you know, not necessarily because of the defensive structure, we're going to be multiple on defense. We're going to continue to hear that word. That, to me, is advantageous for us. There'll be elements of what we've done. There'll be elements of the Minnesota Vikings from 2021. There'll be elements from Wofford. There'll be pieces from you know, but the idea is to be multiple and play to our player's strengths. I don't know that there's necessarily a position change. Kaleb Spencer is going to move inside, rather than playing that alley to the field. I think that plays to his strengths. We're going to try. We're going to give Devin Alves a shot at wide receiver. A talented guy who came in as a corner, hasn't really gotten on the field as a safety much. He's had a good winter. Offhand, those are the things that jump out the most. But, you know, we've got some things we're playing with, with a couple of the additional, the additional alignment. And the outside linebacker."
6. On Kyron Drones and how he is looking health-wise...
"Yeah, first of all, physically, he looks back to form. These winter workouts, we do a lot of competitions. And he was very tough to beat. Didn't matter who I put him against-- sled, push, agility drills. We challenged him each and every morning. He was hard to beat. He's one of our best workers and had probably the highest winning percentage. So I think he's back in form. I think he's confident again, largely because he's healthy. He's a guy, I think, again, I'm so excited about Coach Montgomery and what he brings, not just to our team, to our offense, but to that room, to Kyron. I think a Big key for us, obviously, is for Kyron to play well. To be more polished, to be more balanced, throw the ball down the field a little bit better. You know, so I'm excited about that. I think Kyron has all the potential to do that. I think Coach Montgomery has us in the right direction."
7. On all of the new faces around the program and integrating them...
"First of all, you got to be thick skinned. They figure that out pretty quick. We give each other a pretty hard time. We have a lot of fun, you have to in the grind over it. But we've got that type of team, and we're welcoming as coaches and players. And it's been that way, and you bring guys into a room to compete for jobs. And the guys they're competing with are putting their arms around them and showing them around and hanging out with them. It's been that way for the coaches and for the players. I'm very proud of that. I think it's something that's special about our place, Virginia Tech in our program. It's just a warm place. It's a friendly place. And it makes that transition easier. I think that's one of the reasons some of these guys want to come here. They feel welcome. They feel at home. So that doesn't stop, you know, once they get here."
8. On how the strength and conditioning is going...
" You know, he's always been one of my favorites back to, you know, it was so long ago that I was here in the mid 90s, but there are certain guys and traits that really stuck out to me and his mental and physical toughness was to be remembered. And it's something that we were missing, something that we needed to be better in that area. And he instantly has brought that to us. He's got tremendous respect from the players, from the staff. He's done a great job organizing, leading. I really like the staff. I think we've had-- we're getting the most out of our staff right now, it's been a great addition polished guy that's there was a head head strength coach so I'm pleased with what's happening in that space right now."
9. On the position groups with the most competition...
"Yeah I think that's fair to say. There's certainly more spots with jobs on the line, more competition, but I also think we have more options. When I look at our team top to bottom we're just a better roster than we've been to this point. That's a couple cycles of high school recruits and as retention is as you can have these days there, which I think we've done pretty well, and then the additional transfers, the type of young men they are, the skillset they bring in, you know, and then the development, like I said, these high school guys that we've recruited, this is their team now, you know, the Caleb Woodson's and the Ayden Greenes, and these guys have come up in the program with our values and, our values and they have the voice now. So I couldn't be more excited about that."
10. On any freshman or transfer that is catching his eye...
"You know, lots of agility right now, lots of speed and explosive training. But I'm not pointed into anybody. I think we're pretty much in the ballpark of where we hoped we'd be. Ben Bell is a guy that's got a really unique skill set. I'm excited to see that out there in pads, but in winter conditioning. He was everything I hoped he'd be. Got to transfer it to the field, but a lot of guys standing out right now. I think that we changed our model a little bit. We devoted an extra couple weeks to the strength and conditioning aspect before we started our 100 drills and did just two weeks of intense early morning training, what we call our 100 drills. Gave us a little more time to put some mass on to get these guys ready for spring, so right now it looks like that's been a good play."
11. On assigning guys numbers...
"I've had the roster list with jersey numbers on my desk for three days, and I've got about 50 text messages. I get it's important to guys. So I generally, you know, I told him I'm not assigning any numbers till we get through with winter because you're going to earn numbers. So just the last couple of days, we put numbers on guys and first thing I'll tell them tomorrow is that this isn't, this doesn't have to be permanent. You can lose a number, you can earn a number, but I asked the guys to give me their three or four top choices. And I try and put them in one of those if I can. So spend more time on it than I should, but it's important to them."
12. On potentially scrimmaging another opponent in the spring...
"Yeah, I think that's a fair way to say it. We would entertain that. Again, I like the traditional model right now, but as things continue to evolve, if it's good for Virginia Tech, if it's good for us, then I'd be open to it."
13. On who is not participating in spring...
"Yeah, yeah, that's a good question, Andy. We've got a couple guys that will be out the entirety of the spring. Brodie Adams, Jeff Overton, and Gabe Williams. And we've got some guys that will be limited, at least to start. Tucker Holloway, Jeremiah Coney, Marcellous Hawkins, P.J. Prioleau, Jordan Bass, Tyler Childress, and Christian Williams. All those guys will have a chance to get to full with the exception of Brodie, Jeff, and Gabe."
14. On figuring out how to coach and implement new stuff with so many new faces...
"Yeah I don't think there's not a lot that would change there. I believe in our process and what we're doing. Our winter program looked very similar. I think you know the way we install, where we lift, where we spend our hour allotment, that didn't change much. I think you've seen more guys come by on their own for extra time with the new coaches. Do some of that, getting to know each other. We've had coaches maybe take guys out for a bite to eat more often to get to know them. We devoted our Wednesdays, the entire winter to team-building sessions. Coach Quinn headed that up for us. We had help from the core, and it's been really good. We doubled down there. I think it's the right thing to do for us, and I think especially with the new additions. And that's been not just players, it's been staff involved. So everybody getting to know each other a little better. But as far as installation and the way we structure the calendar and the schedule, that's not going to change."
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Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell