Marty Gordon
Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry is excited and optimistic about the upcoming football season.
Virginia Tech football took the podium on Tuesday morning for ACC Football Kickoff 2024. Pry was joined by Quarterback Kyron Drones, defensive lineman Antwaun Powell-Ryland, and cornerback Dorian Strong.
The Hokies are coming off a 7-6 season which included a Military Bowl victory over Tulane in December.
Pry made it clear when he stepped to the podium the culture has definitely changed in Blacksburg, especially with the large number of players returning this season.
“Yeah, I think that’s valuable for anybody. You want that,” he said. “I think it goes into bringing the right people into your program. Guys that want to be at Tech for the right reasons. I think it goes back to being a strong brotherhood. These guys love playing together. They believe in each other. They believe in team first. They enjoy Virginia Tech. I say it all the time. I meet with each and every player at the end of the spring. And the last question I ask them is, ‘Do you like it here’? And to a man all but four or five, the response was, Coach, I don’t just like it here, I love it here. And [we’re] thankful for our collectives, for the Hokie Way and for Triumph. We don’t go outbid anybody for anybody. But we’re going to be competitive and aggressive in that space. Our guys deserve that.”
The expectations because of that returning nucleus are high, and the former Tech graduate assistant admitted that standard is one of the reasons he returned.
“I want those expectations. I understand those standards. People talk about how you handle the expectations. Well, we all know that has nothing to do with the team that we can be when we go to Nashville. But at the same time, we all came to Virginia Tech because of those expectations. This is a place where you should expect to compete for the playoffs and expect to compete for a championship. That’s who Tech is.”
Pry is on the radar of the Dodd Trophy committee, making the preseason watch list for the 2024 season.
Pry also talked about the experience of running out of the tunnel at Lane Stadium to the booming “Enter Sandman.”
“I love running out of that tunnel. Even when I watch the highlight video of it, I get chills. It’s special. I think for all of us, you love the competition, you love playing in front of big crowds, the excitement of the entrance.”
“Our fans are some of the best in the country. They pack the place. They’re jumping to that tune. We come out of the locker room and Johnny Cash’s ‘God Will Cut You Down’ is slow playing as you take that walk. By the time you hit that tunnel, man, it’s the best.”
He joked that he just tries to make sure he doesn’t stumble coming out.
After EA Sports released its top 25 toughest places to play, various media outlets offered their perspectives on the most challenging stadiums in college football.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, with his 30 years of experience covering the sport, curated his own top 10 list. Notably, he ranked Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium/Worsham Field at No. 5, placing it between Ohio State’s Ohio Stadium and Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as one of the NCAA’s premier battlegrounds.
The Athletic lauded Lane Stadium for its ‘unique’ atmosphere, drawing a comparison to the environment of No. 1 ranked LSU’s Tiger Stadium.
“It only takes the first two seconds of ‘Enter Sandman’ to play, and I get goosebumps,” Feldman commented. “It happens every time, even more than a decade later.”
The article highlighted how Lane Stadium transforms into an electrifying fortress, with “Enter Sandman” mirroring the Hokies’ aggressive defensive style and their respected special teams.
Under Pry, the Hokies maintained a 4-2 home record in 2023, with The Athletic noting that Lane Stadium is poised to become ‘an opponent’s worst nightmare’ under his leadership.
Tech’s home opener will take place on Saturday, Sept. 7, versus Marshall after kicking off the 2024 campaign on the road in Nashville against Vanderbilt.
Looking ahead to another familiar nonconference foe, the Scarlet Knights will make their way to southwest Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 21, after hosting the Hokies in New Jersey last year. Rutgers is led by head coach Greg Schiano, who received a contract extension this past offseason. Following a victory in the Pinstripe Bowl, the program’s offensive prowess is powered by running back Kyle Monangai and dual-threat quarterback Gavin Wimsatt. The duo accounted for 16 touchdowns on the ground in 2023 and will provide a good early test for the new-look defensive line operating under defensive coordinator Chris Marve.
One of the biggest areas of improvement for Pry and has team is simply re-establishing recruitment in the state of Virginia.
“To me that’s home turf. It’s too easy to get to Blacksburg from the DMV. There’s too many relationships that we have on our staff with coaches and programs in the DMV. There’s too many great programs to not return to the DMV each and every year. We treat it like home turf,” he said.
“We’ve made some good strides there. We’re invested there, like we are in the Commonwealth. Just makes too much sense for us.”
