Virginia Tech football: Brent Pry significantly improved the Hokies’ coaching staff this offseason

When the Virginia Tech Hokies finished the 2024 regular season with a disappointing 6-6 record, it was clear that changes needed to be made. Obviously, the coordinators were a good place to start. Head coach Brent Pry did that, firing defensive coordinator Chris Marve and offensive line coach Ron Crook.

It was difficult for Pry to fire Marve, his former player from when he was the defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt, but it was justified. The Hokies had talent defensively, yet they never seemed to have an answer during the second half of games. We could cite numerous examples. There was also the linebacker play. Marve also coached linebackers. In three years, we didn’t see much improvement from that group, either.

You could argue that Pry should’ve never hired Marve as the defensive coordinator. What had he done at his previous stops to earn such a promotion? It was a lesson learned for Pry.

As for Crook, he was terrible. There is no way around it. In every way possible, Crook did a bad job. It’s tough to blame Pry here as much because he lost his original offensive line coach, Joe Rudolph, not long before spring practice in 2023. He had to scramble for a replacement, and Crook was out of a job. Now we see why.

The offensive line, as a whole, did not improve, and some players regressed under Crook’s tutelage. He was a liability on the recruiting trail, too.

To replace Crook, Pry quickly named Matt Moore as VT’s new offensive line coach. That was as close to a home-run hire as Virginia Tech could have made for such an important position. Moore recruited well at West Virginia and has sent multiple players to the NFL. Pry took advantage of WVU’s coaching change and hired Moore to replace Crook. It was a widely praised move, and players seemed to be happy. Moore even brought a few of his former players with him to Blacksburg.

Back to the defensive coordinator hiring. This search went on and on, and the message boards mocked the Hokies and Pry. However, he seemingly interviewed everyone before settling on Sam Siefkes.

Wait, who?

Siefkes may not be a household name, but the 33-year-old is already an accomplished coach. In 2015, he was a graduate assistant at Wisconsin before moving to Wisconsin-Platteville and serving as defensive coordinator for two seasons. From there, he landed at Wofford and served as its defensive coordinator for the next three seasons. Under Siefkes, the defense improved every season.

In 2021, he went to the NFL, first as a quality control coach for the Minnesota Vikings, before being named assistant linebackers coach in 2022. In 2023, he landed with the Arizona Cardinals as linebackers coach. Several NFL coaches praised Siefkes, including Kevin O’Connell, Mike Zimmer and Jonathan Gannon.

So, while risky, Siefkes appears to be a smart gamble. While Marve had never called plays before coming to Blacksburg, Siefkes has, although at the FCS level. While most people hadn’t heard of him before, he certainly brings more excitement than some run-of-the-mill veteran defensive coordinator who has been fired from multiple places.

Finally, we have offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen. The Hokies were not expecting to lose Bowen, although many in the fan base wanted to see him follow Marve out the door. Pry chose to stick with Bowen, giving him a chance with a competent OL coach in 2025 and a hopefully healthy quarterback. But Bowen had other plans, ducking out to become the new offensive line coach at Ohio State earlier this month.

In some ways, you can’t blame Bowen. Although technically a demotion, he got a pay bump, less responsibility, and more job stability. As for Pry, it gave him a chance to reboot, even if the timing was less than ideal. Pry couldn’t engage in a prolonged search with spring practice around the corner. Several candidates emerged before Pry hired Phillip Montgomery earlier this week.

Excellent move.

Montgomery comes to Blacksburg as a highly accomplished offensive coach, and he has eight years of head coaching experience, which should help Pry. Montgomery has been successful in multiple places, including at Houston and Baylor, where he helped develop future NFL quarterbacks Case Keenum, Robert Griffin III and Bryce Petty.

He’s also a good hire because he gets Pry out of his comfort zone. He’s a safe hire because he’s a real offensive coordinator with tons of experience, but he’s also not a safe hire for Pry because there is no shared history. That can be a good thing. Another positive is that he brings a more modern offensive approach to Blacksburg, something we haven’t seen in forever.

It remains to be seen if Montgomery will tweak his offensive style. There are indications he will, as Pry mentioned, as he meshed well with Moore, specifically regarding the running game.

The proof, of course, is in the win/loss record. The Hokies could go 4-8 next year and fire everyone. However, no one can say today that the Hokies aren’t better off at offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. That’s a given.

Defensively, Virginia Tech certainly isn’t in worse shape. There’s a lot to like about Siefkes. And, I don’t think the questions surrounding Siefkes are nearly as big as the ones Marve faced.

Yes, the path to improving the coaching staff hasn’t been traditional, but it’s a step in the right direction. Pry heads into a critical fourth season as Virginia Tech’s head coach in 2025 and he’ll do so with the best coaching staff since arriving in 2022.