The Virginia Tech Hokies feel very good about their future following the move to hire James Franklin as the team’s head coach.
Franklin, who had been the head coach at Penn State since the 2014 season, parted ways with the Nittany Lions in the middle of the year. He had a lot of success with Penn State, but the program felt that change was necessary.
Throughout his tenure with the Nittany Lions, Franklin compiled an impressive 104-45 record. He’s hoping to help turn the Virginia Tech football program back into a legitimate contender in the ACC.
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Already, Franklin has been making waves in the recruiting world. He has taken quite a few of the players who previously committed to him at Penn State. The school has to be happy with the early results from him.
Now, a new report is suggesting that Franklin is looking to make a surprising addition to his coaching staff.
According to a report from CBS Sports college football insider Matt Zenitz, Franklin is targeting former Hokies head coach Brent Pry to return to the program as defensive coordinator.
“James Franklin is targeting Brent Pry for his defensive coordinator job at Virginia Tech, sources tell me and @RJ_cfb,” Zenitz wrote on X. “Pry was VT’s head coach the last four years. Now, potentially returning to Va Tech under Franklin, whom he previously worked under at Penn State and Vanderbilt.”
Pry was well-respected during his tenure at Virginia Tech. There were moments where he appeared to have the team turning around, but there were too many times that the team couldn’t close out a big win.
From the 2022 season through 2025, Pry came up with a 16-24 record. That simply wasn’t good enough for the Hokies. Coming back on Franklin’s staff would be a great scenario for him.
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It isn’t very often that a former head coach remains on staff with the new head coach. That could very well be the case with Pry and Franklin. He’s an excellent coach who could help Virginia Tech accomplish its goal of becoming a contender.
Expect to hear more about this situation in the near future. For now, it seems like a very possible scenario that Pry makes a quick return to the Hokies.
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