BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech Football head coach Brent Pry announced Tuesday that Pierson Prioleau has been promoted to serve as safeties coach on his staff. Prioleau returned to Virginia Tech in 2019 as director of player development – defense.
A first-team All-BIG EAST selection and a team captain for Frank Beamer as a senior in 1998, Prioleau played an integral role in helping Tech establish itself as a national football power in the 1990s. A four-year letterwinner for the Hokies, the Alvin, South Carolina native enjoyed a 12-year NFL career and earned a Super Bowl XLIV ring with the New Orleans Saints.
Prior to his return to Blacksburg, Prioleau served as defensive coordinator at Radford High School after his retirement from the NFL in 2011. He also worked as a health and physical education instructor at Belle Heth Elementary School in Radford starting in 2015. He owns a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Virginia Tech. He also participated in the NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program at Northwestern University in 2006 and served a Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship with the St. Louis Rams in 1994.
Inducted as part of the ACC Football Legends Class of 2012, Prioleau was a three-year starter for Beamer and defensive coordinator Bud Foster, totaling 237 career tackles and two touchdowns. He was named first-team All-Big East as a junior in 1997 and earned third-team All-America honors from The Sporting News. As a senior, he led a defense that was first in the BIG EAST in scoring defense, allowing just 12.9 points per game.
A fourth-round selection of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1999 NFL Draft, Prioleau played in 160 career regular season games (50 starts) with San Francisco (1999-00), Buffalo (2001-04), Washington (2005-07), Jacksonville (2008) and New Orleans (2009-10), accumulating 446 total tackles (348 solo), one interception, one safety and four fumble recoveries.
He and his wife, Alicia, are parents of sons PJ, Pace and Parker. PJ is currently a freshman wide receiver for the Hokies.