Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry has announced several staff updates and title changes, as well as four new additions to his coaching staff.
Pry has made the following updates to the staff roster:
Brent Davis: Tight Ends Coach
Shawn Quinn: Outside Linebackers Coach
Xavier Adibi: Inside Linebackers Coach
In addition to the title changes, Pry has added Jens Danielsen as assistant offensive line coach, Cannon Montgomery as assistant running backs coach, Jireh Wilson as edges coach while Bryan Whitehead assumes the role of nickels coach.
“I appreciate the commitment from Whit Babcock and the administration to continue providing resources to be successful and support our student-athletes,” said Pry. “I’m really excited about the new assignments for our staff, as well as the new additions. We have hired some incredibly talented teachers and individuals who will fit well into the culture of Virginia Tech.”
Danielsen, the newly appointed assistant offensive line coach, brings experience from three Power Four schools, including two separate stints at West Virginia. His first stretch in Morgantown was as an offensive graduate assistant in 2021. He served as an offensive quality control assistant at Mississippi State in 2022 before returning to WVU as an offensive analyst in 2023. Danielsen was the run game specialist and centers coach for the Mountaineers during the 2024 season.
Danielsen was an offensive graduate assistant coach at Baylor during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, working with the offensive line. He worked with an All-Big 12 Conference guard and an All-Big 12 Conference First Team center.
He served as the co-offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, recruiting coordinator and strength and conditioning coordinator at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas (March 2017 – May 2019), where he coached two NJCAA All-Americans with a third one being named NJCAA Grid Iron All-America.
Danielsen earned his bachelor’s degree in clinical kinesiology from Louisiana Tech in 2015 and his master’s degree in sport management from West Virginia in 2021.
He was a three-year starter at offensive tackle for the Bulldogs and earned All-Conference USA Second Team and All-Louisiana Second Team honors. He was named the Offensive Lineman of the Year at Louisiana Tech in 2015.
He and his wife, Hannah, have a son, Ram.
Montgomery, the assistant running backs coach, spent the 2024 season as the wide receivers coach at Houston Christian University, mentoring A.J. Wilson, who led the Southland Conference and the FCS in receiving yards per catch. Wilson was fourth in the conference in touchdown receptions. Under Montgomery’s direction, Ismael Fuller was second in the Southland Conference in yards per catch.
Montgomery spent time at Houston as a graduate assistant working with quarterbacks in 2024. Prior to that he held the same role at Auburn (2023) working with wide receivers, and Tulsa (2022) where he worked with tight ends, wide receivers, and returners.
Montgomery was a four-year letterwinner as a receiver at Tulsa, playing in 46 games for his father, Philip, earning his bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science in 2021.
Wilson joins the Tech staff as edges coach after spending the 2024 season as safeties coach at Kennesaw State, and the 2023 season as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at North Greenville University.
At Kennesaw, Wilson tutored Conference USA All-Freshman safety Isaac Paul. Paul finished the season with 54 tackles, two breakups and a fumble return. The Owls were also able to post their FBS win and first FBS conference win in school history.
During his time at NGU, Wilson led a defensive unit that allowed 24.9 points per game in 2023 which was 11.92 points better than the previous season. His defense also improved the average passing yards allowed per game by 73 which was an improvement of over 100 spots in the national rankings.
Prior to joining the Crusaders, Wilson was a defensive assistant coach and co-special teams coordinator at Gardner-Webb in 2022. Under his guidance, the Runnin’ Bulldog defense ranked fourth in interceptions (16), sixth in turnovers gained (25) and 22nd in third down defense.
Wilson coached All-American cornerback Raequan Ousley who finished fourth in the nation in passes defended (20). The Runnin’ Bulldogs finished the year with the program’s first winning season since 2013 and earned the 2022 Big South Championship.
The Calhoun, Georgia native played linebacker and was a two-time captain at Wofford, winning three Southern Conference Championships and earning 2019 First-Team All-SoCon accolades.
Wilson graduated with a bachelor's in biology. He and his wife, Alie, were married last March.
Whitehead joins the Hokies as nickels coach following three seasons at Southern Miss, where he served as the lead defensive analyst before coaching nickels in 2024. The Golden Eagles were third in the nation in sacks (44) and tackles for loss (108) in 2022.
Whitehead spent two seasons (2020-2021) at Wisconsin-La Crosse as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, helping the Eagles to an NCAA playoff appearance in 2021. In two years at Wofford College, he assisted with the defensive line in 2018 and coached safeties in 2019, as the Terriers won the Southern Conference and made FCS playoff appearances in each season.
Whitehead’s coaching career began in 2016 at his alma mater, Wisconsin-Platteville where he served as defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator. The Pioneers were an NCAA playoff qualifier in 2016.
Whitehead was a three-year letterwinner at wide receiver at Platteville.
He received his bachelor’s degree in health and human performance from UW-Platteville in 2015 along with a master’s in education from Missouri in 2019. He and his wife, Ilse have a son, Mason.