Catching up with the Coordinators: Brent Pry

BLACKSBURG – "It's good to be back.” 

Those were the five words Virginia Tech Football defensive coordinator Brent Pry opened with in his first appearance before the media on Feb. 4.  

There was nothing flashy about Pry’s entrance in his inaugural press conference or in the words he spoke during his time at the podium. Rooted in character, passion and pride for the university, Pry made it clear: Even in the unique situation the coaching veteran finds himself in, he’s ready to pour back into a Blacksburg community that did the same for him and his family while serving as the team’s head coach.  

“I feel refreshed, excited...[it’s] a great group of young men to work with, great staff,” said Pry, reflecting on his return to Hokie football. “Coach [Head Coach James Franklin] and I work very well together.” 

Pry, who is now entering his fifth year as a coach in Blacksburg but his 35th season in a coaching position, brings a wealth of experience to the defensive coordinator position. The journey to return to southwest Virginia, however, was something that took more than just a résumé review. 

“It took a little bit of soul searching...to find peace with it,” stated Pry. “I wanted to be able to walk back in [the] building and be myself, be positive and be appreciative...we got to that place.” 

The decision to reunite with Franklin was not made in haste, upheld by the coordinator’s candid retelling of the process it took to come back to work in the Merryman Center. Pry recalled how conversations between him and the Hokies’ head coach intensified when Franklin inked his deal in southwest Virginia, further explaining how a reunion was a shared goal regardless of location.  

“The humility that you have to have to walk back into this building as not the head coach...I think it’s significant,” said Franklin, speaking moments prior to Pry on Feb. 4. “The love that he has for Virginia Tech and how much he believes in this place...that plays a major role. I don’t know a lot of people that could have done that.” 

Franklin also referenced how, after getting the green light from athletic leadership and school administration to bring Pry back to the Virginia Tech football coaching staff, he brought Pry to a team meeting soon after he was established as the head coach.  

Pry was met with a standing ovation. 

“It was a pretty cool moment for him and for me,” said Franklin. “At the end of the day, it’s been a win.” 

One might think that returning would be a difficult choice. Yet, with the support of his wife, family, and the greater Blacksburg community, the move was anything but. 

“You know, it seems like a tough decision, but really it's not when you think about what's important to me and my family, and that's working with and aligning with somebody that you trust and know as a leader, as a man, and how he's going to treat people and how he's going to run the organization,” said Pry, commending Franklin and his approach to coaching at the highest level. “So, the knowingness, the comfort of working with James again after so many years was a real positive for me. He knows me, and I know him.” 

While both coaches have enjoyed plenty of successes in their individual careers, the duo has always been connected by the gridiron. Pry would start his football coaching career fresh after graduating from Buffalo University in 1993, landing a position as the defensive backs/outside linebackers coach for the East Stroudsburg Warriors in Pennsylvania. In the 1993-94 season, Pry would help the team achieve a 7-2-1 record, including wins in five of the last seven games of the season. 

The quarterback of the 1993-94 Warriors? Franklin, who led the team behind 1,912 passing yards and 19 touchdowns through the air as a senior. 

It took some time before Pry and Franklin would connect in the professional arena, first doing so wearing black and gold as coaches on the Vanderbilt Commodores. Franklin called the shots as head coach, while Pry worked primarily as the team’s co-defensive coordinator.  From 2011-2013, the pair went 24-15 over three seasons – including two consecutive 9-4 bouts during their last two years in Nashville – and secured two bowl wins in the 2012 Music City Bowl and the 2014 BBVA Compass Bowl. 

Riding the momentum of program-changing success, Franklin would accept the head coach position at Penn State in 2014, bringing Pry with him to Happy Valley. Pry would keep his job title from Nashville in his first two years with the Nittany Lions but saw a promotion to the team’s sole defensive coordinator in 2016, a role he would keep until departing in 2021.  

Hokie fans can grasp what Pry brings to the table by analyzing his successes over the eight years as Penn State’s defensive mastermind. The Nittany Lions’ most visible defensive growth under Pry came immediately after the coach’s promotion, as the team posted three consecutive seasons with 11 wins and four seasons with nine or more victories. Further, Pry’s work overseeing the defense manifested itself at the top of the leaderboards in 2019, where the defense led the nation in fewest yards per carry (2.6) and forced fumbles (22) while ranking fifth in rushing defense (95.0 yards per game) and seventh in sacks (45). A 2021 campaign that saw Pry earn a Broyles Award nomination for the top assistant coach in the country exemplified an already impressive run in blue and white, evidenced by a defense that ranked fourth nationally in red zone stops (66.7%) and seventh in scoring defense (16.8 points per game).  

In what will be his first year as defensive coordinator for the Hokies, Pry has been outfitted with a plethora of proven talent on the defensive staff. Hires such as cornerbacks coach Nick Perry, safeties coach Anthony Midget and defensive line coach Sean Spencer bring over 60 years of combined coaching experience to southwest Virginia. 

“There’s a lot of proven success on my résumé, Sean Spencer’s résumé, on Midget’s résumé,” said Pry, speaking to the talent among his coaching room. “We don’t have to necessarily talk these guys into who we can be.” 

Pry made direct reference to Spencer in his opening press conference, nodding to the time the pair spent working with the Penn State defense from 2014 to 2019. In five straight years, said Pry, the tandem helped the Nittany Lions achieve 40 or more sacks in each season.  

“When you’re talking to a defensive lineman about rush ability and being able to get to the quarterback, there’s nobody that did it better, during that time” asserted Pry. 

The Hokies’ defensive coordinator also gave fans a taste of what the defensive philosophy will be in the upcoming season. Amongst a room that is strengthened by familiarity and previously shared work experience, much of what made the Penn State defense successful under Pry will be replicated – and sharpened – in Blacksburg. 

“What I believe in philosophically and fundamentally will be there,” said Pry, in response to whether he’ll be aiming to reinvent himself as a defensive coordinator. “The package itself will be in the neighborhood of 75% of what and who we were at Penn State. [I’ve] certainly grown and picked up things from other places that we’ve seen over the last three to four years that I’d like to research...there’s some good things that, [over] these last couple weeks, that we’re pulling into the package that can allow us to be better as a scheme.” 

Pry would go on to express his affinity for the defensive coordinator position towards the end of his media appearance on Feb. 4. Reflecting, the former head coach talked extensively about how, when in a position that overlooks the entirety of a program, you tend to lose some of the more detailed conversations pertaining to offensive and defensive gameplans. 

Now, with his responsibilities firmly set as a defensive coordinator for a program that prides itself on its defensive prowess, Pry feels as if it can only go up from here. 

“Absolutely,” said Pry when asked if it’s refreshing to be in a pure coaching role for the first time since 2021. “Diving into a playbook, and these individual meetings about fundamentals and techniques...it was exciting.” 

In some of his final remarks, Pry put it plainly: “It’s a completely different job task...and right now, I really like what days involve.” 

Don’t miss out on the chance to see Coach Franklin, Pry and the Hokies in action when they take the field for the Spring Game on April 18. Reserve your spot now before Lane Stadium fills up on a can’t-miss weekend!