Virginia Tech Fires Football Head Coach Brent Pry

Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry on Sunday afternoon, a little over three seasons into his run with the Hokies and less than a day after the team got off to its first 0-3 start in 38 years with an embarrassing 45-26 home loss to Old Dominion. President Tim Sands announced the decision.

“Coach Brent Pry has been relieved of his coaching duties effective immediately,” Sands said in the school’s release. “We appreciate Coach Pry’s efforts and service since 2021. Unfortunately, the results on the field were not acceptable and a change in leadership is necessary. Philip Montgomery will serve as interim head coach. We will continue to fully support our team and student-athletes for the remaining games as we strive together to significantly improve the trajectory of our football program this season.”

The Hokies announced offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, who was the head coach at Tulsa from 2015-22 and compiled a 43-53 (.448) record, will serve as the interim head coach.

Pry finished his three-plus seasons as the Hokies’ big whistle with a 16-24 record, a .400 winning percentage that was better than only two full-time coaches in Virginia Tech history. Charlie Coffey went 12-20-1 from 1971-73 (.379) and Robert McNeish was 1-25 from 1948-50 (.086).

Brent Pry released a statement through the #Hokies following his firing. pic.twitter.com/wtrS94DFoZ

— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) September 14, 2025

Pry is owed around $6.83 million, per the six-year contract he signed in 2022, a sum that can be paid out in equal quarterly installments through 2027. Virginia Tech owes 70 percent of his annual compensation for the remainder of this year (the final quarter of $4.75 million) and the next ($5 million), and 50 percent of his 2027 base and supplemental pay ($5 million).

Pry’s tenure ends without a marquee win on his résumé and plenty of head-scratching losses, none greater than the beatdown the Monarchs put on the Hokies in Lane Stadium on Saturday, the team’s seventh loss in their last eight games dating back to last year.

ODU, who is coached by Pry’s old Penn State colleague Ricky Rahne, delivered the coup de grâce to the Hokies coach’s tenure, racing to a 28-0 halftime lead, matching the most points (45) by an opponent in the Pry era and completing a start-to-finish thrashing that sent much of the Virginia Tech faithful heading toward the exits long before the game’s conclusion.

It ends a disastrous tenure under Pry, who had a losing record in three of his four seasons in Blacksburg, who went 1-12 in one-score games and was 5-11 in non-conference games against FBS opponents, with two losses to Old Dominion, two to Vanderbilt, two to Rutgers, one to Purdue and one to Marshall. 

Though he was hailed for his energetic personality when hired, a dramatic shift from the typically rigid and stoic Fuente, he couldn’t overcome questionable coordinator hires from the start, a defense that never lived up to his career reputation on that side of the ball and in-game management never seemed to improve.

Things started poorly with a 3-8 season in 2022, and though Tech had to pick up the pieces of the Fuente era by having to rebuild a depleted roster, Pry’s hires left much to be desired. 

The first-time head coach tabbed two 32-year-old, first-time coordinators to lead his units, with Tyler Bowen on offense and Chris Marve on defense. Neither hit his stride with any kind of consistency, with Marve getting fired at the end of a disappointing 2024 season and Bowen leaving last winter for an offensive line job with Ohio State.

Offensive line hires bedeviled Pry for four years. Joe Rudolph, his initial choice to lead the group and the splash hire on his original staff, left for Notre Dame after one year. His replacement, Ron Crook, proved ineffective in two years, leading to the addition of Matt Moore in the offseason. A complete overhaul of the group, with five new starters, put them in a tough spot before injuries complicated matters by shelving three starters early in 2025.

Quarterback play never got over the hump. After the Hokies moved on from Grant Wells early in the 2023 season, with a seemingly intriguing back half of the year from Kyron Drones, things went south.

Drones battled through early struggles and late injuries in a lost 2024 before flailing to start 2025. The senior couldn’t find an early rhythm with new offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, throwing for one touchdown in the first 10 quarters of the season before putting up late stats when the ODU game was already out of hand.

Pry’s calling card on defense never met expectations either. The Hokies jumped from 58th nationally in total defense after Year 1 to 20th in 2023, giving up 316.8 yards per game and finishing second in the ACC in sacks.

That group regressed in 2024, giving up 363 yards per game (57th nationally) and fading down the stretch of games, watching late leads evaporate against Vanderbilt, Miami and Syracuse. It cost Marve his job as defensive coordinator, though his replacement, a surprise hire from the NFL ranks in Sam Siefkes, struggled in the early going.

After a stalwart effort to keep South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers in check for most of a season-opening 24-11 loss in Atlanta, the Hokies bottomed out. Vanderbilt racked up over 300 second-half yards in Week 2, outscoring Tech 34-0 after the break last week in a 44-20 win. ODU did more of the same Saturday in a 45-26 rout, putting up 334 yards and 28 points before halftime.

Tech’s given up 1,016 yards and 8.5 yards per play in the last two contests. It’s the first time the Hokies have given up at least 89 points in consecutive games since COVID-ravaged groups allowed 47 and 45 in back-to-back weeks against Pitt and No. 5 Clemson in 2020.

Sands added in the release: “Board of Visitors members J. Pearson and Ryan McCarthy have been charged by the rector, John Rocovich, to work with university leadership and AD Whit Babcock to develop a financial, organizational and leadership plan that will rapidly position the Virginia Tech football program to be competitive with the best in the ACC. That plan will be presented to the Board of Visitors later this month. The new framework for college sports will be fully established for next season, so this is the time to make a major move.”

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