Brent Pry: Feelings On The Coaching Staff And The Roster That Returns

On Tuesday, Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry made his latest addition to his coaching staff, promoting Pierson Prioleau to Safeties Coach.

The hiring of Prioleau is the seventh Pry has officially made since he was hired at the beginning of December.

Offense:

Tyler Bowen (reported): Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends
Brad Glenn: Quarterbacks, Passing Game Coordinator
Stu Holt: Running Backs, Special Teams Coordinator
Joe Rudolph (rumored): Offensive Line, Run Game Coordinator

Defense:

J.C. Price: Associate Head Coach, Defensive Line
Chris Marve: Defensive Coordinator, Inside Linebackers (MIKE, WILL)
Shawn Quinn: Outside Linebackers (SAM), Nickelbacks
Derek Jones: Cornerbacks
Pierson Prioleau: Safeties

Pry spoke with the media about his thoughts on the staff he’s assembled – nine of the ten full-time assistants have been hired and/or rumored – and the roster he inherited heading into the new year.

The Staff

Below is a breakdown of the assistants Pry has hired (or is close to hiring), their experience coaching at a Division I level, and their previous salary.

Like previously mentioned, seven of the ten full-time coaches have been announced and two of the remaining three have been rumored or reported. Only the wide receiver coach remains.

It’s a staff with 146 years of coaching experience in college football across nine assistants, and all but two – Marve and Prioleau – have at least ten years.

Glenn, Holt, Quinn and Jones are the four with hefty experience that are official, while Price was promoted from within. There are two coaches we’ll specifically touch on: Glenn and Marve.

Brad Glenn

The quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, Glenn never coached on the same staff as Pry but crossed paths many times.

A staple at Western Carolina and Appalachian State for many years, Glenn’s quarterbacks have succeeded everywhere he’s been. He stems from a coaching tree of offensive play callers that has been very successful, and he ventures to Blacksburg from Georgia State. He’s recruited Virginia Tech’s footprint for many years and has worked in similar situations like Boone, N.C., which led to Pry adding him to the staff.

“People that I trust have worked with him and I spoke with them,” Pry said. “So there was a comfort level there in knowing the type of coach I was getting. I felt very comfortable in who he was, and I loved his ties to our footprint, to the Carolinas. And I think he’s a fit.

“When they [assistants] go in these schools, there’s a level of comfort for the recruiter and the high school coach. And for him, he’s been in a lot of these schools in this footprint. That was important to me.”

One of the challenges for Glenn is going to be shaping the quarterback room. In six seasons since 2016, the Hokies have opened the season with five different starting QBs.

Of the six quarterbacks that received significant minutes over that stretch – Jerod Evans, Josh Jackson, Ryan Willis, Hendon Hooker, Quincy Patterson, Braxton Burmeister – four have transferred out (Burmeister is in the portal).

There’s been very little, if any, consistency. Pry hopes Glenn can change that.

“You look at his accomplishments with quarterbacks at each stop,” Pry said. “Every quarterback he’s coached has garnered some type of accolades and has had at least one season where he’s played extremely well. His quarterback experience to me was checking all of the boxes, just from doing it over a long period of time at three different places.

“When you look at the Group of Five coordinators and the guys that have done well and been successful, he’s up there.”

Chris Marve

The coach with the second-least experience but is tied for third-most responsibility, Chris Marve was a special linebacker at Vanderbilt.

He played for Pry, then the defensive coordinator for the Commodores, in Nashville. He was a four-time All-SEC linebacker, a two-time team captain and became a defensive graduate assistant at Vanderbilt after his playing days. Since, he’s had stops at Mississippi State and Florida State.

Pry described him as a “great student of the game” who has coached in good schemes and good linebackers at different stops.

“I just know what a bright football mind he is,” Pry said of Marve. “I know how loyal he’ll be to me, to Virginia Tech. I know when people meet Chris, they’re going to be very impressed. You talk about a guy that was revered by everybody on Vanderbilt’s campus, got accepted into law school while he was still an undergrad, which is kind of unheard of there. Just a unique guy.”

There’s a good chance Pry is still hands-on with the playcalling in Marve’s first season as defensive coordinator, but the former Seminoles linebacker coach has a talented support group around him. J.C. Price, Shawn Quinn and Derek Jones have a combined 67 years of coaching at the D-I level, and Prioleau, though new to coaching, was a 12-year pro.

“I want to help Chris do this, but also know in that room is J.C. and Shawn Quinn and Derek Jones, these guys that have a ton of experience that I’ve surrounded him with,” Pry said on early signing day. “Chris is incredibly bright, he’s familiar with the package so really, when you look at the big picture, it just made perfect sense.”

The Roster

Brent Pry has inherited a roster that has seen a ton of change over the past few weeks.

15 players have either decided to enter the transfer portal or pursue their NFL dreams, including 12 starters. However, Pry said he isn’t sure what the team will look like next year until after the spring.

“I know what I want it to be,” Pry said. “But still trying to identify what the strengths and weaknesses are and who’s really going to be with us and invested in it. And I’m still having conversations in meetings with guys that are kind of on the fence.

“I’m not surprised by anything that’s happened. Let me say that. … So in the end you’re going to look at it and go, OK, you’ve got four starters back on offense and four on defense and whatever that number is. Are they good enough to win with in this league? And the guys stepping into roles, are they good enough to win with in this league?”

Part of the evaluation process will involve identifying each player’s strengths and weaknesses, plus where they fit best on the football field. 

“I think that’s half the battle with coaching is you’ve got to identify what you’re doing well and are you getting the most out of them at the spot they’re in,” Pry said. “That could be from offensive guard to tackle, from guard to center, it could be from D-end to D-tackle, it could be safety to linebacker. Is one guy a better Will than he is a Sam, a better boundary safety than he is a field safety, can one corner only play to the boundary or one corner only play to the field?

“To me, that’s some of the decisions that we make as coaches that I learned a long time ago from Bud [Foster]. You’ve got to … your personnel and where you put them is critical.”

Factor in more players on this current team deciding what is best for their futures, like transferring to a different school, and there is undoubtedly more change coming in the program. But Pry is a defensive guy, so that unit will eventually resemble what a Brent Pry defense looks like.

What does he envision for the offensive side of the ball? He gave a thoughtful answer.

“Efficient, ball control, but the ability to be explosive,” Pry said. “Good balance. Everything that I know us gives us problems. I don’t want a one-dimensional offense. … If our run game is a strength, we are going to play to our strengths, but we are going to be balanced. We aren’t going to tilt one way or the other. We have to be really good up front. I’m not interested in trying to hide our offensive line by spreading it and not letting people expose their weaknesses. … I want to recruit and develop linemen where we feel good about it.

“I’m not interested when people are loading the box we are always pulling it and throwing it. You’ve got to call a run and run it. You’ve got to be multiple with tight ends. I know what kind of problems that bring to people. When you got two tight ends in the game and you’ve got shifting and you’ve got edges and you’ve got angles, it’s problematic. There’s a lot of defensive play callers and defenses out there that won’t adjust the right way. I know how important minimizing explosive plays was for us, so we are going to take advantages and try and create explosive plays.”