Virginia Tech Football Hires Michael Hazel As Brent Pry’s Chief Of Staff

Brent Pry made his 12th hire to his new staff at Virginia Tech on Monday. (Ivan Morozov)

On Tuesday, Virginia Tech and Brent Pry announced the hiring of Michael Hazel as an Assistant Athletic Director and the football program’s Chief of Staff.

An Elon alum with 18 years of Division I experience under his belt, Hazel spent the last eight seasons at Penn State. He was James Franklin’s Director of Football Operations before being promoted to Senior Director in 2019.

Before his time in Happy Valley, he was at Vanderbilt for 11 seasons. He was the Director of Football Operations for the final four years, an assistant director of football operations for six and a defensive graduate assistant for one.

At Penn State, Hazel oversaw the external operations and facilities for the football program, along with Franklin’s public appearances. He was also the program’s liaison with the marketing and strategic communication departments, as well as high school coaches. In 2020, Hazel was named FootballScoop Operations Director of the Year. Pry and Hazel were on Franklin’s staff together for 11 seasons between Nashville and Happy Valley.

To give you a sense of a what Hazel’s role might be as Pry’s Chief of Staff, here’s the wording from the bio of Stephanie Ballein, who is in the same role for Mike Young and the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team.

“Oversees the assistant coaches and support staff for men’s basketball, as well as travel, logistics, budget and head coach Mike Young’s schedule, while interacting with the student-athletes on a daily basis.”

For a full breakdown of Brent Pry’s hires, click here.

Previous Connections

Many of Brent Pry’s additions have been people he’s coaches with at other institutions. Ten of the 12 assistant coaches and support staff hires to the new Virginia Tech staff have connections with Pry from a previous staff. The breakdown, in chronological order from Pry’s career path:

Virginia Tech: 2 – J.C. Price, Pierson Prioleau
Western Carolina: 1 – Stu Holt
Louisiana: 1 – Shawn Quinn
Memphis: 1 – Derek Jones
Vanderbilt: 2 – Chris Marve, Dwight Galt IV (also Penn St.)
Penn State: 3 – Tyler Bowen (reported, not official), Mike Villagrana, Michael Hazel

Two with no previous connection from the same staff: Brad Glenn and Joe Rudolph.

Below is the full list of the assistant coaches and support staff Pry has put together at Virginia Tech.

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