When he became the head coach at Virginia Tech, Brent Pry mentioned finding the best fit for every player would be important in the spring.
After Saturday’s half-scrimmage, the Hokies started to experiment and make a handful of position changes, many on the defensive side of the ball. Pry said his team embraced the adjustments, which are made to help utilize a player’s strengths and weaknesses.
“Let’s give this other spot a shot and see if we can’t get a little better play out of you right now,” Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry said on Wednesday on the conversations with players. “See if we can get you on the field quicker. An opportunity to start in the two-deep for somebody buried on the depth chart. An opportunity to earn some playing time. Somebody that’s a backup that has a chance to be a starter at another spot. To me, the spring is time to do that.”
A majority of the changes dealt with moving a player closer to the ball. As Pry noted with the media, it comes down to putting athletic ability in better spots.
Keonta Jenkins moved to the field backer spot. The McDonald twins from nearby Salem, Jorden and Jayden, went from Sam linebacker to defensive end and Will linebacker, respectively. Gunner Givens shifted from defensive end to defensive tackle, while Ny’Quee Hawkins is now at the other safety spot.
Pry described the moves as Tech’s defense “downsizing” and getting more speed around the ball. He said the difference was noticeable on Tuesday in what he called the team’s most competitive practice of the spring to date.
“Things kind of went from corner to safety, safety to linebacker, linebacker to defensive end, and d-end to d-tackle,” Pry said of the changes. “… To be honest, defensively, I felt it out there yesterday, just in one day. … Yesterday was by far our best practice. We looked more like a football team out there from a competitive standpoint from the beginning of practice.”
The conversations involve the position coach and the coordinator, and Pry is involved if needed. But he noted that being upfront and honest with every player is crucial in this process, and they shouldn’t be surprised about the adjustments.
He also admitted that while the changes are positive, made for a player to be closer to reaching his full potential, sometimes guys see it in a negative light.
“I just told them, ‘You’ve got to trust us,'” Pry said of the conversations with players. “‘I’ve been doing this 31 years. It’s in all of our best interest to put you in the best place where you can play the quickest and help our football team. That’s good for you, that’s good for us.'”
Offensively, Pry mentioned Connor Blumrick, who he called one of the team’s “22 best players” after winter workouts. He said Blumrick could line up at tight end, receiver or in the backfield at quarterback depending on where he fits best and what Virginia Tech can scheme things up for him.
Pry spoke of running backs Chance Black and Keshawn King, too. Both are versatile guys that have a lot of talent, and he said this period of time is crucial in terms of finding where they fit best on the roster.
“I say, ‘Listen, we need to figure out what Chance Black can do,” Pry said. “‘We need to get him enough touches over the next several days so we can figure it out. Is he a top two or three guy at the running back position? Or do we have an opportunity to maximize what he can do and maybe it’s at receiver, maybe it’s at corner. … It’s our job to get him in the position where he needs to help us this fall.
“‘He needs to help us. He’s too talented of a guy, so if it’s not at tailback, where’s it going to be?’ It may very well be at tailback. If it’s not, then we only have 15 practices in the spring to get him an opportunity somewhere else.”
Tyler Matheny, a walk-on, is another good example. He was practicing at safety, but the staff moved him to Mike linebacker to give him a chance to see how he fits there.
The Virginia Tech staff can find the strengths and weakness of different players and test their limits. In turn, that will give the Hokies a better understanding of what each player can and cannot do.
Pry said it all goes back to bringing in guys who can play multiple positions, because in the end, versatility is key.
“You want to recruit guys you feel like can play receiver, can play DB,” Pry said. “Recruit linebackers that you feel like can run the ball, and I don’t mean like fullbacks. Guys that can play tailback who were good tailbacks in high school. That’s part of it right now.”
Pry didn’t specify, but he did say there are a few key spots that Virginia Tech has to fill. And while that doesn’t mean the staff won’t come back around to the player that started there on day one, the coaches are vetting the roster to find the best fits.
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Throw this in as well…Position changes (not the ones mentioned, but down the depth chart) can also let the coaches know who is and who isn’t a team guy. We need to pare down that total scholarship number.
probably impossible to find this information, but would be great to see if there is any correlation between production in college (as well as being drafted) vs position alignment. I would expect that players that switch positions end up less productive (on average) and get drafted less, than those that remain in the same position through their college career. My gut feel is that switching positions is an indictment on recruiting and less on development. We need to do a better job of bringing in kids that will stick at a certain position. Having to dedicate time to switching a player and getting them up to speed is less than optimal. Anyone know how often the elite schools shuffle the deck with regards to positions?
My opinion is that spending so much time on position changes makes VT come off as amateur.
But, if someone is in the wrong position for them, they will not get the production in college and have little shot at NFL. It would be hard to find really useful stats that you want, since players switching positions are not currently on a path that leads to NFL. Their production is low which is why they are being moved
I strongly disagree. Players come in from HS are typically spotted in college at the same position they played in HS. That does not mean that is their best position. A HS player may have played RB because he was better than the other RB’s on the team, and has the talent to be a great WR. Who knows.
Tell that to Justin Hamilton. Having position changes also is a reflection of scheme change. A 4-3 DE is not a fit for a 3-4 DE is one example.
Never figured out what went wrong with King, he showed some flashes as a freshman but seemed to have off the field issues (but who didn’t when it came to Fuente). Hope he gets more touches this year but looks like he need to hit the squat rack a LOT more often, legs look way too skinny for being a junior RB in a P5 program.
Very generally speaking…Back in the day, Claiborne and Dooley recruited a lot of quarterbacks (football smarts), and depending on their size, they played all over the field. Then came the Jimmy Johnson (then Beamer) focus on speed, so you recruit a linebacker and bulk him up to a be a defensive end. But as high school football has become more sophisticated, players arrive more position ready. Is Pry stepping back a little in time and taking the approach to “get athletes, and we’ll take it from there”? Agree, disagree?
Yep, Claiborne had Don Strock at DE. He wanted his best athletes on the D side of the ball. Mickey Fitzgerald moved from TE to a wishbone FB and got to the NFL.
I imagine these changes are also indicative of the … “mess” he found when he got here.
And some just can’t let it go and move forward. Sounds to me it’s more about taking these kids that are here and finding their best position to not only help the team. But help the player find productive playing time. Blumrick for example. He was already here when Pry got here. But yet Pry says he’s one of the top 22 players on the team. So instead of him just getting buried on the depth chart. He could very well help us at WR, TE, etc. The mess as you call it is not all it’s cranked up to be WADR. Pry is moving our team forward or tying to. It seems he is doing a great job to me so far and instead of blaming someone else or making excuses. He’s got a plan and getting it done.
Key spot to fill aka Mike LB.
Blumrick has entirely too much talent to be on the bench. I think he will be full time at a roll other than QB and will take a rep as QB when opposing defenders have let their guard down.
Role
Will have to read up on it, but on the surface it sounds like defensively we might be shifting back towards Bud’s philosophy of speed over size. Fu (maybe more JHam and Co.) wanted length (read: tall), but it sounds like we are looking for quick/fast… any thoughts?
I think that Pry wants size and speed. For example,Givens has shifted from DE to DT and the coaching staff wants him to add weight. He was 6`5 270 lbs coming out of high school. So,we are probably looking at a 6`5 300 lb DT at some point. Rudolph has moved to DE and has gone from 6`4 227 lbs last season to 240 lbs currently. He could be 250 lbs by the fall. Just two examples.
Who is Rudolph?
Lakeem Rudolph from LB to DE
LOL – find me any coach that doesn’t want size and speed and I’ll show you a coach that shouldn’t be coaching football
That was my first thought too. I’m sure he’d like size and speed (who doesn’t?), but frankly VT isn’t going to get both often – and certainly not at every position. So unless you can recruit at a top 10 or maybe 15 level, you pick your poison – speed over size or size over speed. And stick with it and build your program around it.
I think (and thought) it was a mistake for VT to move to size over athleticism because like most programs which try to mix and match, it ends up neither.
Correction:
Offensively, Pry mentioned Connor Blumrick, who he called one of the team’s “22 best players” after winter workouts. He said Blumrick could like (LINE) up at tight end, receiver or in the backfield at quarterback depending on where he fits best and what Virginia Tech can scheme up for him.
So an HBack, TE, Wild Turkey guy.
He could make a lot of money in the Cooper Kupp role if he can block and catch – but that is a very bid IF for a guy who has not played a down at receiver.
Its all a lab experiment at this point. The first half of season will be all about building cohesion and chemistry on both sides.
These qb’s had better be accurate and tough cause we have zero proven WR and a shallow OL.