Tech Talk Live Notes: Brent Pry Previews Vanderbilt

Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry joined Zach Mackey and Mike Burnop on Tech Talk Live on Thursday night at McClain’s at First and Main to preview Saturday’s season opener at Vanderbilt (12 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Brent Pry

How are things going this week?

It’s good to truly be in a game week. Last week was bonus week, we were coming out of camp, and now at least you can set your sights on a true team. These guys are tired of hitting each other. So it’s been a good week.

How was it talking to the Corps of Cadets?

It was awesome. Ran out of here and it was the freshman, and they’d been in basically their boot camp for a week, so they were happy to see anybody that wasn’t running them and making them do push-ups. It’s such an important piece to what we have at Virginia Tech, the Corps, the Cadets, and the whole thing with those guys being in the stadium on Saturdays. They just mean so much to our university and they’re impactful to our program. We’ve got a great relationship with those guys and we’re going to continue to grow that. Major General Fullhart and I got to be pretty good friends, so we’ll miss him, but they’ve got a new man in charge and things are full steam ahead. So it was awesome. We actually have a walk-on place kicker, Aiden Daugherty, who’s a freshman in the corps. So he’s doing both, he’s playing football and he’s a cadet. We’re all pulling for him. It’s not easy, he’s double duty, but it’s going to be a great story when it works out for him.

There are a couple of guys that you’re recruiting that are multi-sport guys. How do you handle their time and take on that style of recruiting?

First of all, it’s the relationship with the other coaches. Coach [John] Szefc and I go way back to Louisiana Lafayette, we had a relationship there when we were both young assistants. For the young man [Micah Matthews] that wants to come do both, playing football and baseball, working the calendars out and having a plan. Coach [Tony] Robie and I, we got together about Jimmy Mullen, he’s on the wrestling team. He was kind of a wrestler first, football player second. We juggled that for a year and that went pretty good. So having a relationship where you can work together and nobody is trying to trump the other one. If these guys can have a story where they’re successful in two sports, that’s great for them and great for Virginia Tech.

Tell us about the pep rally with the freshmen.

Man, let me tell you, those freshmen are happy to be here. There were 8,000 of them in Lane Stadium and they were jumping, a bunch of sports talked to them. They were just excited, it’s a great time in their lives and I told them that they made one of the best choices of their lives coming to Virginia Tech. They’re excited for the fall and they’ll be in that stadium and they’ll be fired up and cheering us on.

Getting close to kickoff, do you feel like you’ve gotten what you wanted accomplished throughout camp and this bonus week leading up to your first opponent?

Yeah, I think so. We’re pretty much on schedule. We’ve got our schemes cemented, what we want to do, who we want to be. Then you look at Vanderbilt and say, “OK, what do we have to tweak to give us the best chance to be successful against them?” They pose some interesting problems, they’ve got a head coach that’s getting back involved on defense and he was very good at what he did. Then they’ve got a revamped offense, new coaches, new players, new plan. You’re just piecing together film to try to make sense of it. How much of what Coach [Clark] Lea did at Notre Dame are they going to be on defense? How much of what Coach [Jerry] Kill and the offensive coordinator Coach [Tim] Beck did at New Mexico State are we going to see Saturday? In the end, I told the coaches, we have to be really good at what we do and hang our hats there, make sure we’re good at that.

With the new age of the portal, Vanderbilt has 51 new players on its roster and all of those new coaches. How hard is it to get a feel for what you’re really going to see Saturday and adjust?

In today’s game, you can overhaul your roster in a year’s time. We’re going back to PFF and we’re looking at film. They’ve got an offensive lineman that transferred in from Mississippi State, so you’re watching Mississippi State film on this offensive lineman. Our d-line watched it along with Coach [J.C.] Price just to get a feel for the guy. So you kind of piece it together, it’s pretty challenging, particularly in Week 1, but that’s where it’s at right now.

With so many coaches coming from New Mexico State, do you watch their entire season and what they did?

Yeah, absolutely. That’s what we’ve studied the most.

Jerry Kill was here under Justin Fuente so we got to know him a little bit. He’s an interesting character, but boy, he’s a good offensive mind.

Yeah, they played in the Conference USA championship last year and gave Liberty all they wanted in a high-scoring game. They were really good on offense, that’s how they made their hay. That’s kind of what they brought from Nashville to install at Vanderbilt. Coach Kill is certainly a well-respected coach and they’ve got a talented quarterback who has played a ton of football. I think they’re probably really excited about what they’re going to put out on the field Saturday.

It looks like for the most part everybody in the two-deep is pretty healthy coming into the first game. 

Yeah, we feel pretty fortunate right now, to be honest. We’ve got a couple of guys that are nicked up but scheduled to play. I don’t know that they’re at 100%, but they’re going to play in the ball game. A lot of guys, looking across the country, there are some teams that suffered some more significant season-long losses, and knock on wood –- to this point, we’re in pretty good shape.

How about the challenge of playing the first game on the road with some new kids and handling all the equipment?

We’re in our third year, so we’ve got a pretty good idea of how we’re wanting to do things and we’ve got a pretty good schedule. We have a staff meet every day to talk about the ins and outs of things to make sure everybody is on the same page. I’ve got a great staff, most of them are very experienced and have been doing it a long time. I trust those guys and those ladies to be on time and be efficient and have what we need for our team and coaches. But week one, to your point, is always making sure that we’re checking the list. 

What does the weekend schedule look like, what do you have on tap for Week 1?

We’ve still got our Fast Friday tomorrow. We’ll meet in the morning, we’ll practice, we’ll come back and meet a bit more, jump on the buses to head to Roanoke, fly out. Once we get to Nashville, we’ll go by their stadium just for a few minutes, let the guys off the bus to check it out. We’ll get back to the team hotel and have a personal share. Cole Nelson is giving his — he’s kind of one of our old heads, our seniors. He’ll get the floor for about 10 minutes and tell his story. Then we’ll have dinner. We have a staff meeting tomorrow night because of the early kick. We’ll talk about everything from what the weather’s doing, do we want to take the ball, rotations at different positions, are we 3-1 with these guys, are we 2-1, are we even. All of those things. The guys will have a snack at some point. They can come down and grab some extra food and then we have early lights out tomorrow night. We’ll wake up on Saturday and the first thing we do is the team walk, get everybody out in fresh air, get around the hotel, get them moving a little bit. Then we have our pregame meal and we’re off to the stadium.

What will it be like for you going back to Vanderbilt, a place that you coached?

First of all, Amy and I had a great experience there under Coach [James] Franklin. We loved Nashville, we had a lot of success at Vanderbilt, which was really fun. They hadn’t done that in a ton of years. But like you said, Mike Hazel was at Vanderbilt for 10 years — three of that was me — and then to Penn State and obviously here to Virginia Tech. Chris Marve was a senior captain and middle linebacker for me in my first year at Vanderbilt. Brayden DeVault Smith played for Coach Marve at Vanderbilt. So there are some ties.

What was it like winning at a place that had never previously had back-to-back nine-win seasons?

There’s great kids there and there’s people that want to win. There’s smart guys. There’s a lot of good football in that part of Tennessee now, it’s gotten much better. We were able to recruit the state and win some battles. Vanderbilt has great education and they’re in a good league. They’ve got a lot to offer. They’re able to recruit, we see them here and there again on the recruiting front. Guys trusted the process and at that time, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia were down a little bit and we were kind of just hitting a stride. Things really turned up for us and we were able to have some good success.

Tell us about Chris Marve as a player. Did you see in him that he was going to be a coach one day?

I thought he could be. At that time, he didn’t want to be. He finished up and was teaching and he had an opportunity to go to Vanderbilt Law. I don’t know if he wants me sharing that, but he was accepted early, which usually doesn’t happen there. He and his future wife, Lauren, went off and talked for a while. Then I got the call that he wanted to coach and I tried to talk him out of it and tell him that he was too bright for it, but we’re fortunate to have him on staff. Just like when he was a player, he’s a great leader, a tenacious worker, high effort, really really strong football IQ, all those things. And that’s what we get from him here. He’s got a great work ethic, he’s a great leader of this defensive unit, defensive staff, he’s really smart and he’s doing a great job. I’m excited to see how this defense plays Saturday.

You and Coach Lea are both defensive-minded coaches. Have you guys crossed paths at all? How well do you guys know each other?

Just a little bit, we’ve certainly been in some similar circles. Our philosophy on playing defense is similar, so we’ve got some common football friends. I’ve got a lot of respect for Clark, and there’s no doubt that defense will be improved with him stepping back into that room and putting his hands on deck and calling the defense. I expect them to be improved.

Who is wearing the No. 25 jersey against Vanderbilt?

We make a big deal out of it. First it’s to educate the guys and make sure they understand Coach [Frank] Beamer more than just as a coach. What a player he was and why the number 25 is such an honor to be chosen to wearing. It’s Peter Moore this week. Three-time captain, multi-year starter. When you think about 25 and what it means, it’s hard not to think about Pete first on our team. He’s proud and it’s the right thing to do in Week 1 and he needs to go play well for us. I think wearing number 25 should be very inspiring for him.

On the defensive side, who’s got the lunch pail?

Cole Nelson’s got it and he won’t give it up. He’s had it a long time. Those guys get it and they don’t want to let it go.

Are you excited about that defensive line and the depth there?

It’s certainly comforting to know that you’re going in there with a true two-deep. And quite honestly, we feel like we’ve got five tackles right now and we’ve got five ends. There’s a lot of years at Penn State that we were three and four or four and four.

What have you seen out of New Mexico State transfer Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt’s quarterback on Saturday?

Yeah, he’s impressive. And Brumfield, our middle linebacker, has played against him twice. Once in junior college and once at Middle Tennessee. This guy is a ball player. He can run, he’s crafty, he’s tough, goes a little bit over 200 pounds, he can throw it on the run, he’s just a gamer. He reminds me a little bit of a guy we had at Penn State, a Virginia kid named Trace McSorely. Just keeps plays alive and finds a way to extend plays when you think the play is dead and the defense is going to win the snap. To be the C-USA Offensive Player of the Year really says something. There’s a lot of good offense in the league. He’s a good player, he’s very confident and he’s experienced. He’s the guy who took them into Auburn and beat Auburn at Auburn. This guy is not fearful and he’s got a chip on his shoulder. We will see his best effort, no doubt.

The two-deep came out and there are some guys who stepped forward on the offensive line. Talk about them.

Layth [Ghannam] has had a great camp, he’s really talented. That was a good get for us when we got him out of West Virginia. He was the number one player in the state up there. Coach [Ron] Crook and Coach [Brent] Davis, they’ve worked like crazy on him. And Bob Schick had a good camp too. It’s really a testament to Layth, not an insult to Bob. Bob has done a nice job, but Layth’s athleticism, he can really move and he just does so many things well and it’s his time, this is his chance to have the opportunity to be the guy.

Looks like you might get a little break with the weather on Saturday.

I can’t tell. Every time I open up my app it’s something different. I don’t know. We’ve got rain gear, we’ve got awnings incase it’s 101 in the sun, we’re gonna bring some snow boots, we’re taking it all to Nashville.

Benji Gosnell was named the starter at tight end, even with Nick Gallo still coming back from injury. What have you seen out of that room?

Yeah, Benji has been awesome. He’s 258 pounds right now and he’s finally making contested catches consistently. I mean, that’s a big body and when he kind of shields you off in the right place, they can come swiping at it and he can still pull it in. He had a very good camp and I was very pleased. And Harrison Saint-Germain has come along, he’s in that next spot right now depending on what happens with Nick. And Harry’s done a great job, he’s gotten better. And we’ve got two younger guys, Ja’Ricous Harriston and Zeke Wimbush and those guys have been kinda battling each other for some playing time.

We talked about P.J. Prioleau a little bit last week. What are your expectations for him?

He’s gonna get an opportunity, that’s where we’re at with him. He’s had great practices, great scrimmages, he’s never had a chance to go out there and get it done in the ball game. He’s earned the opportunity, so you’ll see P.J. on Saturday.

What can Hokie fans expect out of the linebacker group? Sam Brumfield is the big addition there.

It’s just really competitive, we’ve got five guys we feel great about. I think you’ll see all those guys. Sam, Jaden Keller, Jayden McDonald, Keli Lawson, Caleb Woodson. We’ve got four guys that we feel good putting out there and it’s not often that I say that.

You’ve got some depth in the defensive backfield. How has Mose Phillips come along? It’s a homecoming for him.

And we always do the flag bearers, right? You got a Virginia flag, a United States flag and a Virginia Tech flag. Mose is from Nashville, so he’s got the honor of carrying the Virginia flag this week. I’d like to say that it was by accident, but not necessarily so. He got a kick out of it and he had a great camp. He played 420 snaps last year so he’s not a freshman anymore. He’s very physical, he’s a student of the game, he’s a coach’s son. I’m excited about what he’s going to do. I made a statement that nobody played the boundary this camp better than him and that’s absolutely true. We’ve got some quality safety with ‘Stro’ [Jalen Stroman] and Jaylen Jones. A young guy in Quentin Reddish coming on. But Mose has really locked up that boundary for us.

What have you seen from the special teams coming out of camp?

It’s been great having John [Love], Peter [Moore], Kyle [Lowe], all of our kickers back, that’s comforting. And Christian Epling snapping it as well, he did most of our short snaps last year before putting weight on to be our punt snapper, and he did that. He’s had a great camp, he’s very accurate, Peter feels very comfortable with him snapping the ball. The other piece is that we’ve got more guys on the depth chart on special teams. Covering kicks, punts, kickoff return, punt return. There’s just more competition and more guys that can contribute there.

How about Dante Lovett? He’s one of those guys in the defensive backfield who looked good in camp and got a lot of reps.

He got a lot of experience last year; not like Mose, but still a decent amount. He’s going to back up the boundary at corner and he’s one of two guys on the team right now that’s going to start on all four core special teams.

How do you make the decision on if you’re going to give a young guy an opportunity on special teams and let one of those starters sit down?

It’s tough. You have to see the execution in practice and see them do what you’re asking them to do. Until you put them out there in a real game, you never really know for sure. Bright lights and nerves. We’ve got a couple guys in some roles and we’ll see how they respond at kickoff.

What can the Hokies expect out of Quentin Reddish?

He’s the only true freshman in the two-deep right now. He’s one of those long guys that tackles and runs really well, but he’s got good hips and feet like a corner. He’s got good coverage skills, he’s very smart, he learns well. We’re very excited about him. He’s a true freshman so there are going to be some mistakes made, but he plays hard and he’s going to make some plays.

What have you seen from the returning corners as they continue to get more experience?

Mansoor [Delane] and Dorian [Strong] are veterans who have proven production and proven that they can play. They both had really good camps. Thomas Williams will back Dorian up to the field. Thomas is a fast guy that was hurt his freshman fall with an injury. He cranked it up last spring, and to be honest, he was out there and Da’Quan Felton is taking advantage of him and Jaylin Lane and [Stephen] Gosnell and Ali [Jennings]. He just kept coming back for more and kept working and learning and he’s really come around. I’m excited to watch him play.

What are the rules going around that may affect the portal?

Yeah, they’re kicking things around. I voted for it, going from two portal windows to one. Right now, you go into the portal in December and you’ve got guys that can leave. Then it closes right after the new year and it opens back up after spring ball. So in spring practice you’re really not sure what your team’s going to be come August. If we do this and we give it 30 days, which is right for the student-athlete, you get it all tied up in a bow, everybody’s where they’re going to be going into the new semester. That’s the way I voted and I think it’ll go that way, but it hasn’t officially been voted on by the oversight committee.