Thanks to his time at Penn State, we could form an idea of how Brent Pry would try to shape the culture at Virginia Tech. The “Hunger Drills” Tech goes through every season were an invention of his from Penn State, born out of a beating suffered at the hands of Michigan. You could tell from the way he talked that the drills were important, and it was a safe bet they’d appear at Tech. Pry also promoted his “Linebacker Keys to Success” in a way that made carryover of this framework likely. Those keys were:

• Communication
• Trust
• Execution
• Aggression
• Chemistry
• Maturity

Those were broad enough to apply to football in general, and I could see them being imported in whole or in part to Tech. But you never know what ideas a coach has filed away for the day he earns the big whistle, and you never know what the guys around him will bring to the table. Lucky for us, Pry’s been talking about what he’s implemented in Blacksburg.

The Five Fundamentals

The “Linebacker Keys to Success” seem to have evolved into “The Five Fundamentals” at Tech. This list is posted everywhere in the football facilities — offices, meeting rooms, weight room, etc. The fundamentals are:

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