The First Bank & Trust Friday Q&A: The NIL Law And Roster Depth

Virginia Tech, First Bank & Trust
The roster has changed a great deal under Brent Pry. (Ivan Morozov)

1) How much better is the bottom half of the roster than when Pry took over? — Twincountyhokie

Chris Coleman: I’d say quite a bit better, and that especially applies to the offensive side of the ball.

Virginia Tech had some good defensive players when Brent Pry took over. Chamarri Conner just won a Super Bowl. Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane were in the program, as were Keonta Jenkins, Norell Pollard, Dax Hollifield, Jalen Stroman, Mario Kendricks, etc. Even on down the depth chart with some of the younger guys like Jayden McDonald and Keli Lawson, who were a true freshmen when Pry was hired, the overall defensive talent was tolerable. Not great, but tolerable.

It’s on offense where the biggest jump has been made. At quarterback, all the Hokies had were Tahj Bullock and Devin Farrell. At running back, Tech’s current No. 3 man (Jeremiah Coney) would have started for that 2022 team with Malachi Thomas hurt. Don’t get me started about the wideouts. Da’Wain Lofton was a starter in 2022. By 2023, he was the No. 6 wide receiver on the team at best.

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