BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech football’s first 0-3 start in 38 years has cost head coach Brent Pry his job after less than four seasons.
University president Tim Sands announced the decision Sunday afternoon as the team was being informed. The move comes less than 24 hours after the Hokies’ unsightly 45-26 home loss to Old Dominion on Saturday night.
With setbacks to South Carolina, Vanderbilt and ODU, Tech is off to its worst start since 1987, when the Hokies dropped the first three games of Frank Beamer’s coaching tenure in Blacksburg.
“Unfortunately, the results on the field were not acceptable and a change in leadership is necessary,” Sands said.
First-year offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, a former Tulsa head coach, will serve as the interim for the remainder of the season. The Hokies host Wofford of the Football Championship Subdivision this Saturday.
Tech was 16-24 under Pry, 10-21 against ACC and other Power Four opponents. Game management errors marred his leadership from the start — a 2022 loss at ODU — and continued through last season with missteps at Miami and Syracuse.
The lone hint of program momentum under Pry came when the Hokies closed 2023 with a 5-2 stretch capped by a Military Bowl rout of Tulane.
David Teel: Embarrassing loss to ODU should spell end for Hokies’ Brent Pry
With a vast majority of that roster returning, optimism prevailed in 2024. But a squad that included five players subsequently drafted by the NFL underachieved and finished 6-7, prompting Pry to dismiss defensive coordinator Chris Marve, offensive line coach Ron Crook and strength and conditioning coordinator Dwight Galt.
Pry’s original, six-year contract runs through the 2027 season, and he’s due a buyout of more than $6 million.
Spared for now was 12th-year athletic director Whit Babcock, who’s 0 for 2 on football coaching hires at Tech.
Justin Fuente, an accomplished head coach at Memphis renowned for offense, succeeded Beamer and immediately guided the Hokies to the 2016 ACC title game, earning league Coach of the Year honors. But the program waned, and Babcock fired Fuente in November 2021 with a 43-31 overall record.
Pry, a former Hokies graduate assistant and Penn State defensive coordinator who lacked head-coaching experience, never approached Fuente’s winning percentage.
“On behalf of Amy and our entire family, I want to thank President Sands, Whit, and the Virginia Tech community for giving me the opportunity to lead this proud football program,” Pry said in a long, heartfelt statement that also thanked players, staff, donors and fans. “Coaching at Virginia Tech has been an incredible honor and a chapter of our lives we will always cherish…
“Blacksburg will always hold a special place in our hearts. We leave with wonderful memories and lifelong friendships, and we will forever be cheering for the Hokies.”
As Babcock starkly outlined to Tech’s Board of Visitors last month, football is an essential economic asset for not only Hokies athletics but also southwestern Virginia. And Tech football has been mediocre for more than a decade.
During his appearance with the board, Babcock said athletics needs an annual budget of roughly $200 million, about $50 million more than current spending, to compete in the ACC.
“Our resources don’t meet our expectations,” he told the board.
Two days later, at the close of the board’s three-day session, rector John Rocovich directed board colleagues Ryan McCarthy and J. Pearson to submit a plan for additional financial support to athletics by the end of September.
Virginia Tech was among two Power Four schools to fire its coach Sunday. UCLA dismissed DeShaun Foster after the Bruins started 0-3 in just his second season.
