Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry names starting QB

One of the worst-kept secrets became reality Wednesday afternoon for the Virginia Tech football team. Second-year head coach Brent Pry officially announced that red-shirt senior Grant Wells will be the starting quarterback for the Hokies on Sept. 2 at home against Old Dominion.

Wells gets the nod against ODU over transfer Kyron Drones

Pry made the announcement Wednesday and he mentioned that Wells is ahead of Baylor University transfer Kyron Drones, but that doesn’t mean that Drones will not see any action this season. It’s likely that Pry will have a package of play calls for him.

“In the end, right now, we feel like Grant…..he’s the furthest along,” said Pry.

Wells, who was recently named to The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award 2023 Watch List, is coming off a 3-8 season where he threw for 2,171 yards and nine touchdowns after transferring from Marshall University.

Drones, a sophomore and a four-star recruit, played a small sample size for the Bears throwing for 14 completions on 23 attempts for 219 yards and a touchdown, mostly in mop-up time. The 6-foot-6, 221-pound Texas native is expected to see some big minutes this season for Virginia Tech and he could possibly see his role expand as the season goes along.

Regardless of who is under center for the Hokies, they will have the luxury of a deep wide receiver depth chart after Pry added three transfers over the offseason. How good those players turn out to be remains to be seen, however, all three were named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List Wednesday.

Last season when Wells and the offense struggled, there were very few options for Pry to make a change to shake things up. That is changing this season as Drones would not be afraid to step in if Wells struggles. With the transfer portal being as big as it is today, the Hokies could very well come close to being Bowl-eligible this season, something that would have seemed like a dream following the 2022 season.