After firing three assistant coaches in December, Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry needed to hire their replacements. It took nearly seven weeks for Pry to find his next DC, hiring the Arizona Cardinals linebackers coach for the position. Now Pry will be tasked with finding his next offensive coordinator.
On Wednesday, Tyler Bowen left for Ohio State to become the offensive line coach for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. It’s a little late in the hiring process to be hiring a new OC, but Pry needs to strike it big with the hire. Here are three candidates who could fill Bowen’s position in Blacksburg.
Neal Brown
West Virginia moved on from head coach Neal Brown last fall and Pry swooped in to get his offensive line coach, Matt Moore, to be his next OL line coach. Now looking for employment again, he would be a nice addition to Pry’s staff as the OC.
He has a long background of coaching on the offensive side of the ball during his career, including as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Troy, Kentucky, and Texas Tech. With Kyron Drones set to return to Virginia Tech for 2025, he could be the perfect fit to turn around the duel threat signal-caller. This is a name to keep an eye on.
Josh Gattis
After last season, Maryland parted ways with Josh Gattis as offensive coordinator and he comes with a reputation of being one of the bright minds on that side of the ball. He has worked in some of the best programs in the country under some legendary coaches.
Gattis has stints at Alabama as the co-offensive coordinator before landing at Michigan and Miami as the OC before landing at Maryland. He spent some time on James Franklin’s staff at Penn State with Pry, so it would make sense that there could be some interest here.
Fontel Mines
This might be a dream, but why not give assistant head coach, wide receivers coach, and offensive recruiting coordinator Fontel Mines the job? He was the first name that popped into my head as soon as the news broke that Bowen was leaving for Columbus. He has, after all, recruited a lot of the key players on the offensive side of the ball.
You can make the case that he is the reason why the Hokies have had recruiting success over the last couple of cycles. This would obviously be a jump for Bowen, but without a doubt one that he has earned and worth taking a chance on.