3 Thoughts on Virginia Tech Football Assistant Coaches Being Fired

First and foremost, you never want to see or hear that someone has lost their job. However, in sports, it’s a results job, and if the results aren’t up to standards, changes will be made. That’s what Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry had to do Thursday night.

Pry fired defensive coordinator/linebacker coach Chris Marve, offensive line coach Ron Crook, and senior director of strength and conditioning Dwight Galt IV. After results on the field this season that led to a disappointing season, changes needed to be made. Here are some quick thoughts on the changes that happened and what the future might look like next season.

1. Changes needed to be made

After a second straight 6-6 season with five one-score losses, in the overall big picture, changes needed to be made. Pry could not simply run it back as currently constructed and expect anything better in terms of results. Now for the third-year head coach, he needs to get his next hires right and hit them out of the park.

2. Tyler Bowen survived, but for how long?

Offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen, who certainly had his ups and downs calling plays at times the last two seasons, survived this firing cycle, and rightfully so. There is more confidence in his play-calling than there was in Marve’s on defense. He has done a nice job of getting the ball in the hands of his play-makers in different ways and even east/west plays with Jaylin Lane and Ayden Greene resulted in big plays and even touchdowns this season.

There was the coaching malpractice against Clemson with running the ball just a handful of times, but keeping Bowen for now was the right move. Most fans have more confidence in Bowen than in Marve.

3. Pry able to make difficult decisions

Let’s be honest, raise your hand if you thought changes were actually going to happen. I bet now many. Just last week on Early Signing Day, it didn’t sound like changes were definitely going to happen, but Pry was supposed to meet with AD Whit Babcock this week to evaluate the program despite a vote of confidence from his boss and now changes have been made. It had to be difficult decisions, but again, they needed to be done.