5 Players Virginia Tech Football Must Convince to Return For 2025

On Monday, the transfer portal officially opened for college football and Virginia Tech lost some key players in the portal. They lost some starters on both sides of the ball along the offensive line and in the secondary. One year after a ton of retention, it appears things are going the other way for the Hokies this winter portal session.

There is still time for players to enter the portal and until it closes, we won’t know who will and who won’t be at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Minnesota on Jan. 3. There is no doubt that head coach Brent Pry and his staff along with some other players are in recruiting mode to make sure that the number of remaining portal entries are limited. With that said, here are five players that the Hokies must convince to come back in 2025.

Dante Lovett - CB

Virginia Tech lost Mose Philips and Jalen Stroman, who missed the 2024 season after an injury in the season opener at Vanderbilt, to the portal and the secondary is going to look a lot different next season. One player who has impressed this year and is coming on and is a big part of the future is Dante Lovett.

The Georgia native had 14 tackles this season and four passes defended, but against Marshall back in September, he defended a pair of passes including breaking up a pass at the end zone against a bigger receiver. In 2023 he had 10 tackles and three passes defended and the 6-foot-0, 190-pound Lovett is a key piece of the secondary as early as next season.