Facing what was a must-win last Saturday night at home against Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry had a lot of eyes on him. After a 24-11 season-opening loss to South Carolina the weekend before in a game that was very winnable until the Gamecocks pulled away in the fourth quarter, a win over the Commodores was a must.
Leading 20-10 at halftime, the Hokies were halfway to picking up a win and taking some of the pressure off of their fourth-year head coach by closing out the game in the second half. Instead, Virginia Tech came out and played the worst half of football of the Brent Pry era in Blacksburg, being outscored 34-0.
During the brutal second half of football and after, Virginia Tech fans are ready to move from the former Penn State defensive coordinator, and it may not be a matter of if, but when.
CBS college football analysts put Brent Pry on notice at Virginia Tech
On the latest CBS Sports' College Football Insiders podcast, analysts Brandon Marcello, John Talty, and Chris Hummer hinted that things could move quickly if the results on the field don't turn around quickly.
"If he's saying that publicly and kind of setting the stage and the expectation and you're seeing this, it seems like the writing is on the wall and that it's just almost a matter of time for Brent Pry to be out the door unless he starts going on a very, very big run here this season," said Marcello.
"It's just trending in a way that, I don't want to say it's inevitable, but again, talking to people around the industry, it keeps coming up again and again and again that Virginia Tech might get pushed into having to do something here," said Talty.
If Virginia Tech does move on from Pry, then the question has to be asked: What about athletic director Whit Babcock? How safe is his job? He would have hired and fired Justin Fuente and Pry. How many ADs get a third chance to hire a football coach at a Power 4 conference school? Not many.
Brent Pry is a nice guy, and he is trying, but it just isn't meant to be. Virginia Tech fans have been patient, but their patience is running out quickly. It feels like a dominating win over Old Dominion this weekend is a must, or things get really dicey for everyone around the program, beginning with Pry.