When Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry fired three assistant coaches last month, the search to find their successors began. Two weeks ago, Pry hired West Virginia offensive line coach Matt Moore to replace the recently dismissed Ron Crook. Currently, he has yet to fill the spot vacated by Chris Marve’s firing.
It has been a month since Pry announced the changes on staff and he has yet to fill the open spot as defensive coordinator. Shawn Quinn held those duties in the Hokies 24-10 Duke’s Mayo Bowl loss to Minnesota 10 days ago along with former legendary DC Bud Foster advising. On Monday, Pry’s path to hiring his next defensive coordinator might hit a roadblock.
Clemson hiring Tom Allen as DC creates issues for Brent Pry
Leave it to Dabo Swinney to make things difficult for Pry. Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that Clemson is going to hire Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen to run Swinney’s defense next season after the Nittany Lions were eliminated in the College Football Playoff semifinal last Thursday night by Notre Dame.
Why is this significant for Virginia Tech? Co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter was someone who was seen as a replacement for Marve in Blacksburg, but with Allen leaving for Clemson, assuming he does in the next couple of days, this likely means Poindexter remains at Penn State to take over Allen’s role.
Poindexter being on Pry’s radar makes a ton of sense as he coached with him under James Franklin when Pry was the DC with the Nittany Lions before coming to Virginia Tech. It also would make sense that Pry would be interested in Poindexter as Penn State was still alive in the CFP. If Poindexter is the next guy under Franklin to call his defensive plays, then prying him away from Happy Valley is unlikely as Virginia Tech is in no financial situation to outbid Penn State.
This move could cause dominos to fall in other places including Blacksburg.