Dabo Swinney's assessment of Brent Pry will ruffle the feathers of some Virginia Tech fans

Going into the 2024 season, the hype was real for the Virginia Tech football team. Winning six of their last nine games last season, including a Military Bowl win over Tulane and a ton of retainment, the Hokies were a national media pick as a team that could crash the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

It's safe to say that things have not gone as planned for Virginia Tech and head coach Brent Pry. After blowing a 21-3 third-quarter lead last weekend at Syracuse only to lose, 38-31, in overtime, the Hokies dropped to 5-4 on the season. With that loss, any chance they had, albeit slim, to make the ACC Championship Game next month in Charlotte is gone. Now the only thing left is finding their sixth win of the season to become bowl-eligible.

That quest begins this weekend when Clemson comes to Lane Stadium and the Tigers will be entering off a 33-21 loss at the hands of Lousiville last Saturday night at home. Expect the visitors to be a salty group coming to Blacksburg and ahead of the battle head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about the Hokies and Pry.

Dabo Swinney gives Brent Pry big compliment

Swinney said that under Pry, Virginia Tech has made a noticeable process under Pry year to year. Yes, while that can be true, a lot of Hokies fans would disagree a little. Record-wise, ok, yes, they have gone from 3-8 in Year 1 to 7-6 in Year 2 to currently 5-4 in Year 3.

The issue that Virginia Tech fans are going to take issue with is that a major process was expected this season and it's unlikely to happen. They were supposed to be a CFP contender and after watching the first reveal of the rankings on Tuesday night, there is no excuse why Virginia Tech should not have been in the Top 25. The Top 12? Maybe that would be a stretch, but the fact that they were nowhere to be found is a major disappointment.

Pry is a great guy and he has made progress in recruiting and he is a great recruiter in the transfer portal, but when it comes to games, there has been no progress made. He's 1-11 in one-score games and right now, he's looking for answers. Yes, progress has been made, but fans will agree not enough has been made with a loaded roaster this season that is just one game above .500 entering the second weekend in November. Progress can still be made, but winning the final three games and finishing 8-4 would need to be done. Otherwise, this season would be considered a failure and progress made.