After the Virginia Tech football team beat Virginia in November 2024 to become bowl-eligible, former head coach Brent Pry had to make some tough decisions. A season that began with so much hype ended with needing to beat their in-state rivals Thanksgiving Weekend for the second year in a row just to win a sixth game and get a bowl game.
After the dust settled and long before the Hokies packed up and traveled to Charlotte to play Minnesota in the Duke's Mayo Bowl in early January at Bank of America Stadium, Pry fired three assistant coaches.
Shown the door were defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Chris Marve, offensive line coach Ron Crook, and senior director of strength and conditioning Dwight Galt IV. After a year out of the game, Marve is reportedly returning and heading to the Big 12.
Former Virginia Tech DC reportedly being hired as linebackers coach at Colorado
According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Deion Sanders is hiring Marve as his linebackers coach at Colorado. This move comes after Marve was out of coaching for a year, but there was no doubt that he was going to get back into it in some capacity. It's going to be in Boulder. He spent time as a linebackers coach at Vanderbilt and Florida State.
Colorado is expected to hire ex-Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Chris Marve as linebackers coach, sources tell @CBSSports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 20, 2025
The former three-time All-SEC linebacker led the way as Va Tech ranked first in the ACC in red zone defense in 2024 and second in total defense in 2023. pic.twitter.com/XH04fi4a7q
Marve was a standout linebacker in his playing days at Vanderbilt. He was a three-time All-SEC linebacker, and he finished his career for the Commodores with 398 tackles in 49 games, one interception, and eight forced fumbles.
Marve worked under Pry for three years, and in 2023, when they rallied from a 1-3 start to become bowl-eligible, they were ranked 20th in total defense; they fell to 58th in total defense in 2024. There were a number of issues that led to the Hokies' free fall last season, and the defense was one of them.