Grading Virginia Tech's Hiring of Sam Siefkes as Program's Next Defensive Coordinator

Virginia Tech announced on Monday evening the hire of Arizona Cardinals linebackers coach Sam Siefkes as the program’s next defensive coordinator. The announcement came after weeks of anticipation, speculation, and frustration from Hokies fans. 

Many, if not most, members of the Virginia Tech faithful will be up in arms over this hire, largely due to Siefkes’ lack of Power 4 defensive coordinator experience. However, before Hokies fans completely throw in the towel for the 2025 campaign, let’s take a look at Siefkes’ background before rushing to judgement.

Siefkes arrived in Arizona in the spring of 2023 after spending two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings as an assistant linebackers coach. Before his NFL coaching career, he spent time at Wofford where he served as the defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach from 2018-20, where defense ranked in the top ten in both total and scoring defensive metrics in his first season. Prior to this stint, Siefkes served as defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach at UW-Platteville from 2016-18, leading the way for a defense that allowed just under 19 points per game in 2017. 

At the surface level, this hire seems underwhelming. Following a lengthy wait, during which Hokies fans were hopeful of landing Penn State defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter, who has ties to Virginia but ultimately was retained on James Franklin’s staff, many Virginia Tech fans were left speculating over who the next best candidate would be, and nobody seemed to have Siefkes on their radar.

After Brent Pry initially hired two first-time coordinators on his staff in 2022, and the subsequent dismissal of defensive coordinator Chris Marve just two years later, Hokies fans had hoped that his next hire would be a proven candidate to bring some badly-needed experience to this staff. It quickly became apparent that, in many ways, this hire would likely determine Pry’s future in Blacksburg.

In evaluating Siefkes’ record as a coordinator, his bonafides lack Power 4 experience, true, but the numbers speak for themselves. Additionally, his jump to the professional ranks from an FCS defensive coordinator position is impressive. Obviously, the Minnesota Vikings saw something in his record that gave them the confidence to hire a seemingly unknown to their staff– which is exactly what Brent Pry seems to be doing here. Whether it’s Siefkes’ scheme or his coaching philosophy, something has piqued Pry’s interest.

With long-time defensive coordinator Bud Foster returning to the program as an analyst, perhaps Pry is hoping to develop Siefkes over time to create the defense he’s wanted since he arrived in Blacksburg. The other, less optimistic, perspective of this hire is that Pry must have missed on other, more qualified candidates, leaving him to frantically go down his list of preferred coaches to hire whoever was left. 

Overall hire grade: C 

While this hire isn’t as flashy as many Hokies fans had hoped, Siefkes appears to be a young, energetic coach with both professional and college coaching experience. To transition from Wofford to the NFL is no small feat, however, his lack of experience at the Power 4 level is concerning. If Pry can surround Siefkes with proven defensive minds, like Foster, and mentor him on the system he wants, Siefkes seems capable of putting it in place at a high level, though he may require some guardrails. There is a real possibility that the fruits of this hire will be laid bare after just a few games this fall, and Pry will find out if his gamble has paid off or not.