James Franklin has been plowing ahead as head coach at Virginia Tech. Shortly after he was hired, he flipped several recruits he had committed in the Class of 2026 at Penn State to Virginia Tech. Then, as expected, when the Transfer Portal opened up earlier this month, he was able to get a dozen former players with the Nittany Lions to come to Blacksburg and join him in rebuilding the Hokies program.
As all of that work was going on behind the scenes, the veteran head coach was also putting together his first staff at Virginia Tech. He has retained some coaches from Brent Pry's staff, but he also brought Pry back as his defensive coordinator. That's right, Brent Pry is back. On Friday, he put the finishing touches on his first full staff at Virginia Tech with his last hire.
James Franklin rounds out Virginia Tech staff with addition of cornerbacks coach
Franklin hired Nick Perry, who was the secondary coach at Arkansas in 2025. He worked under Sam Pittman until he was fired and then finished out the year under interim coach Bobby Petrino. Perry played in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks. With Perry on board, here is what Franklin's first Virginia Tech staff looks like for 2026,
Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends: Ty Howle
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Brent Pry
Special Teams Coordinator: Doug Shearer
Quarterbacks: Danny O'Brien
Assistant Quarterbacks: Mike Moyseenko
Running Backs: Norval McKenzie
Offensive Line: Matt Moore
Assistant Offensive Line: Jens Danielsen
Assistant Tight Ends: David Rocco
Wide Receivers: Fontel Mines
Defensive Line: Sean Spencer
Assistant Linebackers: Jan Johnson
Cornerbacks: Nick Perry
Safeties: Anthony Midget
Nickels: Vic Hall
Senior Offensive Analyst: Warren Ruggiero
Senior Defensive Analyst for Offense: Danny Rocco
Defensive Analyst: Derrick Tangelo
Offensive Line Analyst: Ryan Alexander
Retaining Moore and Mines was huge for Franklin for a number of reasons. Bringing Pry back was a surprise, but you could make the case that the groundwork for that was laid at Franklin introductionary press conference. It'll be interesting to see how things play out in 2026 with the new staff.