Virginia Tech football coach on preseason award watchlist

Expectations are high for the Virginia Tech football team as the 2024 season inches closer and closer. The Hokies and head coach Brent Pry got a lot of retainment from his 2023 roster and along with key transfer portal additions and some promising incoming freshmen, Tech could be a dark horse sleeper in the ACC with a very doable schedule.

This will be Year 3 of the Brent Pry-era in Blacksburg and he inherited a rebuilding project following in the footsteps of Justin Fuente. With the ACC media week just a couple of weeks away, some preseason award lists are starting to come out and Pry made a watchlist for the upcoming season.

Brent Pry named to Dodd Award watchlist

The watchlist for the annual Dodd Award was released and Pry was one of 21 coaches on the list and one of six ACC coaches. Some of the other top coaches in the country are on the list and here are the 21 coaches named to the watchlist.

• Jeff Brohm: Louisville
• Mario Cristobal: Miami
• Ryan Day: Ohio State
• Dave Doeren: North Carolina State
• Eliah Drinkwitz: Missouri
• Kirk Frentz: Iowa
• James Franklin: Penn State
• Marcus Freeman: Notre Dame
• Mike Gundy: Oklahoma State
• Josh Heupel: Tennessee
• Brian Kelly: LSU
• Lane Kiffin: Ole Miss
• Chris Klieman: Kansas State
• Lance Leipold: Kansas
• Mike Norvell: Florida State
• Brent Pry: Virginia Tech
• Lincoln Riley: USC
• Steve Sarkisian: Texas
• Kirby Smart: Georgia
• Dabo Swinney: Clemson
• Kyle Whittingham: Utah

A midseason watch list, adding to or narrowing the field, will be released in the fall. Also, starting in September on a weekly basis, the Dodd Coach of the Week Award will also honor coaches whose program embodies the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity, while also having success on the playing field during the previous week.