It was interesting waking up Monday morning. It didn't take time for Pete Thamel of ESPN to send shock waves about Virginia Tech football. A couple of weeks after offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen up and left for Ohio State after accepting the offensive line coaching position, Hokies' head coach Brent Pry hired his replacement.
Thamel reported on Monday that Virginia Tech was targeting Philip Montgomery, a former head coach at Tulsa, and a short time later, the school officially announced the hiring. On the surface, it seems like a very good hire as Montgomery checks a lot of the boxes (as Pry would say) with one being the biggest is his experience as a Power 5 coordinator.
Monday afternoon Pry met with the media following the hiring and touched on a number of topics and there was one quote from the fourth-year coach that raised some eyebrows.
Brent Pry has an eye-opening quotes about Philip Montgomery hiring
Pry said that several candidates were interviewed for the position, but Montgomery stuck out from the rest, and in one way that surprised Pry. It also impressed his new boss.
"You know, a lot of discussion, dialogue, even before we interviewed Phillip in person, he and Matt (Moore) spent an hour and a half on the phone talking through things, protection, run game,'' Pry said. "You know, that was important to me."
Pry was referencing newly-hired offensive line coach Matt Moore who came on board in late December from West Virginia after Pry fired Ron Crook after the Thanksgiving Weekend win over Virginia at home. That's good to see and hear and Pry admitted it was something that he didn't make sure was happening under his previous coaches, Bowen and Crook.
"I probably didn't do a good enough job of that in my first 3 years here making sure those guys are vibing with each other,'' said Pry.
Since the end of the regular season, Pry has had a different look at his press conferences, and that continued on Monday. It's safe to say that these off-season hirings so far seem to already paying dividends and if things are going to turn around in 2025, that needs to happen. Regardless of the hiring, it was eye-opening to listen to him on Monday, especially on the quotes above.