College football is right around the corner. Conferences held their media days, and now that the talk is over, it's time to prepare for the action on the field. Camps are about to open, and as far as Virginia Tech is concerned, there are a lot more questions than answers.
A lot of changes with the roster and coaching staff create a situation where just about anything is possible in 2025 for the Hokies. With that said, here are five burning questions surrounding the Hokies with camp about to open.
1. How does the offensive line shake out?
There were a few units on the roster that have undergone major changes, and maybe no unit went through more changes than the offensive line. Gone are all five starters from last year, either through the Transfer Portal or running out of eligibility. Also gone is former coach Ron Crook.
Pry brought in former West Virginia offensive line coach Matt Moore, who had some players from Morgantown follow him to Blacksburg. At the ACC Kickoff last week, quarterback Kyron Drones talked about who he expects to be blocking for him when the season starts later next month in Atlanta against South Carolina. Montavious Cunningham, Layth Gahannam, and Johnny Garrett return to the program from last season, and West Virginia transfers Kyle Altuner and Tomas Rimac should be huge additions.
The last couple of seasons, the offensive line has been a trouble spot at times for Virginia Tech, and Moore needs to work some early-season magic to help keep Drones healthy and avoid some big hits he took the last two seasons.
2. Which running backs replace Bhayshul Tuten?
Replacing an NFL running back is never easy for a college football program, and that's what the Hokies are tasked with replacing in Bhayshul Tuten, who is off to the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Also gone is Malachi Thomas, who left in the Transfer Portal.
Virginia Tech brought in Terion Stewart from Bowling Green, who is expected to get some of the carries early in the season, but they also have Braydon Bennett from Coastal Carolina and Marcellous Hawkins from Central Missouri. Stewart already comes in with some hype, but the real wild-card is Hawkins, who has explosive speed and can be an under-the-radar addition.
Jeremiah Coney returns along with P.J. Prioleau, who had his 2024 season cut short with an injury, also return. Stewart is the player who is expected to get a lot of the carries early in the season, and if he can be the bullish type of back running the ball, that would benefit the Hokies greatly.
3. Kyron Drones Health & backup QB battle
All eyes are going to be on Drones, who is coming back after injuries cut his season short last fall and a medical procedure ended his spring practices a week early. He says he's healthy, and he needs to be, as the Hokies' offense will go as Drones goes. Expect them to have him take it easy early in camp.
As far as the backup spot goes, it's a rather important thing, as we found out last season. UCLA transfer Collin Schlee was pressed into action at Syracuse in early November. He ended up getting hurt as well and ended up splitting time with Pop Watson to close out the season. Watson played against Virginia in a bowl-clinching win on Thanksgiving Weekend.
This summer, Watson will have to battle with Oklahoma State transfer Garrett Rangel for the QB2 spot. We'll see how it plays out.
4. How does the defensive line shake out?
Another area hit hard by the NFL and graduation was the defensive line. Antwaun Powell-Ryland is headed to the NFL after the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him, and Aeneas Peebles was picked by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round. Peebles was a nice addition last season from Duke in the Transfer Portal.
Kelvin Gilliam returns, as does Kemari Copeland, who had his season cut short last year with an injury. Keyshawn Burgos returns, and some key Transfer Portal additions include edge Ben Bell, Eastern Michigan transfer James Djonkam. Don't sleep on youngster Emmett Laws. The Hokeis have some key linebackers returning and some questions in the secondary, which makes the defensive line jelling quickly a must this summer.
5. How quickly do the new coordinators get everything they want done?
Virginia Tech has two new coordinators, Philip Montgomery, who replaced Tyler Bowen, who left Blacksburg to become the new offensive line coach at Ohio State, and Sam Siefkes, who replaces Chris Marve, who was let go following the season as part of Pry parting ways with three coaches.
The hope with Montgomery is that he can have success unlocking Drones' skill set and using it to the best of his ability. Montgomery has had success with other QBs with similar skill sets. How Montgomery gets the most and uses the new receiving core is another question that needs to be answered, as well as which youngsters step up?
On the defensive side, Siefkes has his work cut out for him, but with a background in the NFL coaching linebackers, expect the Hokies LBs to play a big part in the schemes each week. The defensive line and secondary will play themselves out. It's just a matter of whether or not there is enough time on both sides of the ball to get everything they want done.