After the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was eliminated in the second round of the NIT last March by Ohio State, head coach Mike Young went through a mass exodus of players in the transfer portal. That left the veteran coach scrambling to work hard in the portal to fill out his roster for the 2024-25 season.
The Virginia Tech football team has two games remaining in the 2024 season and through 10 games, they sit at 5-5, which is disappointing considering all the off-season hype. They had a large amount of retainment along with key transfer portal additions and the thought was they could be a dark horse to crash the new 12-team College Football Playoff. Instead, they are left fighting for their bowl eligibility needing a win in one of their last two games.
This past weekend, the Hokies had their second bye of the season ahead of this weekend's game against Duke and hosting Virginia Thanksgiving Weekend. Head coach Brent Pry met with the media on Tuesday and revealed what he and his staff did during the off week.
Brent Pry trying to avoid mass exodus after 2024 season
Pry said that he and his staff spent the off-week meeting with players to re-recruit their own locker room in case other schools with bigger NIL pockets come calling.
#Hokies coach Brent Pry said he and the staff spent some time during the open date meeting with and talking with players to essentially re-recruit their own locker room in advance of a postseason where other teams could come calling with NIL offers to lure them into the portal.
— Mike Barber (@StillMikeBarber) November 19, 2024
This is the current day and age of college sports, mainly football and basketball, and the third-year coach doesn't want a repeat performance on the football field that Young had on the basketball court. Making that statement makes you wonder what is going on inside the walls in Blacksburg and if there are unhappy players looking to pack and go elsewhere next month.
We might get a clear outlook as to what might be coming when it comes to players entering the portal sooner rather than later. If the Hokies win a sixth game and become bowl-eligible, there could be a number of players who opt out of the game, something that didn't happen last season. Things could get very interesting with the program as early as two weeks from today.