It has been six weeks since Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry fired three assistant coaches. One of those coaches he fired was defensive coordinator Chris Marve. From the beginning, you got the feeling that this was going to be a long and drawn out search for Pry.
After a disappointing 6-7 2024 season after high hopes to begin the season, Pry's seat is hot entering the 2025 season against a tougher schedule and a lot of roster turnover. There is no doubt that he needs to get the hire correct as it could hinge on his future in Blacksburg.
Several names have been floated about as to who the new hire would be, including Penn State's Anthony Poindexter. However, when Tom Allen left State College to take over as the DC at Clemson under Dabo Swinney, that put things on hold and even after James Franklin hired Ohio State's Jim Knowles on Sunday, things were not looking great that a hire would be made quickly. However, on Monday, Virginia Tech found their replacement for Marve and they dipped into the NFL to get him.
Virginia Tech hires Sam Siefkes as next defensive coordinator
Monday afternoon, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that Virginia Tech was targeting Arizona Cardinals linebackers coach Sam Siefkes as their next defensive coordinator and that ended up being the case.
Welcome Home our new Defensive Coordinator Sam Siefkes 🦃#ThisIsHome pic.twitter.com/B1rShdaSob
— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) January 27, 2025
Siefkes has spent the last two seasons with Arizona after a three-year stint with the Minnesota Vikings, where he was the assistant linebackers and defensive quality coach. However, he does have college experience as he served as the defensive coordinator at Wofford for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, but the 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also was defensive coordinator at UW-Platteville.
He has a big job ahead of him in Blacksburg as the Hokies' defense was ranked 20th two years ago, but over the last two years, it has dropped down to No. 58. Legendary Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster is expected to be an advisor this season for the Hokies and should be a good person for Siefkes to bounce ideas off of along with Pry.