After a win over Virginia, 37-17, on Saturday night, the Virginia Tech football team became bowl-eligible. Finishing the season at 6-6, the Hokies will get more practice and another game for the development of the younger players for the future. The question does have to be asked, just who will still be in Blacksburg in the future?
With the current state of college sports, the transfer portal is a big part of players leaving schools after just one year. In some cases, players enter the portal multiple times and play in as many as two, three, or four different schools. It’s a professional sports-free agency bonanza. It has started already even though the portal doesn’t officially open until Dec. 9, but for Virginia Tech, it’s going to be a big couple of weeks.
Virginia Tech trying to avoid a major exodus in the portal
A couple of weeks ago, Brent Pry addressed the issue at one of his weekly media conferences. He said that during their bye week last month, some of the time off spent was recruiting their players when other schools might come calling. As we have already seen with other ACC schools, big-named players are going to hit the portal.
Some ACC players, including Georgia Tech quarterback Aaron Philo, reportedly are going to enter the portal. Philo came in and played against Virginia Tech back in October during the Hokies 21-6 victory. He won’t be the last big-named player from the ACC to enter the portal over the next couple of weeks. It's only a matter of time before Virginia Tech loses some of them too.
It’s only a matter of time before players from Virginia Tech will be in the portal, but who is the question? Some young players had big seasons in 2024 and can be key pieces of the future, but retaining them is going to be a challenge for Pry and his staff.