Three years into his tenure at Virginia Tech, things have not gone well for Hokies' football coach Brent Pry. Going into the 2024 season, it was expected to be his best year in Blacksburg and the rebuild was full steam ahead. Heck, Virginia Tech was even a national darling to be a dark horse for the new 12-team College Football Playoff.
Things went sideways in Week 1 at Vanderbilt as the Hokies were upset in overtime by the Commodores and that set the tone for the rest of the season. Virginia Tech was underwhelming so much that they needed to beat Virginia again on Thanksgiving Weekend just to become bowl-eligible. Not what many people thought when the season began.
The 6-6 regular season forced the former Penn State defensive coordinator to fire three assistant coaches, defensive coordinator Chris Marve, offensive line coach Ron Crook, and strength and senior director of strength and conditioning Dwight Galt IV. On Monday night, the Hokies got their schedule and it's a daunting one. To compound matters, it is a tougher schedule than Tech last fall and with a roster that has undergone a huge turnover.
Factor everything that has transpired over the last five months and fast forward ahead to next fall and this is a make-or-break season for Pry and some national analysts agree.
Brent Pry listed on 2025 college football hot seat
Andy Staples of On3 released his college football hot seat for coaches and right at the top is Pry. It shouldn't come as a surprise as in three years in Blacksburg he is just 16-21 and they ended the season with a Duke's Mayo Bowl loss to Minnesota.
NEW: 2025 College Football Coaches on the Hot Seat per @Andy_Staples🔥
— On3 (@On3sports) January 28, 2025
Do you agree? 🤔https://t.co/5wk8961o49 pic.twitter.com/8saMQFSFrT
What is even worse than his overall record is Pry's record in one-score games which he has lost 12 of those 13 games. If we're being honest, if he's coaching in the SEC, he's likely already been shown the door. However, if things don't go well in 2025 for Pry, Virginia Tech will be left with. tough decision and a costly one.
Pry's buyout is $7 million and that's a steep price for the school to pay after they were forced to move on from Justin Fuente in November of 2021. Now Pry is left to enter the 2025 season looking to coach for his job and if they get off to a slow start, which is a strong possibility given their early-season schedule, then things will be interesting.