Going into the 2025 season, there are a lot of eyes that will be on Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry and rightfully so. After three seasons in Blacksburg with a 16-21 record and a pair of back-to-back 6-6 seasons, it's time for improvement in a lot of fans' eyes.
Last season was expected to be the year where they took the next step under the former Penn State defensive coordinator, with all the retention he had as well as some key transfer portal additions. It never happened, and they had to scratch and claw their way to a win over Virginia Thanksgiving Weekend just to become bowl-eligible. Now facing a pivotal Year 4, the success the Hokies have from the coaching staff may not come from Pry, but from one of his three key new assistant coaches.
Virginia Tech football success in 2025 may hinge on new assistant coach
In between the regular season win over Virginia and the Duke's Mayo Bowl against Minnesota, Pry moved on from three assistant coaches, defensive coordinator Chris Marve, and offensive line coach Ron Crook, as well as his strength and conditioning coach. In February, former offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen left Blacksburg for the offensive line position at Ohio State, leaving Pry needing to hire another assistant.
When the dust settled, Pry settled on Philip Montgomery as the new OC for the Hokies, and it has the potential to be a big hire. He has had success at the college level with quarterbacks with a skill-set that Drones has, and could he be the key to unlocking it in 2025?
Chip Patterson of CBS Sports listed one burning question for each ACC team going into the upcoming season with the 2025 ACC Kickoff this week and his question for Virginia Tech was how does the offense improve under Montgomery with Drones? A quick reminder, Drones missed most of November last season and the bowl game because of injuries and he was sacked the last week of spring practices due to a medical procedure.
Patterson is spot on with Montgomery unlocking Drones' skill-set as a key to this season and if that does happen, then turning the narrative in one-score games is another possibility. To refresh your memory, Tech is 1-12 in one-score games under Pry. If they justs plit those games, then things are certainly different in Blacksburg, including the mood around the fanbase with the prgoram.
One key in to the season being a success in 2025 for Virginia Tech is winning more one-score games than losing, and if Montgomery unlocks Drones' skill set, then it's a strong possibility. Then conversations at the end of the season are different than what they could be.