Virginia Tech football names veteran college coach new offensive coordinator

Last week, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported that Virginia Tech was targeting Buffalo Bills defensive quality coach Christian Taylor to replace former offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen who left to take the offensive line job at Ohio State. As time went on, word about Taylor and Virginia Tech got quiet and became an afterthought.

Monday morning, Pete Thamel of ESPN dropped a new report with Hokies' head coach Brent Pry targeting a new OC. Thamel reported that Virginia Tech was now setting its sights on Philip Montgomery to replace Bowen. Monday morning, the school made it official.

Virginia Tech hires Philip Montgomery as new OC

The search took a little longer than some may have liked, but in the end, this is a good hire for Virginia Tech and Pry. Not only does Montgomery bring head coaching experience at Tulsa, but he also spent time as an offensive coordinator and worked with some players who went on to play in the NFL. He was also the head coach at Tulsa in 2015 in the Independence Bowl in what was a 55-52 Hokies win in Frank Beamer's final game as head coach. It was Montgomery's first season as Tulsa's head coach.

Montgomery was the quarterbacks coach at Baylor where he coached Robert Griffin, while also working with Case Keenum and Bryce Petty. In 2013, he was a finalist for the Broyles Award when the Bears won the Big 12 championship.

At first glance, this has the potential to be a very good hire for Virginia Tech. He comes with a ton of experience and he also has a tie to Baylor like quarterback Kyron Drones, who came to Blacksburg through the transfer portal before the 2023 season. Pop Watson is also back for the Hokies giving the new OC multiple options in game planning different packages for next season.

With Montgomery on board, he has little time to get to work and put together an offense for the upcoming season with spring practices around the corner for the Hokies.