After a 24-14 loss at home against the Clemson Tigers, one week after giving up an 18-point second half lead and eventually losing at Syracuse, Virginia Tech finds itself in familiar territory.
The Brent Pry era has been largely frustrating for Hokies fans. With a record of 15-19, the Hokies under Pry have yet to progress like other teams with similarly tenured head coaches have. Virginia Tech continues to display the same game management issues, undisciplined habits, and schematic shortcomings as it did in Pry's first season, despite having the most talented and experienced roster to date under his watch. The third season of a head coach's tenure is widely understood to be the year in which their teams either demonstrate growth or regression. In the Hokies' case, it appears that the latter might be in order, at least on the whole.
Coming into the 2024 season, Virginia Tech had lofty goals and, for the first time in many years, serious recognition as a potential outside College Football Playoff contender. With seemingly every impact player returning and coming off a convincing 41-20 win over 11-win, and albeit short-handed, Tulane in the 2023 Military Bowl, the trajectory of the Virginia Tech program seemed to be overwhelmingly positive. Then came the Hokies' 2024 debut against Vanderbilt that undercut all of the offseason's momentum and four losses later, here we are.
Rarely has a Virginia Tech team had such high preseason expectations only to underperform to the extent this 2024 squad has? As Brent Pry has stated numerous times following the Hokies' losses this season, he has to be better than that. Although Pry seemingly has accepted responsibility for his team's difficulties, his game-time performances have not validated his coach's speech. Four of the Hokies' five losses this season have been in one-score games, bringing Pry's record in these matchups to 1-11.
Common errors in these losses include basic clock management issues, failures to make adjustments when opponents do so, and controversial lapses in judgement in crunch time. Each of these has, either directly or indirectly, hindered his team during key moments in nearly all of these losses. At this point in his coaching career with the Hokies, Pry simply cannot continue to make these mistakes.
This season's Virginia Tech team, despite showing inconsistent flashes of development, has not made adequate progress relative to its talent level and experience. Entering Week 11 against Clemson, the Hokies ranked 73rd nationally in total offense and likely will fall at least several places after Saturday night's paltry offensive performance against Clemson. Following an impressive 2023 campaign, during which he took over for Grant Wells, quarterback Kyron Drones seemingly has been experiencing some difficulties as the Hokies' gunslinger in 2024.
Drones entered the 2024 season as being a "sleeper" candidate to win the Heisman trophy, but his performance thus far has fallen short of these expectations. There have been very few moments this season that Drones has looked comfortable in offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen's system, a worrying sign for a duo that has played nearly 20 games together.
Now dealing with a nagging injury, and potentially facing a late-season quarterback competition after being benched for backup Collin Schlee early in the 4th quarter against Clemson, Virginia Tech's signal-caller is not playing at the level most Hokies fans thought he would be at this point in the 2024 season.
Despite having the nation's sacks leader in Antwuan Powell-Ryland, the Hokies' defense has equally underperformed, ranking 60th in total defense coming into Week 11. Although the blame for these units' issues likely can be attributed to several things, ultimately, it is Pry's responsibility to ensure his team develops, which this roster on the whole has not.
Virginia Tech may not yet be at rock bottom but it's quickly approaching, should Brent Pry to fail in making the necessary changes to his program. Hokies fans' already exceedingly thin patience with the current state of the football team is quickly running out, if it hasn't already.
Saturday night's loss to the Tigers is a result Virginia Tech fans have unfortunately become accustomed to over the last decade, however, the lingering feeling associated with it is palpably more grave. This loss may demonstrate that this team has turned a corner of sorts, but instead of leading toward progress, this corner is one of regression. The next several weeks are critical to Brent Pry's future at Virginia Tech.
Although probably safe from dismissal after this season due to his sizable contract buyout, Pry is not, and shouldn't be, immune from criticism. If he is committed to restoring the program to its former glory, he'll have to make choices he's yet to make as a head coach, whether in the form of coaching or personnel changes, or both. Whatever he chooses, his decisions likely will determine his longevity on the sidelines in Blacksburg.