When Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry last month, it triggered a 30-day Transfer Portal window for current players. Some players took advantage and have entered. With that window all but closed, the next opportunity for the portal will be on Jan. 2. However, according to Pete Nakos, there is new guidance when a new coach is hired. Here is what he reported,
"On3 has learned the NCAA has sent guidance to schools that the portal window for when a new head coach is hired starts five days after the coach is hired, provided that occurs between January 2 and June 30.
"For example, if a CFB program hires a new head coach on Nov. 25, the portal would not open until Jan. 2. But if a program makes a coaching change in the spring and hires a new head coach, players will not be delayed as long as the hire is before June 30
"Previous NCAA rules stated that a 30-day transfer portal window immediately opened after a coaching change. Now players have to wait until a new coach is hired, and in some situations, until January."
How does the affect Virginia Tech? Whenever they hire a new coach, that coach will have time to try and get players to stay before they decide to his the portal. This will be the case around college football, as there is expected to be a lot of movement this coaching cycle with some high-profile jobs open.
Potential coaching carousel trouble
Since Virginia Tech moved on from Pry, other jobs have opened around the country at Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Penn State, to name a few. Stanford has an interim coach, and UCLA fired DeShaun Foster right before Pry was let go.
There are some more high-profile opening jobs potentially opening up, which would hamper the Hokies' search for a head coach. One job that is rumored to be opening up as early as this weekend is in Florida. It was reported on Wednesday that Billy Napier could be let go as early as this weekend. If that happens, that's another roadblock in terms of candidates for Virginia Tech's search committee.
Volleyball suffers devastating defeat
The Hokies volleyball team grabbed a 2-0 lead over Virginia on Wednesday night at Cassell Coliseum only to drop the last three games, 25-22, 25-20, and 15-12 to lose 3-2. Virginia Tech fell to 9-9 overall and 1-6 in the ACC and heads to Charlottesville on Sunday afternoon for a rematch at 3 p.m.
Promising baseball freshman
One of the promising young recruits that baseball coach John Szefc has brought in is shortstop Ethan Ball. He was the No. 1 shortstop and No. 2 overall recruit from Virginia coming out of high school. He was the 29th-ranked shortstop in the country and 70th overall according to Perfect Game.
D1 Baseball is high on the McLean native for the 2026 season and thinks he'll be an impactful bat in Virginia Tech's lineup. After losing some key bats and players from last season, it's going to be vital for Szefc to get some younger players to slot into the lineup and contribute.