Going into the 2025 season, the Virginia Tech football team is putting together a brand new offensive line under first-year coach Matt Moore. After moving on from Ron Crook, Pry tabbed Moore, who had a lot of success at West Virginia, to come and rebuild the offensive line.
He has to start over from scratch after all five starters last season have either moved to the NFL, run out of eligibility, or entered the Transfer Portal. Moore was able to have some players from Morgantown follow him to Blacksburg, and the Hokies had some returning players who played as backups in 2024 and are ready to step into a starting role.
Two of those players, Montavious Cunningham and Kyle Altuner, are impressing and turning into key players who will be protecting quarterback Kyron Drones this fall. So far, both players have been impressing Pry in fall camp.
Virginia Tech offensive lineman Montavious Cunningham and Kyle Altuner impressing in fall camp
Cunningham is entering his second season at Virginia Tech after coming through the Transfer Portal from Georgia State. He played in all 13 games last season for the Hokies as a backup, but now he has the opportunity to start and play a significantly higher number of snaps in 2025. Pry is seeing the Matt Moore effect already in Cunningham, which is great news.
"Honestly, he's had the athleticism, he's had to train too strong,'' said Pry. "He was thinking too much. It wasn't turning over for him. I think Coach Moore and Coach Danielson have been really good for him. I think Tomas and Altuner have been really good, you know, the communication up front, those guys do a great job with it. I think he's the guy that's probably benefiting the most."
Not only is Moore affecting him, but so too are a pair of West Virginia transfers, Tomas Rimac and Kyle Altuner. Altuner is a very promising redshirt freshman who was injured during his time in Morgantown. He comes to Virginia Tech and looks to be filling a need along the line, and Pry pointed out that his athleticism is something that is welcomed.
"He's twitchy, he's got agility, he can see sudden at times, so that's what we need,'' said Pry. "If we can get him to come on and have the type of year that his potential, his athleticism says he can have, we've got a pretty good guard right there."
The last couple of seasons have been rough at times along the offensive line for Virginia Tech, but if they are going to turn things around this season, they are going to need to have Cunningham and Altuner step up and continue to make strides. Protecting Drones and opening holes for the running backs are a must, especially early in the season against a pair of SEC schools.