BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech head football coach Brent Pry announced staff changes Thursday afternoon for the Hokies program.
Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Chris Marve, offensive line coach Ron Crook and senior director of strength and conditioning Dwight Galt IV are no longer with the program.
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“I appreciate the work Coach Marve, Coach Crook and Coach Galt have put into Virginia Tech football,” Pry said in a statement. “They are great men who, alongside their families, have poured into our university and our student-athletes. However, our on-field results have not met our standards. As head coach, it is my responsibility to make the necessary changes to restore this program to its rightful place among college football’s best and deliver the success Hokie Nation deserves.”
The coaching change that had the perhaps the most impact Thursday night was the dismissal of defensive coordinator Chris Marv head coach Brent Price said in a press conference Friday that he believes defense wins championships, and quite frankly there was not enough defense at the end of games to win
“We’ve gotta be better than that. We had opportunities to close out some games and jump that win total and it didn’t happen for us,” Pry said.
The Hokies will be without those three position coaches for the short term as current members of the staff will fill in for a bowl preparation, but Pry says that candidates are already pouring in.
“Virginia Tech is a tremendous place, people want to work here, people believe in what we’re doing, the coaches on the inside of this thing see the progress we’ve made. They know the situation that we walked into.”
Of course, the coaching change also impacts players who signed just a week ago and players in the portal who could still return
“You wake up one day, and your linebacker room looks like this and 24 hours later it looks a little different. You have to remember that there’s values that play here, you know, a family, a young man, his agent, which most of them have agents now, what they feel they’re worth is financially, may not align with what we are able to do or willing to do.”
And while there has and will be a lot of uncertainty about players entering the portal and perhaps leaving Virginia Tech, we can confirm that quarterback Kyron Drones and Pop Watson will be returning to the football team in the fall.
Despite high expectations entering the 2024 season, Virginia Tech is coming off a 6-6 campaign as it awaits its Duke’s Mayo Bowl game in Charlotte on January 3.
Pry is challenged with figuring out the defensive coordinator position and the offensive line position as well. The Hokies will have a third offensive line coach within Pry’s brief tenure thus far.