Five 'What Ifs' for the 2025 Virginia Tech Football Season

Though last season's third-stringer William "Pop" Watson III was inconsistent, the redshirt sophomore showed glimpses of talent, much like Drones did in 2023. Now, 2025 offers another chance for us to see whether Watson is the real deal or that performance against Virginia was merely an illusion.

Make no mistake: Virginia isn’t a conference juggernaut right now — the way Tech once was, and hopes to be again. Against Duke and Minnesota, Watson compiled a combined 227 yards and absorbed 13 sacks.

If Drones either gets hurt or struggles, Watson starting becomes a real possibility. But would he be an upgrade? That question, for now, is likely to remain unanswered. I’d expect Drones’ 2025 to land somewhere between his highs from 2023 and his dips from last season — not dominant, but steady enough to keep the job.

3) What if Virginia Tech goes 4-8 or worse?

If the Hokies absorb another sub-.500 season, I think that Brent Pry gets fired. Pry, who came into the season ranked atop On3's Andy Staples' list of the college football coaches on the hot seat, cannot afford a second consecutive backslide. After a promising end to 2023, Tech stumbled, dropping several winnable games by one score, like contests against Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Miami and Duke.

Pry holds a 16-21 all-time record with the Hokies; the best word to describe his tenure so far with the Hokies is "middling". It hasn't been horrible, but it hasn't been great. If the record goes down or remains stagnant, it's hard to envision Pry seeing Year 5.

4) What if Sam Siefkes' new defensive schemes work? What if they don't?

Part of Pry's status after this season will rely on the success of his new coordinator hires. Of all these hypotheticals, this is the one I’m most confident in. Not because it's guaranteed to work, but because of Siefkes’ track record and the renewed energy around Tech's defense this spring.

Siefkes brings with him a resume shaped by Wisconsin-Platteville and Wofford. His background in linebacker development could pay immediate dividends for a Hokie defense that lacked consistency at the second level last year.

What’s promising is that Siefkes isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, but rather emphasize situational awareness. That said, any scheme is only as good as the players executing it. If the defensive front can't generate pressure and the secondary gets gashed in ACC play, it won't matter how smart the scheme is. And that’s the tightrope Siefkes has to walk — bringing schematic improvement without the luxury of elite personnel at every level of the defense. A defense can only be as good as its personnel allows it to be. If it clicks, Siefkes might just be the key to helping Tech return to its defensive identity. If not, then Pry's job will be in more jeopardy than it is already.

5) What if Virginia Tech wins eight or more games?

Winning eight to nine games and playing meaningful football in late November is what Hokie fans have been craving since the Frank Beamer era ended. Getting there would require everything to break just right: a steady Drones, a breakout skill player or two, and a defense that consistently keeps teams at or under three scores a game.

But what if they do pull it off? What if 2025 becomes that season? The kind of season that gets Blacksburg buzzing again and recruits circling back to Tech instead of bolting for the SEC. The kind of season where Lane Stadium at night isn’t just a nostalgic memory — it’s a real problem for visiting teams again. What if the "Terror Dome" becomes worthy once again of its name?

It's rather unlikely this season — there's less firepower on this year's roster compared to last. However, the Hokies have two things on their side: first, all of their regular season games this campaign will be situated on the East Coast. The farthest Tech will travel in the regular season will be to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Nov. 15.

Second, Tech's defense is largely a question mark. That's a double-edged sword — it means that while defenses don't know much about what the Hokies' new schemes could be, Virginia Tech also doesn't know how effective those schemes will be, or how effectively the players can carry them out. Good ideas require good execution. Right now, we don't know yet if the Hokies have either. Fans can only hope at this rate, with offense, defense and coaching. Should it fall short, fans will likely return to the same 'What If' questions as 2025 slips out of reach.

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