Recapping The Phillip Montgomery Era At Virginia Tech

The season started off 0-3, with multi-score losses to South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Old Dominion. That 0-3 start led to the dismissal of Brent Pry. Enter Phillip Montgomery. Montgomery walked into a nightmare situation and he made the best of everything he could. He went 3-6 in his nine games as the head coach, including two one-score wins against NC State and California. Two of those games were on the road.

"The one thing that I can say on that note, when you break it down, these guys have been through a lot," Montgomery said after the UVA game, being asked if the program was in a better place to pass the baton to the next coach. "I've been very proud of the way they have battled, the way they've worked, the way they've come together. Been very honored to lead them in that way. This has never been about me. This has been about them and it will continue to be that way. I got a lot of love for those guys in that room. I appreciate what they've done and how they've done it and how they've held themselves together through all of this. And so, it has been a privilege to be a part of that."

When Monty took over the program in the interim head coach role, he was faced with a month long window where any player could enter the portal, and he managed to hold on to enough of a team to win three games.

He lost a few guys, including but not limited to Dante Lovett and Christian Ellis. A few players also departed from the program without entering the portal, there are rumored situations, but nothing confirmed.

He also brought a recruit in, despite the team not having a long term head coach. Isaiah Pena, a three star recruit from Groveland, Florida decided to commit to Virginia Tech on October 22nd. He visited Florida State unofficially just a month before committing to Virginia Tech.

"It just felt like home," Pena said about his commitment. He also said that Coach Brent Davis and Coach Monty played a big role in his recruitment.

The fans agree with the sentimant that Coach Montgomery helped this program a ton, too.

As known Hokie Clark Ruhland said, "This football season hasn't been easy."

This team borderline quit on Brent Pry back in September, and in the following two weeks, he beat Wofford and then went on the road to beat Nc State. This team is talented, but his offensive system is not a good fit for starting quarterback Kyron Drones, which is a big part of why the offense has had some troubles during the season.

Nevertheless, Phillip Montgomery held down the fort in the midst of war. "This has never been about me," he said, and that's what helped him lead Virginia Tech to win some football games that they weren't supposed to. As treadmill horse said above "Coach Monty should never have to buy a beer in Blacksburg every again."