Virginia Tech Continues to be Stuck in Neutral

Will the Hokies make a bowl this season? Probably. Will they compete for an ACC Championship and make a push for the playoffs? Highly unlikely. So, at best it will be another average season for the Hokies. And with that the program will likely part ways with Brent Pry at the conclusion. The program does need a jolt so a move would be understandable and likely necessary.

To fully understand the current state of the program, you have to go back to 1987. That was when Frank Beamer was hired as head coach, when the program began to form an identity and as a result it was when expectations were developed.

It wasn’t until 1993 that the Hokies made their first bowl with Beamer in charge, but after that they enjoyed 13 10+ win seasons over the next 18 years. They made a bowl each of these seasons. And it wasn’t lower-level bowls. They played in the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl four times each. Virginia Tech fans became very familiar with both New Orleans and Miami.

But as Beamer’s time in Blacksburg, Va. was coming to an end, his final four seasons resulted in a combined 29-23 record. It was a respectable record that produced four more bowls, but the program had begun its exit from the national spotlight. The hiring of head coach Justin Fuente in 2016 brought some optimism back after he had an 19-8 record in his first two seasons, but that quickly began to derail in 2018.

Since then, the Hokies have gone 41-47. If you go back to 2012, they have gone 89-79. That is the definition of an average program and it is understandable why Virginia Tech fans are fed up with it. But it is also their current reality. They’ve watched their team gradually slip into mediocrity for more than a decade.

With Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Florida State and Miami remaining on their schedule, the opportunity is still there to become relevant in 2025. But how many people are still optimistic that they will?