Virginia Tech Football: Are the Hokies Better or Worse at Linebacker Compared To Last Season?

Virginia Tech football has an illustrious history at producing high-level linebackers. Yet with the reshuffle from last season, things were forced to change all across the field. Since the Hokies' 6-7 2024, head coach Brent Pry and his team were forced to export over 30 players in the portal, while also bringing in 30 new players into the portal.

The Hokies lost three linebackers in the likes of Keli Lawson, Sam Brumfield, and Jayden McDonald. On the flip side, the maroon and orange have raked in more transfers the likes of Pittsburgh linebacker Jordan Bass, UNC transfer Michael Short, and Temple transfer Antwone Santiago.

Compile those transfers with the current corps that includes Kaleb Spencer, Caleb Woodson, and Jaden Keller.

One of the most influential changes Virginia Tech made was bringing in new defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes. Siefkes has long brought innovative defensive adjustments. Pry relayed this information when he formally introduced Siefkes earlier this offseason.

"What they do at the Arizona Cardinals was situational football. I hadn't been around, hadn't seen that. Not everybody's doing it. Not at that level, even. Very impressive. How specific and thorough they are with situational football, which was a weakness for us.

It's multiple fronts, so 4-3 5-2 6-1, [it's] challenging stuff, whether it's pre-snap or post-snap. The ability to play with three safeties on the field or some teams doing that, that's been attractive to me for a couple of years now. And they do a really nice job with it."

With these changes in bound and a number of linebacker improvements, Tech does look better than previous years especially last year.

Below is a description of the new linebackers Tech has enlisted.

Bass finished his Panthers career with 25 total tackles, 1 sack, and one pass defelction. Bass was considered the No. 4 player from Virginia in the class of 2023 by 247Sports, as the site rated Bass as a four-star recruit. Bass received offers from Virginia and Virginia Tech out of high school, but opted to play for the Panthers.

Short hails from Charlotte, N.C., where he spent one season as a Tar Heel. Short spent his sole season. Short tallied 23 tackles with 17 of them being solo, including a season-high five against Duke in the Tar Heels' 21-20 loss to the Blue Devils.

Santiago spent three years as an Owl, where he tallied 35 tackles including 25 last season. Per the Temple Athletics website

Santiago, was a part of the rotation at linebacker and a core member of the special teams coverage units. Santiago set a career high in tackles with four at Navy. Santiago made his first career start vs. Army at SLB, and blocked a punt at UConn that was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown by Temple. Santiago recorded a career-high six tackles and four solos at East Carolina

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