NCAAF News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Newsletter

Jul 24, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry answers questions from the media during ACC Media Days at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech Football: New CBS Coaches Rankings Puts Brent Pry Near the Bottom of the ACC

Originally posted on Virginia Tech Hokies on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Jul 26, 2025 2:43 PM ET

Entering year four in Blacksburg, head coach Brent Pry is trying to play his way off of the hot seat. After coming into the 2024 season with high expectations, the Hokies finished with a 6-7 record, including more abysmal one-score game performances. Virginia Tech saw five players drafted and a number of high-profile players elected to enter the transfer portal. With 30-plus new transfers on the team and two new coordinators, can Pry find a way to work his way off of the hot seat this season? Is a bowl game going to be good enough, or will Virginia Tech need to find themselves in ACC contention?

Pry's record through three seasons is nothing to write home about, and in a recent ranking from CBS Sports, Chip Patterson ranked Pry as the 15th best coach in the ACC, ahead of only UVA's Tony Elliott and Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich.

"Pry says this year's squad is the closest to his vision of Virginia Tech football that he had seen since arriving in Blacksburg ahead of the 2022 season. He inherited a difficult roster situation, so early struggles were understandable, but numerous losses in one-score games have left Pry with a 16-21 record overall despite back-to-back bowl appearances. Virginia Tech hasn't been outclassed, but it's had trouble finishing games against its toughest opponents. Last year: No. 11 in ACC"

In a 2025 hot seat ranking released earlier this offseson, CBS Sports analyst Sheran Jeyarajah had Pry in the now or never category of the hot seat rankings, which was led by Louisiana Tech's Sonny Cumbie:

"Expectations were high in 2024 with a manageable schedule and returning playmakers on both sides. Instead, Pry delivered a disappointing 6-7 campaign and eighth place finish in the ACC. Things don't get easier with two nonconference games against SEC opponents and many more bowl teams on the schedule. Missing the postseason could shove Pry out of Blacksburg."

If Pry wants to play his way off the hot seat, his record in one score games has to improve and that was something that he openly discussed at ACC Media Days this week:

"Yeah, we've certainly talked about it a lot, as well as everybody else. First of all, it was coaching decisions, making sure we're making the right decisions, not just at the end of the game but throughout the game. Then secondly, being the team that is more mentally and physically tough and prepared at the end of a game to close it out.

So there's a couple different areas that we focused on to make sure we're better there, and certainly we've talked about it. We've leaned into it as a program, how close we were to being the team that we want to be. We were competitive week in and week out and just kept finding ways to come up short as a staff and as a team.

We should arguably be improved in that area. We've put a lot of emphasis there."

Only time will tell if Virginia Tech is actually better in that area. They kickoff their season on August 31st in Atlanta against South Carolina.