Brent Pry raves over Kyron Drones' growth as Virginia Tech's quarterback

Hype is building for Brent Pry and Virginia Tech in year three of his tenure in Blacksburg, especially with so much of last year’s team back.

The Hokies again experienced turbulence in 2023. On the heels of three straight losing seasons to kick off the 2020s decade, Tech was headed down that same path when a win vs. Old Dominion was followed by three straight losses to Purdue, Marshall and Rutgers. However, VT went 6-3 the rest of the way and 5-3 in the ACC to make a strong finish out of a brutal start.

Leading the way on offense was quarterback Kyron Drones, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Baylor who shined as a dual threat. He posted 2,085 passing yards and 818 rushing yards with 22 total touchdowns vs. three interceptions across the 13 games he appeared in. Heading into his fourth season of college football and just his second as a starter, Brent Pry is over-the-moon excited for his QB.

When asked about Drones on the ACC Network set at ACC Media Days, he couldn’t stop gushing over the promise Drones has heading into 2024.

“Yeah, well, one of the things that’s exciting about him is he’s started 8, 9, 10 games in his career,” Pry pointed out. “You know, he’s still raw in a lot of ways, still young, doesn’t have a ton of experience.”

This offseason, though, Kyron Drones is hitting a whole other level with his skillset and mental approach.

“But he’s a great worker and he’s getting to those second and third-level reads now, he’s throwing in tighter windows. He’s always been pretty confident, but that’s grown. He’s got tremendous respect amongst our team. I couldn’t be more proud of him right now.”

Kyron Drones waited around at Baylor, then eventually bounced over to Virginia Tech and finally found his opportunity. Now, the sky seems to be the limit for the Hokie starter this coming year.

He gets a lot of help on offense too. Drones narrowly finished as the team’s second-leading rusher as Bhayshul Tuten recorded 863 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground; he’s back. Tech didn’t flash with superstar talent at wide receiver a year ago, but a star could certainly emerge among the top returners, who also led the 2023 team in receiving, Da’Quan Felton (667 yards, 8 TDs) and Jaylin Lane (538 yards, 6 TDs).

With so much skill talent back surrounding a returning quarterback, Virginia Tech is looking to hit the ground running in the new ACC following a hot finish in 2023.