Brent Pry saw Sam Siefkes defenses as 'very challenging'

Virginia Tech hired a new defensive coordinator this offseason, tapping Arizona Cardinals linebackers coach Sam Siefkes to run the defense.

First and foremost, there’s one quality that stands out about Siefkes and the styles of defense he has coached over the years.

“Very challenging for offenses. Multiple looks and structures that are easily understood,” coach Brent Pry said. “I understood them in a four-hour interview. That presents problems for play-callers and quarterbacks. We called around to offensive coaches in the NFL, what are the more challenging teams defensively that you see? Arizona kept coming up. Kept coming up.”

Virginia Tech finished the 2024 season ranked 57th nationally in total defense, giving up 363.0 yards per game. It also finished 39th in scoring defense, yielding 22.8 points per game.

So while the unit wasn’t terrible in 2024, it was far from elite.

Sam Siefkes will be tasked with making it elite. That’s a job he’s perfectly well suited for, based on the conversations Pry had with those who have worked with him.

“Well first of all it’s coaches that I respect. It’s coaches that worked pretty hard to get me on the phone to speak on Sam’s behalf,” Pry said. “Guys that have done it at a high level and have had success. And the things, you look for trigger words that they would say about somebody that are genuine and they kind of hit home with you. There weren’t surface-level phone conversations on Sam. Really to the point where I had to end the conversation.”

Sam Siefkes spent the last two seasons with the Cardinals. He spent two years with the Minnesota Vikings prior to that.

Though he has some previous college coaching experience, the bulk of Sam Siefkes’ recent experience has come at the NFL level.

So there were other conversations that needed to take place before a hire, too.

“The other thing is, it’s a two-pronged attack. You want the professional opinion, but then you also want from a personal standpoint,” Pry said of Sam Siefkes. “So the ability to have people that know him on a personal level, vouch for his character and his leadership and his maturity, some of those traits that are working into this. Then obviously those guys recommending him from just a coach, teach, lead, IQ, the ability to put it together. Checked all the boxes.”