Penn State loses Brent Pry to Virginia Tech; recruiting impact, early replacement names to know, more

Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry is the next head coach at Virginia Tech.

The Hokies announced the news on Tuesday. It was first reported as happening by Yahoo and confirmed by On3 national college football reporter Matt Zenitz.

Pry, 51, has been by James Franklin’s side for the past 11 seasons. The Altoona, Pa., native served for six of them as the Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator. He has never been a head coach before but has been linked as a candidate to other top jobs during previous offseasons.

“I think in the right situation, with the right people, that opportunity I hope is out there for me at some point,” Pry told reporters before the Rose Bowl in 2016.

“I’ve never — I just believe in patience and things happening for the right reasons. I think my wife and my kids are very happy in State College. That’s important to me.”

According to reports, the Hokies made Pry a priority to replace Justin Fuentes, who was fired midway through his sixth season in Blacksburg. Pry previously coached for the Hokies as a graduate assistant and later defensive line coach between 1995 and 1997.

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How the move impacts Penn State

James Franklin now has one of the biggest hires of his career to make.

The eighth-year leader of the Nittany Lions has only made two defensive coordinator hires in his head coaching career. Bob Shoop was his first play caller on that side of the ball at Vanderbilt in 2011. He stuck in that role until leaving Penn State following the 2015 season. Pry was elevated to the job at that point and has been here ever since.

Recruiting is always the first question that comes up here. The sixth-ranked Penn State Class of 2022 has at least 11 future defenders in it That number could be higher depending on what side of the ball Mehki Flowers ends up on.

Pry oversaw national defensive recruiting and also handled the Harrisburg area in Pa. He was a willing recruiter who hit the road with tenacity. Yet, he was rarely pointed to as the reason why a prospect picked the Lions. His defense was, of course, but the point is that this should not have a huge impact on the class of commitments. It could certainly sway one or two, and who knows, Pry make try to poach someone to join him with the Hokies. But the initial gut reaction is to think that Penn State can overcome this and be OK.

As for the on-field part of the equation, Pry has coached some prolific defenses during his time in State College. His “bend but don’t break” style that featured plenty of aggressiveness frustrated fans at times, but the numbers back him up. Penn State could not always get a stop when it needed one most but the defense also kept the Lions in a lot of games over the years.

Who could James Franklin hire?

While it’s a bit too early for a full list of candidates, on-staff options include co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter plus corners coach Terry Smith. Which becomes the bowl game interim play caller will be interesting.

Former Penn State graduate assistant and current Texas A&M defensive line coach Elijah Robinson is a name you’ll hear often. The same goes for ex-PSU assistant and current Giants defensive line coach Sean Spencer, but that makes little sense. One off-the-wall name to think about is Florida safeties coach Wesley McGriff. He was on Franklin’s first Commodores staff and has coordinator experience. It’s also expected that you’ll read lots of fan conjecture about Dan Connor or Sean Lee or LaVar Arrington. All are hard to see.

More names will surface in the hours and days ahead, but one thing is clear: Penn State must move swiftly and James Franklin has to make the right choice.

Finally, current Penn State defensive line coach John Scott Jr., is a Pry disciple. It wouldn’t be a shock if he joins him at Virginia Tech. Time will tell. Pry is retaining current VT interim and defensive line coach J.C. Price, the school announced, however. So, Scott Jr., would have to coach a new spot.

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What Pry said about his new job

“On behalf of Amy and our family, we are extremely grateful to President Sands and Whit for extending us this opportunity at Virginia Tech,” Pry said in a news release. “Working for Coach Beamer and Coach Foster as a graduate assistant in the 1990s, I was privileged to have been a part of this program as the Hokies established themselves as a national power, consistently proving they could beat anyone in the nation.

“Even after I departed Blacksburg, I always continued to appreciate Virginia Tech, its great players, its championship teams, and its wonderful traditions from afar,” Pry said.

“The resources, facilities, university backing of Athletics, and phenomenal fan support that Virginia Tech enjoys made this a very desirable situation.”