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Virginia Tech naming Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry new head coach

By Patrick Schmidt

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Brent Pry looks on against the Illinois Fighting Illini during overtime at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Brent Pry looks on against the Illinois Fighting Illini during overtime at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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Virginia Tech is hiring Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry to be the new football coach, replacing Justin Fuente who was let go before the end of the season.

Brent Pry is the new Virginia Tech football coach. An official announcement from the university is expected later on Tuesday.

Pry, 51, is an Altoona, Pennsylvania native and comes to Virginia Tech after serving as James Franklin’s assistant head coach dating back to his time at Vanderbilt in 2011. Pry’s father Jim served was the offensive coordinator at East Stroudsburg where he coached Franklin when he was the team’s quarterback.

The news of Virginia Tech hiring Pry was first reported by Yahoo! Pete Thamel.

Brent Pry takes over for Justin Fuente as new Virginia Tech football coach

Pry previously worked as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech from 1995-1997 where he worked under long-time defensive coordinator Bud Foster, helping the team reach three straight bowl games.

From there, Pry worked at Western Carolina, Louisiana-Lafayette, Memphis and Georgia Southern before arriving at Vanderbilt with Franklin in 2011.

Since then, he’s developed into one of the top linebackers coaches in the nation and later one of the top defensive coordinators.

Penn State’s defenses have consistently been among the top-10 in scoring defenses and forced a number of turnovers and generated sacks while sending players to the NFL.

In 2021, Penn State finished seventh in scoring defense, allowing 16.8 points per game.

Virginia Tech is coming off the Fuente era that was 43-31 since 2016 and is 5-5 this season.

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