By Alec Nederveld
From 1987 to 2015, Frank Beamer roamed the sidelines of Lane Stadium. He reached a bowl game in each of his last 23 seasons, won 10+ games 13 times, won seven conference championships, and reached the 1999 National Championship. For a program that had never won 10 games, and only made six bowl games in the 82 years of history before, what he did was incredible.
You can still see the roster makeup of the majority of his teams. Physical, with a dual-threat quarterback, a good run game, and a workman-like mentality on defense. To cap it off, the Hokies would win on special teams. It was a great culture fit with the region, and he was loved.
It is very hard to replace a legend, and his replacement, Justin Fuente, found that out the hard way. The former Memphis coach started strong, winning ten games and appearing in the ACC Championship in his first year, but he later fizzled out.
From the start of his tenure, in-state recruiting took a decline. Later on, poor quarterback development and in-game collapses hurt the program and, ultimately, his job. Fuente also had fewer resources compared to other ACC teams. Combined, it was too much to overcome.
Virginia Tech chose to hire Brent Pry, then the Penn State Defensive Coordinator. A Pennsylvania native, he played college ball at Buffalo before getting into coaching, which included a GA stop in Blacksburg from 1995-1997. He had been a fixture with James Franklin, working with him for 11 years in multiple defensive roles.
In addition to his coaching of a talented defense, Pry was a very good recruiter, specifically in the state of Virginia. It seemed like a very good fit: a defensive guy with connections to the state and program.
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A large part of the Hokies’ past success was recruiting, specifically in Virginia. Beamer had incredible connections to local high schools and coaches. Meanwhile, Fuente veered away from that. Pry still has work to do, but he is slowly building the connections back. With an admittedly smaller class (16 players), Virginia Tech had its highest average player grade in program history of 87.99, per the 247Sports composite.
Within the Old Dominion State, Coach Pry’s staff convinced two of the state’s seven four-stars to commit to the Hokies. The other five went to SEC schools. For comparison, only two Virginia’s 33 four-star and five-star committed to Virginia Tech between 2021 and 2023.
The special teams also seem to be back to the past. In addition to recording 1,102 rushing & receiving yards and 12 offensive touchdowns, RB Bhayshul Tuten helped Virginia Tech be one of seven teams to record multiple kick return touchdowns. Among ACC teams, he finished second in kick return yards. His teammate, WR Tucker Holloway, finished second in punt return yards. Finally, K John Love buried an ACC-leading 22 of 24 field goals.
Quarterback is the most important position in football, and other than one season of Jerod Evans in Fuente’s first year, he never had a truly good quarterback. What’s worse is seeing guys like Hendon Hooker, who was decent with the Hokies, take the jump into a star with Tennessee. For comparison, Beamer coached NFL guys like Michael Vick, Tyrod Taylor, and Sean Glennon.
In 2022 and the start of 2023, the quarterback was still an issue. Grant Wells, a transfer from Marshall, was poor but retained his job to start 2023. He was injured in the week two loss to Purdue, being replaced by Baylor transfer Kyron Drones. After a slow first two starts, he had five touchdowns against Pittsburgh and didn’t give the job back.
Drones finished the season with 2,085 passing yards and 17 touchdowns with only three interceptions. He also had 818 rushing yards and five more touchdowns on the ground. The dual-threat QB will have two years of eligibility remaining to further improve his skills.
While on paper, the Hokies’ 7-6 record doesn’t seem impressive, Virginia Tech finished the season on a 6-3 run. Their only losses of the stretch were to ACC Champion Florida State, ACC Runner-up Louisville, and a 9-4 NC State team. It is also a four-win improvement over the 3-9 2022 campaign.
The offensive unit, with one exception, is all back. Other than TE Daequan Wright, who is transferring to Ole Miss, all other starters are back. Ali Jennings, who only played in two games due to injury, is huge to have back, as he had over 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns at Old Dominion before transferring. He will battle fifth-year senior Da’Quan Felton for the WR1 spot.
Defensive Ends Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Cole Nelson combined for 15.5 sacks on the edge, and the duo will also be back. Powell-Ryland specifically had the ACCs’ second-most sacks with 9.5. On the inside, Duke transfer Aeneas Peebles looks to be a plug-and-play starter.
Other names to watch are leading tackler LB Keli Lawson, leading interceptor CB Dorian Strong, and Middle Tennessee State transfer Sam Brumfield. The talented LB led the Blue Raiders in tackles, sacks, and forced fumbles en route to a 2nd-team All-CUSA selection.
A lot of work still needs to get done in Blacksburg, but Virginia Tech’s future still looks bright. You know what they say: history always repeats itself, and this is the history Hokie fans want.
