ACC Football Media Day is officially underway from the Westin Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, and with it comes a host of fresh faces at the helm of ACC football programs. With the Coastal Division programs slated for Thursday, newly minted Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry is expected to address the media at 2:15pm EST, followed by OL Silas DzansiLB Dax Hollifieldand WR Kaleb Smith.
Virginia Tech heads into media day with a plethora of questions surrounding the program, but they are far different than those that formed a gray cloud over the program a year ago at this time. Last summer in Charlotte, then Head Coach Justin Fuente was on as hot of a seat as any coach in the country.
Now, with Brent Pry At the helm, a new set of questions surround the Hokies football program as they embark into a new era. Here are some topics that Pry is likely to touch on in his anaugural ACC media day appearance.
Realignment:
Even if you’ve lived under a rock all off-season, you’ve probably felt the earth shaking effect that the realignment conversation has had on the landscape of college football. The SEC and Big 10, who already held a distinct financial advantage over the other trio of Power Five conferences, continue to pursue expansion. With the ACC and it’s member institutions locked into their current lackluster media rights deal for more than a decade to come, it is fair to question the future viability of the conference on a national stage with the SEC and Big 10 acting as twin 10000 pound gorillas . This represents a unique situation for a coach who is tasked to return the Hokies to their former glory. Pry will likely be asked on multiple occasions about the current situation with the conference, Virginia Tech’s place in it, and how the changing world of college football impacts the program’s goals.
NIL:
For the Brent Pry Hire to be universally considered a success, the Hokies must once again be a player on the national stage, just as they were in the first decade of the millennium. But much has changed in the world of college football since the Hokies were a national competitor — foremost being the role that money can (legally) play in recruiting in the NIL era. That begs the question: With big donor money at the forefront of building championship level programs, can the Hokies still compete? Pry will likely have to address why he believes the Hokies are positioned for success under the new conditions that NIL has wrought on college football.
QB Battle:
It’s not all about the future of the program and existential questions about the nature of college football. A new season starts in a matter of weeks, and the Hokies still have a big ole question mark at the position that matters most. Unlike many of the “training camp battles” of the Fuente era that seemed to be more for theatrics, the Hokies brought in two legitimate candidates via the transfer portal with FBS starting experience. Marshall transfer Grant Wells seems to be positioned as the long term solution at the position, but South Carolina transfer Jason Brown brings with him veteran experience and a small handful of SEC wins on his resume. Though many see Wells as the leader in the clubhouse after he outshined his counterpart at the Spring Game, Brown remains a viable contender for the starting role. There is a 100% chance that Pry will be asked about the QB situation, and a roughly equal chance that he will answer it without revealing much. If they were ready to announce a starting QB, he would probably at media day himself.
Tons of General New Coach Questions:
The list here could be endless. This is Pry’s first dealing with the ACC media as a whole. As such, he will probably face a number of “vision questions” that are similar to those that he answered at his first press conference after being named head coach back in December. A number of questions will essentially ask for updates as to how he’s adjusted to the new gig. What have the first 6 months on the recruiting trail been like? Have you been able to rebuild relationships with the power brokers in the Virginia recruiting world. How are you managing a roster of players primarily composed of players that you didn’t recruit? How far along is the team in terms of grasping the new offensive and defensive schemes? I could go on and on. Expect a fair share of “coach speak” sprinkled in with the off-the-cuff southern charm and genuine personality that Pry has displayed every time he’s taken the podium as Virginia Tech’s head man.