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ashcroft: Given all the changes occurring in the VT football staff, can you describe what states (locales) will each of the current and future members have at the end of all the changes? Particularly, it would be good to know what each coach has achieved in their recent past. Thx

There's obviously a range of experience (both in levels of program and geography) among the coaches who've been announced on the staff so far. Head coach Brent Pry - himself a veteran of recruiting in the region with Penn State - has emphasized connections in making some of his hires. Some of those connections relate to his coaching history, but others are specific to geography.

Quarterbacks coach Brad Glenn (Appalachian State, Georgia State) and defensive backs coach Derek Jones (Duke, Texas Tech) have histories of recruiting in areas of historical importance to VT, either in the recent past or as more of a long-term deal. Rumored - but as-yet unofficial - offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen has been a rockstar in the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area during his time coaching at both his alma mater Maryland and at Penn State. Retained defensive line coach JC Price was an important piece of in-state recruiting under the Justin Fuente staff, and has a longer history in his native DMV, as well.

Importantly, though, Pry hasn't divided the staffers into areas of geographic expertise yet. Some of that is simply timing - all the coaches who were hired prior to the opening of the Signing Period this week traveled together and focused on ensuring that players and coaches in the Commonwealth knew they were appreciated. Only six coaches have been officially hired thus far, and the remaining four assistants' (presumably including Bowen) respective backgrounds will be taken into account in dividing recruiting duties before anything is finalized.

BigHokieFan: Does CBP have the reigns to make all these hires or how does that work. Specifically how they are identified. Appears almost all these guys have crossed paths with CBP at some point or another. What influence does Whit Babcock have on any of this?

Whit Babcock's role in the hiring of assistants is limited. He sets the budget and has final approval over whether candidates are employable (beyond a more-typical background check), but he's long maintained that he's relatively hand-off when it comes to sporting decisions - saying that he's even less-involved in that part of it for head coaching hires - and more concerned with the off-field aspects.

With that said, Pry has pretty broad leeway to identify the assistant coaching candidates that fit within the budget and will be able to clear routine background checks (as well as Babcock's rubber-stamp process above and beyond those background checks). Understandably, that means a lot of guys with whom he has pre-existing relationships, either having worked together at past stops, or building bonds in other ways - sometimes even recruiting against guys from other schools is a way assistants get to know each other - throughout his long history.

There may be slight nudges in some direction from Babcock, or possibly even candidates raised to Pry's attention, but it's the head coach's decision, ultimately.

cmmcclu: who has better HC? VT or UVA. I’ll take Pry!!

There's no doubting that Virginia made an impressive hire with Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. Like Brent Pry, he's had a chance to learn from a head coach whose attention to detail and ability in program-building is undeniable (Dabo Swinney in his case, James Franklin for Pry). It's likely he's more of a recruiting dynamo than Pry on an individual basis.

That said, Pry's longer résumé in terms of overall experience and in working under a coach who's both CEO and tactician gives him a bit of a leg up. Franklin seems like a guy who delegates responsibility, but has his fingerprints all over the program, whereas Swinney seems like a guy who hires the best assistants, and focuses on recruiting while those assistants are the more football-involved guys.

There are obviously advantages to both approaches - and there's not denying that Swinney's teams have had more on-field success than Franklin's - but without the unlimited budget (in both sanctioned and clandestine ways) that a program like Clemson has in comparison to Virginia or Virginia Tech, Pry's experience and menteeship seem more applicable to the unique challenges in the Commmonwealth.

ChargingRhino: Would the new QB coach have had any impact on Orji's decision had the announcement been made sooner or was he gone regardless?

At the end of the day, Alex Orji's flip to Michigan was more about a feeling of program stability and ceiling than anything an individual staff hire could or couldn't do in Blacksburg. Had Glenn been hired a couple days earlier, would it have meant Virginia Tech had the coaching stability of the seventh year under the same head coach (who happens to be an alumnus of that school)? Of course not. Would hiring Glenn a day earlier have meant Virginia Tech is playing in the College Football Playoff in a couple weeks? We can only dream.

Whether or not Orji made the right decision can be a matter of debate - though ultimately one that doesn't matter from our perspective, since it is indeed his decision to make. But the criteria on which he made that decision wouldn't have been impacted by the Hokies moving a little bit faster.

Certainly having knowledge of his future position coach and getting t know him could only have helped. But given the "whys" behind Orji's flip, it probably wouldn't have been a significant difference.

Shadyhill: Last year VT lost a QB to Auburn. This year they lost one to Michigan. Both QBs are from Texas. Two DE from Texas have transferred. Will this be the end of recruiting Texas ?

Any program with a national reputation will at least dabble in looking at Texas a bit. There's too much talent there for programs close to home to land it all, and it'd be wasteful not to at least try. That said, perhaps one of the biggest factors that doomed the Justin Fuente coaching staff was an over-emphasis on the Lone Star State, without properly contextualizing how realistic a chance Virginia Tech has to land and retain talent out of it.

Blacksburg is not the easiest place to get to from Texas (it's more than a full day's drive, and while Roanoke is a solid airport, it's not exactly an airline hub with dozens of daily flights in and out to Dallas or Houston). It's a small town that's very different geographically, and sometimes culturally, from what players coming out of Texas are used to. It has to be the right fit for a player to pick Virginia Tech and stick it out. That's particularly true when the Hokies are not exactly at a peak of their history.

That said, a team that wins a bunch of games can land players from anywhere, and if the Hokies get back to consistent top-10 finishes, they can recruit wherever they darn well please. However, even in that circumstance, Texas should be just a part of a recruiting palette that's far-more concentrated on the mid-Atlantic, Georgia, and Florida than convincing comparable talents to go halfway across the country.

ReturnofOakboy2: Any names in the portal we should know about?

There are already a few, and there will only be more once the dust fully settles from the December Signing Period for high school recruits. The staff has a better handle on who they'll have going into 2022, what prospects are still available in advance of the traditional signing period, and more importantly for this question, what the immediate needs are that maybe can't be filled by unproven high school recruits.

At this stage, those needs look mostly like quarterback, receiver, and defensive end. With the departure of Luke Tenuta, the lack of college-seasoned offensive linemen returning will make it an issue without Transfer Portal reinforcements, as well. A non-comprehensive list to keep an eye on...

Cameron Ward - QB, University of the Incarnate Word
Jared Verse - DE, University at Albany
Hunter Nourzard - OL, Cornell University
Tyrese Chambers - WR, Florida International

These are mostly grad-transfer "up transfers" - guys heading to a higher level of play after feeling like they've proven themselves in FCS or mid-major ball - but a player like former Texas QB Casey Thompson is also one to keep in mind, though the competition for a guy like that is going to be far more significant, since Power-5 programs around the country already have some familiarity.

cmmcclu: Burmeister wanted to play in the Pinstripe Bowl and team rightfully said no, are players in the portal allowed to play for the teams they are potentially transferring from?

It's at the full discretion of the coaching staff. Until they actually leave campus (or miss an academic semester), they're fully eligible by NCAA rule to continue competing for their school. They aren't eligible at their next school until receiving NCAA approval - whether through automatic means like a grad transfer, or a waiver of year-in-residence requirements (which nowadays are mostly a rubber stamp from the eligibility committee).

There are plenty of reasons a coaching staff would allow a player to compete in a bowl game - or see out a season when guys announce mid-year that they'll be looking elsewhere, as happened a couple times around the country in 2020. Guys who are invested in a program but don't see a path to remaining a starter, for example, typically announce departures without generating any hard feelings between player and program.

However, it's also fully understandable - particularly in the event of a coaching change - that a staff says "thank you for your service, but if you aren't sticking around, we need to use this opportunity to get the next guys ready for the future," as is the case with Braxton Burmeister.

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