Virginia Tech 2023 preview: Hokies resources getting on ‘equal footing’ with rest of ACC

Set to enter the second season under coach Brent Pry in 2023, Virginia Tech is a long way from the glory days of the 2000s under Frank Beamer. The Hokies have managed just one 10-win season since Beamer retired in 2015 and are coming off of a 3-8 finish this past year, their worst since 1992.

As Pry aims to right the ship, one of his biggest tasks remains re-establishing Virginia Tech’s recruiting presence in the state. ACC Network analyst Roddy Jones joined On3‘s Andy Staples to explain how the Hokies are attacking that challenge and why Pry’s previous experience as the Penn State defensive coordinator will help him.

“They’re not in a great spot to be honest with you,” Jones said. “You get in this cycle where you play catch-up for so long that people kind of forget what has been and almost talk about it in a past tense that’s somewhat out of reach at this point in time. Brent Pry is really fighting that right now.

“I don’t think it helps him a lot that he comes over from Penn State where he was recruiting against Virginia Tech a lot. So he knows how James Franklin is going to approach recruiting the state of Virginia. But also, he has done a great job of selling Penn State to those Virginia recruits for years and those coaches. From a resources standpoint, they are getting on equal footing with the rest of the top part of the league.”

Stunningly, none of the top 15 recruits from the state of Virginia in the 2023 cycle committed to Virginia Tech. Penn State actually led the way by signing six of those players, while ACC foe North Carolina got three commits of its own from the state.

The Hokies still managed to sign 13 players from Virginia in its 2023 class, which ranked No. 41 according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. However, the fact that they’re missing out on the best of the best in their own backyard is alarming.

“It’s a challenge now to recruit the state of Virginia the way they did,” Jones continued. “The secret’s sort of out about the 757, particularly the place where they live. That sort of Virginia Beach, Newport News area where they pulled so many of their best players from over the course of Frank Beamer’s tenure, particularly in the 90s and early 2000s. So you’re having to fight a lot harder.

“This is a program that also is in a league that is much different than the league that they entered into ACC-wise. I played in the ACC in the late 2000s and the one year they didn’t (win the conference) was the year that we won it. Other than that it was like, Virginia Tech (and) Georgia Tech.”

All four of Virginia Tech’s ACC titles came during a seven-year stretch under Beamer from 2004-10. Since then, Florida State and Clemson have dominated the league, going on to claim 11 of the next 12 conference championships.

The Hokies did make use of the transfer portal this offseason to bring in a couple of players at Virginia colleges in former Old Dominion receiver Ali Jennings and Norfolk State receiver Da’Quan Felton. However, Jones believes if they are to truly start competing with the teams at the top of the conference, there’s still a lot of work to do.

“The biggest difference to me is that there wasn’t a national power (in the late 2000s ACC),” he said. “Virginia Tech was probably the closest thing, but how many national championship conversations were they in? Now you’ve got Clemson. You’ve got an ascending Florida State. And I think Miami will be, maybe not national championship, but 12-team College Football Playoff caliber.

“So what’s the ceiling now for Virginia Tech I think is the biggest question. How do you get transfers to consistently come to Virginia Tech? Do you try and attract guys that left the state of Virginia to come back? I just think there’s a lot of questions there. Brent Pry did a lot of learning in his first year, but it’s a much different landscape than the one that Virginia Tech had the most success they’ve had in the ACC in that sort of 2005-12 era.”

After winning just one conference game to tie for last in the ACC Coastal division with Virginia, the Hokies will hope to see some progress in Pry’s second year. They return starting quarterback Grant Wells and at least avoid having to play Clemson and Miami, so it’ll be interesting to see how things play out.

Virginia Tech will kick off the 2023 season on Sept. 2 against Old Dominion.

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