From the sidelines
Marty Gordon
Virginia Tech begins the 2023 football season with a lot of questions.
The answer to the first is a simple one: Win and the fan base will be happy.
The Hokies-base was patient for the three first years of the Fuente era, and the water cooler talk is how long of a chain will Brent Pry get in his second-year.
What has to happen?
Pry needs to win. The Hokies need to go back to a bowl game. Those are two easy answers, which could be harder than the base is waiting for.
Let’s look at the positives:
State recruiting is back. Virginia Tech needs to be the leader in the Commonwealth. This had changed under the Fuente-regime. The top Virginia football players should always be a top priority. In this age of the transfer portal, it is important to keep players close to vest. Pry has checked this box.
More community attention by the coach and ongoing talks with the fan-base. Pry has checked this box.
The issue of the young coaching staff stood out in the first year of Pry’s tenure. Fans will have to wait on this one to see if the box was checked.
The rest of the positives are still unknown. This program must reach for the upper rung of the ladder and pull itself back to the top of conference play.
The rest of the athletic program has moved to the top tier of the conference in almost every area. Congrats to the basketball teams and those of wrestling, soccer, baseball, softball and track, you have carried the Hokie flag for a number of years. Pry must lead the way for football and do the same for that team.
The question is how long the fan-base will give him. Typically, it takes at least three years to change things. The fourth year is the key, which could be right at the limit for any coach.
One of the biggest positives Pry has brought to the program is the “Frank Beamer way” of doing things. He learned from the big man and has stepped up and again become the face the public can recognize. Give him a n “A” on that part of the report. Again, is this enough to hold the door shut.
The Hokies should win six games and await an invite to a bowl game. Number seven is also within reach, which would silence the doubters at least for now. But we all know they are not patient.
Let the 2023 season begin.
