Brent Pry gives honest assessment of his relationship with new Virginia Tech coordinators

Virginia Tech had two coordinator jobs to fill this offseason, as former offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen bolted to Ohio State for the offensive line coach job and defensive coordinator Chris Marve was let go. It filled these positions by hiring former Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery as its new offensive coordinator and former Arizona Cardinals linebacker coach Sam Siefkes as its new defensive coordinator.

Head coach Brent Pry discussed his relationship with both Montgomery and Siefkes on Tuesday. Pry is heading into his fourth season in Blacksburg, where he’s led the Hokies to a disappointing 16-21 (10-13) record.

“I’m very pleased with Phil [Montgomery] and Sam [Siefkes],” Pry said. “Those guys have done a tremendous job because it’s not easy to come in new. Both of those guys came in with some fresh ideas and some structure changes with a staff that was pretty much already in place. You’ve got to coach the coaches before you can even dive into the players.”

Montgomery has been coaching since 1994, when he was a special assistant at Tarleton State. He worked his way up to becoming the head coach at Tulsa in 2015, a role he held for eight seasons before he was fired. The Eastland, TX native led the Golden Hurricane to a 43-53 (28-24) record with wins in the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl and the 2021 Miami Beach Bowl.

He latched on as Auburn‘s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2023, but spent 2024 as the Birmingham Stallions’ co-offensive coordinator in the USFL. Montgomery now makes his return to college football this season as a member of the Hokies staff.

“They’ve both done a tremendous job of that. With the support from [Athletic Director] Whit [Babcock], we’ve been able to bring some additional assistance on board on each side of the ball to help us move forward and help those guys reinforce some new techniques and schemes. It’s going very well. My relationship with those guys, I hope they would say, is very good.”

Siefkes has been coaching since 2012, when he first got a job as a student assistant at Wisconsin-La Crosse. He worked his way all the way up to joining the Arizona Cardinals as their linebackers coach from 2023-2024 before accepting the Virginia Tech job.

“It’s a little bit different with Phil because he’s been a head coach before, so the conversations come sometimes go a different direction. And then Sam and I are defensive guys. He’s very accepting of some evaluations and observations that I have and it’s been good with those guys.”