Brent Pry pleased with Virginia Tech's progress through first scrimmage

The first season under Brent Pry as Virginia Tech‘s head football coach might have left a lot to be desired, but the Hokies headman likes where his team is at entering year two.

Over the weekend, Virginia Tech held its first scrimmage of the spring. After the fact, Pry was asked to evaluate where his team currently stands. While he wants to see the team take it to another level, he also understands that they are in a good spot given what point of the schedule the Hokies are currently at.

“For day five, I have to remind myself it’s only the fifth practice,” Pry said. “I expect it to be cleaner, I expect it to look better, I expect a lot of things. But then I say wait a minute. This is only day five. Third day in full pads, first day in the stadium. So I was pleased.”

Virginia Tech hired Pry to lead the Hokies program prior to the 2022 season. He previously spent time at Penn State as the Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator.

The Hokies lost their first game on the road to Old Dominion, but responded with back-to-back victories over Boston College and Wofford in the next two weeks. Virginia Tech then went on a seven-game losing streak before ending the season with a victory on the road against Liberty.

Throughout the season, Virginia Tech saw mixed results on the offensive side of the ball. Early in the spring, though, Pry has seen great execution from that Virginia Tech unit, while he admits there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“This is your first opportunity to scrimmage and get true situational football,” said Pry. “I thought that we did pretty well. Honestly, I think the offense right now is maybe executing better than we have in a long time. There are some good things happening. Guys being in the right place, Grant (Wells) is throwing the ball well. But again, you’re just a third of the way through this thing and the meat of it is coming up here as far as spring preparation.”

Wells completed 59% of his passes last season, throwing for 2,171 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 212 yards and six touchdown on 111 attempts.

Virginia Tech averaged just 19.3 points per game in 2022, and that’s an obvious area where Pry wants to see improvement. If his early indications are right, the Hokies could be in line for a step forward in 2023.

For the second straight season, Virginia Tech faces Old Dominion to open the season. This matchup, though, will be held on the Hokies’ home turf.