Brent Pry reveals players involved in four-way competition at cornerback for Virginia Tech

The Virginia Tech Hokies are entering the 2025 season with several questions that head coach Brent Pry is going to need to answer. That includes the secondary, where there is a four-way competition for starting spots at cornerback.

Last season, Virginia Tech was solid in the secondary with Mansoor Delane and Dorian Strong patrolling at corner. Now, however, Delane is at LSU, and Strong is in the NFL. So, Pry is working on finding replacements before toe meets leather for the 2025 season.

“Right now, I’d say it’s more of a four-way,” Brent Pry said. “Between Dante [Lovett], T-Will [Thomas Williams], IBM [Isaiah Brown-Murray], who has a ton of experience in the secondary, and then Caleb Brown, who also has a ton of experience.”

Lovett has played in 26 games over his first two seasons at Virginia Tech. That includes making two starts last season. He has an interception and seven pass breakups. Thomas Williams, for his part, redshirted in 2023 before playing 13 games with one start last season. He also had a pass breakup.

The two main defensive backs competing with them for starting jobs, as Pry noted, are Brown-Murray and Brown. Brown spent the last two seasons with Hawaii. There, he played in 23 games with 14 pass breakups. Brown-Murray, meanwhile, is coming in from ECU. In three seasons there, he played in 27 games and had an interception and 10 pass breakups. Though, as Pry also noted, there’s real depth to this unit.

“Now we got a number of guys that have experience at other places. You know, Krystian Williams has had a pretty good camp. I think Jojo Crim, [Jahmari] DeLoatch, at times. It’s a good room. There’s more depth there. We don’t arguably have two guys like Mansoor and Dorian that could walk in with all that experience and all that talent,” Pry said. “But I like the group. I mean, Coach [Derek] Jones does too.”

In 2024, Virginia Tech was ranked 61st nationally in passing defense, giving up 215.9 yards per game. The Hokies were also tied for 22nd in interceptions with 15 for the season.

“But it may be where I personally felt like Dorian and Mansoor played too much at times,” Pry said. “We leaned on them a little bit too heavy when I looked back. So, I think we’ll have a little more depth and a little healthier rotation at the corner position.”

Virginia Tech still has a few weeks before the season begins. The Hokies begin their season on August 31st with a challenge against South Carolina.