Greg McElroy outlines path back to success for Brent Pry at Virginia Tech

The Virginia Tech Hokies are looking to take a step forward in 2025. For head coach Brent Pry, who finds himself on the hot seat, making that leap is going to be vital for his future with the program.

One analyst who sees a path forward for Pry and Virginia Tech is Greg McElroy. On his show, Always College Football, McElroy explained that the ACC allows for upward mobility. That should, with a couple of key changes within the program, allow the Hokies to take a major step forward.

“Well, two things have to be done this year,” Greg McElroy said. “And I still believe Virginia Tech can be a player because the ACC, we know who the top teams are in the ACC that are gonna be there annually. Clemson‘s always gonna be there. Miami is always going to be there. Those, to me, are pretty safe assumptions… but, beyond that, there’s a lot of questions. I think Louisville‘s gonna be there, almost annually… It does seem, at least in the near term, that SMU‘s not going anywhere… Beyond that, man, it’s kind of wide open… There is some upward mobility.”

Ultimately, one of the major changes McElroy needs to see for Virginia Tech to capitalize on that upward mobility is better quarterback play. That’s going to come, hopefully, from Kyron Drones.

“But their upward mobility this year will depend almost exclusively on how much better Kyrone Drones can play. There was some improvement at times,” McElroy said. “But based on the expectations in the preseason last year of what Kyrone Drones was gonna be, I would say he probably fell a little bit short of what those preseason expectations were. He had a 10:6 touchdown to interceptions ratio. That’s just not gonna cut it. He was also kind of middle tier, in the low 50s, when it comes to the QBR. That’s not gonna cut it. He needs to be a game changer.”

Drones finished the 2024 season completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 1,562 yards and 10 touchdowns to six interceptions. He also rushed for 98 yards and six touchdowns. That came in nine games. Now, he’ll be in his fifth college season and looking to take a leap forward.

“You also look to, the ACC has become a conference that’s very dependent on high-level quarterback play. Syracuse won 10 games last year. Why? Because they had high-level quarterback play… So, I think in the ACC,” McElroy said. “You have to have high-level quarterback play if you’re going to compete at the top of the league. If Kyron Drones can get there, then Virginia Tech has a real chance.”

Brent Pry was hired by Virginia Tech ahead of the 2022 season. He was tasked with reviving the program, which had struggled by the end of the Justin Fuente era. However, it’s been a slow rebuild to this point. After going 3-8 in his first season in Blacksburg, Pry has put together a 13-13 record overall in the two seasons since then.

Even going to two bowl games, Pry hasn’t met the standard that Virginia Tech fans have for their program. Now, going into his fourth season, Pry and the Hokies need to take another step forward as a program. To do that, McElroy needs to see the Hokies win some close games.

“But, the big thing, beyond just individual quarterback play, Virginia Tech has to learn how to win close games. That’s the key. This has been an issue now for what feels like forever. The guy that everyone points to, as far as losing close games, and no one thought you could ever have a worse record in close games than Scott Frost in his time at Nebraska. In Scott Frost’s time at Nebraska, he was 5-22 in one-score games. Didn’t think you could get much worse than that. That’s a 19 percent winning percentage… Well, let me raise you one more,” McElroy said.

“Brent Pry in his time at Virginia Tech is 1-11 in a one-score game right now. So, that’s not what you need. Brent Pry, look, is it a reflection on coaching? Sometimes. Is it a reflection on the fact that at least you’re in the game, you’re not getting blown out? Yeah, those are all positives. Now, it’s about making the key play down the stretch to give your team an edge and hopefully secure victory. 1-11, it’s a tough thing to wrap your head around. These things do have a tendency of overcorrecting the following year, but it’s been now a couple of years.”

Pry and the Hokies are going to start the 2025 season with a difficult test against South Carolina on August 31st. They’ll then kick off ACC play about a month later on September 27th against NC State.

“They’ve got to learn how to close, how to finish. They’ve got to learn how to make the massive play and not the massive mistake,” McElroy said. “Because in those one-score games that could flip it in your favor. They’ve got to learn how to start doing that.”