Virginia Tech, Brent Pry announce first assistant coach hiring

Newly-hired Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry is beginning to put together his coaching staff, as the university announced that former Texas Tech assistant Derek Jones will join the Hokies.

Jones has largely coached in defensive roles throughout his career, in addition to his duties as an assistant coach and — early on — a special teams coordinator. His role in Pry’s staff at Virginia Tech, however, was not specified in the press release.

Jones, now in his 23rd season of coaching, served as the associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator at Texas Tech from 2020-21. He helped produce a handful of All-Big 12 honorees in Lubbock, and he has a history of having coached in the ACC. Prior to joining the Red Raiders, Jones was an assistant under David Cutcliffe at Duke, serving as an assistant coach for 12 years with the Blue Devils. While with Duke, Jones helped lead the Blue Devils to six bowl appearances and an ACC Coastal Division title in 2013, which happened to be the school’s first-ever ACC Championship game appearance.

Pry and Jones have a history of working together. Back in 2007, while they worked at Memphis, Pry served as the Tigers’ defensive line coach, and Jones served as the secondary coach. Jones has also coached at Tulsa, Middle Tennessee State, Murray State and Ole Miss. An Ole Miss alumnus, Jones was a sprinter on the track team and a former All-SEC honoree on the football team.

Virginia Tech releases contract details for new head coach Brent Pry

Virginia Tech officially introduced their new head football coach, former Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry, to Hokie Nation in a press conference on Wednesday morning.

Shortly after Pry issued a statement and fielded questions, the details of his new contract were released by Virginia Tech.

Under the new 6-year deal, Hokies’ coach Brent Pry’s total pay is set to be $4 million in each of first two years, then rise to $4.75M for 2024 and ’25, and $5M for 2026 and ’27. Justin Fuente had been set for $4.25M this season, not including 10% pandemic reduction.

There is also a $5.5 million budget allotted for 10 full-time assistant coaches and $2.25 million for support staff written into Pry’s contract with Virginia Tech.

Pry returns to Blacksburg, where he served as a defensive graduate assistant from 1995 to 1997 under head coach Frank Beamer and defensive coordinator Bud Foster.

Pry spent the past six seasons as Penn State’s defensive coordinator, and has helped produce Top-25 units in total defense in eight of his past 12 seasons, including four at Penn State, three at Vanderbilt and one at Georgia Southern. The Nittany Lions rank seventh in scoring defense this season, allowing 16.8 points per game.