Virginia Tech Hot Board: USA Today names 7 candidates to replace Brent Pry

Virginia Tech was one of two schools to fire a coach three games into the season this weekend, as the Hokies parted with Brent Pry, who entered year four with a 0-3 start, coming off a 45-26 loss at home to Old Dominion, to bring him to a record of 16-24 (.400) at VT. Now, USA Today is the latest outlet to release a hot board of candidates who could end up as the next head coach in Blacksburg.

John Leuzzi posted that seven-name board at USA Today on Sunday following Bry’s firing. On3’s Pete Nakos also released a hot board as well as five being on a list from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Here’s USA Today’s hot board of possible candidates over at Virginia Tech:

South Florida’s Alex Golesh

Through the first few weeks of this season, USF’s Alex Golesh may be the hottest name on the market with a 2-1 start for South Florida, both wins being against ranked opponents versus Boise State and at Florida, to bring him to a record of 16-13 (.552) to this point of his third season as a college head coach. That said, Leuzzi was another to note that, at that rate, Golesh may be becoming too big of a candidate for other jobs that could come open by season’s end.

“In three season at South Florida, Golesh has been widely successful by turning around the Bulls program into one of the top Group of Five programs in country with back-to-back bowl appearances and a 16-13 overall record…Named by ESPN as one of ’30 coaches who will define the next decade of college football’ in 2024, Golesh has experience at the Power Four level, as he served as an offensive coordinator at Tennessee from 2021-22 and was a recruiting coordinator at both Iowa State and Illinois,” wrote Leuzzi. “The biggest obstacle for the Hokies with Golesh is the popularity that he is expected to have in this coaching cycle.”

James Madison’s Bob Chesney

JMU’s Bob Chesney is also a hot name right now, as he’s into year two of following up Curt Cignetti with the Dukes with a record so far of 10-5 (.667). That’s not to mention his quarter-century’s worth of other coaching experience, specifically the past decade and a half as a head coach at Salve Regina (Division III), Assumption (Division II), and Holy Cross (FCS), that could justify his hiring to a bigger job, especially as a possible in-state option here for Virginia Tech.

“If getting someone of Golesh’s status will be a tough task, Virginia Tech’s search should start with a Group of Five coach who isn’t too far away in James Madison’s Bob Chesney,” Leuzzi wrote. “Chesney has experienced it all in his 16-year head coaching career, as he has held positions at the Bowl Subdivision, Championship Subdivision, NCAA Division II and Division III levels.”

Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki

Next on the list are a pair of high-quality coordinators, starting with Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki who has been an offensive coordinator for the past two decades now, most notably half of those being at three schools under Kansas’ Lance Leipold before spending the past two seasons with James Franklin and the Nittany Lions. His units, to this point since 2021, have averaged 33.7 points and 415.7 yards overall, which has already made him a candidate to take over his own program as recently as this past offseason after a year in University Park.

“Kotelnicki is one of the top offensive coordinators in the country, and has Penn State’s offense humming once again through the first three weeks of the season,” wrote Leuzzi. “Unlike a candidate like Chesney, Kotelnicki doesn’t have head coaching experience, which shouldn’t stop Virginia Tech from potentially looking at him. He was in the mix for the vacant head coaching spot last coaching carousel at West Virginia but elected to remove himself from consideration from that search and return to Happy Valley for another season.”

Ole Miss DC Pete Golding

Then, as an option being a defensive coordinator, Ole Miss DC Pete Golding was next with him being in his third season in The ‘Sip with Lane Kiffin after prior stops at Alabama under Nick Saban as well as UTSA and Southern Miss in the FBS. However, Golding too is reinvested just this offseason in remaining with the Rebels, making it a question if he’d leave Oxford for Blacksburg.

“Golding is one of the top defensive coordinators in the country, and has built the Ole Miss defense into one of college football’s top defenses in the last few seasons,” Leuzzi wrote. “He just received a three-year contract extension this past offseason from Ole Miss that pushed him up the ladder among the highest-paid assistants in the SEC with a salary of $2.55 million for this season. So would he want to make a move for a program that is entering a rebuild after getting a financial backing like that?”

Army’s Jeff Monken

Back to current head coaches, Army’s Jeff Monken is one as he’s currently in his dozenth year with the Black Knights with a record of 83-58 (.589), including coming off his best mark last season at 12-2 (.857) as they won their most games in school history and won the conference in their debut in the American. It’s just a matter of, if at his age and in this era of the sport, can make the jump at this point to a program like a Virginia Tech.

“Monken has been a steady winner in his 12 seasons up at West Point. He’s gone 83-58 overall in his time at Army and has only had three losing seasons in that time span,” wrote Leuzzi. “Sure, Monken is up there in age and does not have much experience dealing with NIL and the transfer portal, but he is one of more experienced candidates out there, and that is something that Virginia Tech could benefit on as it embarks on a new era.”

Norfolk State’s Michael Vick

From here, USA Today listed the two candidates who are the most desired storyline-wise for Virginia Tech, beginning with Norfolk State’s Michael Vick. Vick, the former Hokies QB, is currently 1-2 in his head coaching debut with the Spartans, and is just a few hours in-state if VT does want to take that inherent risk and bring one of their greatest player in school history back to Lane Stadium.

“One of the program’s most well-known NFL alums, Vick is a long shot. The reason being the former Virginia Tech quarterback is just getting his college football coaching career started at Norfolk State, so it’d be quite a jump for him to move up to the ACC,” Leuzzi wrote. “Despite that, a reunion between Virginia Tech and Vick would be an instant seat filler and add some juice back to the fanbase.”

South Carolina’s Shame Beamer

The other notable name there is then South Carolina’s Shane Beamer, the son of a Hall of Famer and Virginia Tech’s all-time winningest coach in Frank Beamer as well as a former Hokie himself having played for his father late in the 1990s. Beamer is 31-23 (.574) going into his fifth year with the Gamecocks, and ironically enough already has a win this season over VT in the opener at the Aflac Kickoff, with him being about as ideal of a candidate as the program could hope for if he’d even consider leaving Columbia or his spot in the SEC.

“Similar to Vick, Beamer is a long shot candidate for Virginia Tech. Also like Vick, Beamer does have familiarity with the program — which can help in a rebuild that Virginia Tech is about to embark on — as he played for the Hokies from 1996-1999 and served as an assistant in Blacksburg from 2011-2015 for his dad, legendary Hokies coach Frank Beamer,” wrote Leuzzi. “There’s no harm in Virginia Tech making a call to Beamer to get a fielder out there. But with Beamer having good thing happening in the SEC at South Carolina, it will likely take Virginia Tech a lot to get him to leave and return to his alma mater though a path to coaching in the College Football Playoff will be easier to get in the ACC compared to the SEC.”