Virginia Tech fans expected a mass exodus of players on Tuesday, as the transfer portal window opened in the wake of the firing of head coach Brent Pry, but so far, good news.
Only one kid has entered the portal at this writing, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, in the form of junior Dante Lovett, a three-star Class of 2023 recruit who wasn’t getting much run – 63 snaps in the first three games of the 2025 season, after logging 245 snaps in 2024 and 57 in his freshman season, in 2023.
The news wire also tells us that the top prep recruit in the Class of 2026, four-star offensive tackle Thomas Wilder (Green Run/Virginia Beach), has decommitted.
Wilder had taken two other official visits over the summer – to Maryland and Penn State – and also had offers from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Miami and Michigan.
That stings, but that’s the future.
In the here and now, Philip Montgomery, the interim coach hired back in February by Pry to be the offensive coordinator, had his first presser as the big whistle earlier in the day.
Montgomery’s message to his team: “We’ve got nine games left, you’ve got about 12 weeks of that.”
“We’ve got an opportunity right now to write the ending of what this story is going to be,” said Montgomery, who was 43-53 in eight seasons as the head coach at Tulsa, going 10-3 in his Year 2, in 2016, then falling all the way to 2-10 in Year 3, in 2017.
He also had stints as the offensive coordinator at Houston, Baylor and Auburn, and in the UFL with the Birmingham Stallions.
So, veteran coach, knows what he’s doing.
“We’ve got some things we’ve got to fix, we’ve got some things to change, we’ve got to continue to grow and develop, but with that being said, we’ve got a lot of time to get that done. It starts this week. I am excited about getting back on the field with them. Today is going to be our first practice,” Montgomery said.
It’s not like Montgomery’s offense wasn’t part of the problem – the Hokies are 99th in FBS and 14th in the ACC in total offense (339.0 yards per game), and 112th nationally and 16th in the ACC in scoring (19.0 points per game).
The first point of focus has to be on getting grad senior QB Kyron Drones fixed.
Through three games, Drones has a career-low 113.9 passer rating, 56.3 percent completion rate, 6.0 yards per passing attempt and 3.9 percent TD rate, and a career-high 2.9 percent INT rate.
Also in need of a quick fix: the vaunted Tech defense, which ranks 124th nationally and is dead-last in the ACC in total defense (448.0 yards per game) and 126th nationally and is dead-last in the ACC in scoring defense (37.7 points per game).
“Our focus really has to be on the players right now,” Montgomery said. “We’ve got a group of young men that have poured a ton of work, they’ve been molded together, their world has been rocked a little bit right here, and our job as the coaching staff is going to be to continue to pour into them, provide them leadership, guidance a plan and direction.”
This weekend’s game with Wofford, an FCS school off to an 0-3 start, could help Montgomery & Co. get things moving in the right direction.
Montgomery had one more message to deliver at his introductory press conference – to the Tech fanbase.
“I know how passionate you are about Hokie Nation and about Hokie football. We’re going to live up to that part of it, but I will tell you, these young men need your support, they need your energy, they need your focus,” Montgomery said.
“There are enough things going on in the world today of college football, but they need to know that you are behind them,” Montgomery said. “I know that you will show them that. You are a great fanbase, you have built a tradition here, and I am excited to see your reaction to those young men and what they are going to do on the field each and every week to go and make you proud and to represent this university and this athletic department in the right way.”
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Chris Graham
