Virginia Tech takeaways: Brent Pry on depth questions, captains, freshmen and more

BLACKSBURG, Va. — With less than two weeks to the season opener against Old Dominion, Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry thinks he has a good handle on the Hokies’ first-team personnel.

It’s the second group versus the third group and who to trust on the field that’s still up for debate among the coaches.

“We don’t have enough depth,” Pry said Saturday after the Hokies wrapped up picture day in Lane Stadium. “We have to be creative as coaches and be sure that we’re putting guys out there that we can win with.”

Picture day for the #Hokies. Here’s Brent Pry and the seniors. pic.twitter.com/HqZduj2jeR

— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) August 20, 2022

Virginia Tech checked off a big box earlier this week by naming Grant Wells the starting quarterback, and with the exception of a few spots — will linebacker, boundary cornerback and left guard — it sounds like most of the starters are pretty much decided.

The questions come further down the depth chart.

“Some of those discussions are who is in the two-deep vs. the three-deep,” Pry said. “And some of those discussions are: You are in the two-deep, can we put you out there? If you’re talking about D-tackle, are we going to play with four or are we going to play with five? D-end, are we going to play with three or are we going to play with four? And I’m just using examples. They’re not actual numbers.

“But we’re going to play five linebackers or are we going to play four? Do we have a two-deep at corner or do we have just three guys? Those are the questions, and when we go into our sub-packages, who’s going to play?”

The Hokies have a clearer idea of who will lead the way after naming seven captains Friday night — Wells, linebacker Dax Hollifield, receiver Kaleb Smith, left tackle Silas Dzansi, safety Chamarri Conner, defensive tackle Norell Pollard and punter Peter Moore.

Pry and the team captains. #Hokies pic.twitter.com/yVRtKzt0DO

— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) August 20, 2022

Players and coaches voted on the selections. Five players were clearly ahead in the tabulation, but there were two who were close enough and brought enough to the table to be included among the group, especially to aid a first-year staff as they get acclimated to this team.

Pry doesn’t want it just to be a ceremonial position.

“They’re going to be involved in high-level conversations with me about culture, something as important as that to something maybe about uniforms or the way we travel or a certain procedure that I’m asking them to do that maybe isn’t positive,” he said. “But the other thing is they’ll be out in front of the team quite a bit. I’ll rely on and ask and expect them to be out front, particularly in tough times.”

Here are a few more notes from Friday’s practice and picture day on Saturday:

1. Pry called off practice Thursday for a well-received off day for the players at Claytor Lake.

Pry surprised the players with the off day reveal right before practice was supposed to start, though word had leaked a little bit, not that some players were completely sold.

“There was a rumor around the locker room that we were going to have a lake day,” Pollard said. “I was in the mindset of, ‘Naw, don’t believe that. We’re going to practice. I’m not even going to put myself in that mindset.’ And then we got to the team room and he announced the lake day, and we got so excited.”

When @CoachPryVT cancels practice for a lake day 🫡🛶 pic.twitter.com/PAhVWzJQSq

— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) August 18, 2022

Tech took the players to Rockhouse Marina (though Claytor Lake resident Bud Foster didn’t have a chance to stop by). Pry thought it was a needed respite for the players from the grind of camp.

“You want to do something like that,” he said. “What was awesome, and I said it the other night, everybody got out on the water and enjoyed it. I didn’t expect that. Guys that had never been in a boat before. Guys that had never been in a kayak. But everybody had a good time together.”

Lake livin’ 🚤#ThisIsHome pic.twitter.com/um2wuAlPT1

— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) August 19, 2022

Was everybody on board? Of the players, yes. As for the coaches, particularly the old-school guys, they wouldn’t have minded getting some on-field work in.

“It was fine. It was a good time. I would have rather practiced,” defensive line coach J.C. Price said, before adding with a laugh: “Coach (Frank) Beamer never took me to the lake.”

2. Price feels pretty good about three defensive tackles right now.

The top trio is veterans Pollard, Mario Kendricks and Josh Fuga.

“(They) are playing at a high level,” Price said. “I think we can win a championship with those guys. The rest of them, they’ve got to keep coming along.”

Price sees varied skill sets among those three that complement each other.

“I think Fuga right now is probably the best run guy,” Price said. “He’s playing fundamentally sound against the run. Mario is slippery. He gets in and out of creases better than any of them. And Norell is the best playmaker. He sees things. And me and him butt heads about when is it time to take a chance and when not to take a chance, but Norell sees things. As long as he has an answer for me, then you’ve got to let players like that go.”

Tech’s next group of tackles includes Wilfried Pene, Desmond Mamudi and freshman Gunner Givens. For Givens, a highly touted true freshman who got here over the winter, it sounds like the college game is still a learning process.

“He’s OK,” Price said. “Everything’s still new for Gunner. Gunner’s got to play a little bit lower, but I like his intelligence, I like his upside. But the guy’s only had 20 practices in college. The expectations for these kids nowadays is off the charts because of social media. Let’s just pump the brakes.

“I was a pretty good player. I was a third-round draft pick. And I got redshirted. What does that mean? I’m excited about Gunner and Gunner is going to be a good player. It’s just that he’s struggling with some things right now, but he’s getting better.”

3. Pry thinks Tech hasn’t been hit too bad by injuries so far.

That’s not to say the Hokies haven’t been beset by a few injuries. Running back Malachi Thomas is week to week and receiver Dallan Wright is out for the season.

Pry said linebacker Keli Lawson has a “minor” injury that’ll keep him out “probably a week to two weeks.”

Running back Jalen Holston missed Friday’s practice with something minor but could have practiced and should be back soon, an important piece if Thomas’ recovery extends into the season, which sounds possible.

The Hokies are awaiting word from the medical team on freshman tight end Benji Gosnell, who was not at Friday’s practice.

“I think we’ve been pretty good, to be honest,” Pry said. “More than anything, you want to make sure that you don’t tax other guys too much because of the injuries that have occurred, that you can still get the number of snaps you want in practice or a scrimmage. We tailored (Saturday) just a little bit to make sure we didn’t put too many reps on somebody else and then all of a sudden they’re compromised. So that’s really where the thing is important to me.”

4. Discussions about true freshmen who will play are ongoing, though one sounds like he’ll definitely be on the field.

Pry said the coaches put the freshman class in three camps — definitely will play, definitely will redshirt and could go either way.

“I want to have a conversation with them,” Pry said. “You’re redshirting. You’re going to play, you need to keep preparing. You may spend some time on scout team, some days on the travel squad. To me, you’ve got three categories.”

While those decisions aren’t all set, Pry sounded confident Braelin Moore, who moved from defensive tackle to left guard after spring ball, will be out there.

“I think you’ll see Braelin in the first week,” Pry said. “Braelin’s going to play.”

5. Punter Peter Moore’s biggest improvement since the spring? More hang time.

Moore, a redshirt sophomore who is the Hokies’ only returning All-ACC selection (a third-teamer), finished last season fourth in the league with a 44.5-yard punting average, which was better than all but one of the four season averages his predecessor, Oscar Bradburn, had at Tech.

He’s seen an improvement in hang time from the spring, a result of his work in the weight room, and has some lofty goals, wanting to get his net up to 42 yards (it was 39.1 last year) and up around 47 yards per punt, which would have been a top-10 figure nationally last season.

Moore, who was quietly put on scholarship before last season, is a rare team captain as a punter, though as a specialist and not an every-down position player, he knows his limits in that regard.

“It’s a funny thing, because people don’t expect a specialist to be in a position of leadership like that,” Moore said. “But for me, it’s just lead by example. It’s show up, do the work, show up on time, do everything I’m supposed to do and more and just lead by example.

“I’ll be vocal when I should be. There’s times when I shouldn’t be as vocal. But I’ll find my times and try to communicate with the team and get the young guys right.”

Note: Pry said Tech awarded its last available scholarship to a player already on the roster, though he chose to keep the identity of that player in-house.

(Photo of Brent Pry: Courtesy of Virginia Tech Athletics)