New Virginia Tech coach James Franklin fought back tears as he mentioned longtime friend Brent Pry at his introductory news conference on Wednesday.
Franklin is succeeding Pry as the Hokies’ head coach following his departure from Penn State earlier this season. Pry has been a longtime assistant of Franklin’s and left his job as Franklin’s defensive coordinator at Penn State to become the head coach at Virginia Tech.
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“I’d like to acknowledge Brent Pry, sorry, I always say I’m not going to get emotional and then I get emotional. Brent Pry’s a good friend,” Franklin said in his opening statement before pausing to collect himself.
He then continued about the relationship that he and Pry had formed as Pry’s father was Franklin’s offensive coordinator at East Stroudsburg in the 1990s.
“And then Brent and his family were with me at Vanderbilt all three years and I think for our first seven years at Penn State,” Franklin said. “So I’ve got a ton of respect for Brent and his family. I know he poured his heart and soul into this place. I know this place is better today because of Brent and the commitment he made.”
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Pry was a defensive coordinator for Franklin at Penn State from 2014 through 2021 before he succeeded Justin Fuente at Virginia Tech. However, he was fired after the Hokies started the 2025 season 0-3 following a 45-26 home loss to Old Dominion.
As Pry made it three games into the 2025 season, Franklin’s time at Penn State lasted six games. Penn State started 3-0 but lost three consecutive games to drop to 3-3 as Franklin was fired following a home loss to Northwestern.
Now, Franklin takes over a Virginia Tech team looking to get back to the success it experienced under Frank Beamer. The Hokies won at least 10 games in eight straight seasons from 2004 through 2011. Since then, Virginia Tech has won 10 games just once. That happened in Fuente’s first season following Beamer’s retirement in 2016.
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Franklin said Virginia Tech was “very aggressive” in pursuing him to be the Hokies’ next head coach.
“What was very obvious to me early on was they had a plan, right?” Franklin said. “They had a plan. And I think you’d be surprised going through this process how few people really understand what college football takes in today’s day and age. They had done their own homework, so it wasn’t like coming to me and ‘what do you need?’ They already had a great list and a really good plan put together on what was needed to be successful in today’s college football.”
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