How Brent Pry went from head coach to coordinator at Virginia Tech - ESPN

BRENT PRY SAW the familiar number on his phone screen and answered. Two Virginia Tech boosters were on the line. They wanted guidance on who to hire as his replacement.

What did he think of James Franklin? Would he maybe make a call to gauge Franklin's interest? He listened, incredulously.

«It was pretty strange, to be honest,» Pry told ESPN.

Pry had been fired as Virginia Tech coach after an 0-3 start to the 2025 season, his fourth with the Hokies. Franklin was fired as Penn State coach a month later. The longtime friends had already spoken about other job opportunities and the possibility of working together again, the way they had for 11 years in State College and at Vanderbilt: Franklin as the head coach and Pry as the defensive coordinator.

Then Pry got the call.

He felt conflicted. Why should he help the people who had just told him to get lost? He, like all football coaches, has an ego, and it was wounded. But as painful as it was to get fired, he and his family still loved Blacksburg and the community. He still wanted to see Virginia Tech succeed. «Take me out of it,» Pry says. «I always thought James would be a good fit at Virginia Tech.»

So, Pry set his pride aside. He told them they should go «full tilt boogie» to try and hire Franklin.

They did. A few weeks later, Pry got another call. This time, it was Franklin. He was considering taking the Virginia Tech job and wanted to know if there were any defensive coordinators Pry would recommend.

Pry thought about it, and then said something that still seems a little wild: «Well, me.»

THE QUESTION PRY gets most frequently is, «How did it feel to walk back into the building?» There is no precedent for a head coach to return as an assistant only months after getting