Virginia Tech football: Hokies announce changes, new additions to support staff

The Virginia Tech Hokies seemingly have some positive momentum on the recruiting trail right now. The Hokies added a pair of four-star recruits earlier this month and are poised to add that total for the 2024 recruiting class this summer.

Head coach Brent Pry is entering his second season as head coach of the Hokies. The 2024 class will be his second full class since becoming head coach. Pry was hired in December 2021 and did help close on key members of the 2022 class.

It’s been easy to criticize Virginia Tech’s recruiting over the past decade, dating back to the last few years of the Frank Beamer regime. Things bottomed out in 2020 under former head coach Justin Fuente.

We aren’t here to dissect everything Fuente did wrong again but to highlight something missing in Beamer’s final years and during Fuente’s six seasons: Resources.

Fuente’s flirtation with Baylor likely helped Virginia Tech realize the need to put more resources into the football program, which has paid off for Pry. Not only have the Hokies added to their support staff over the last few years, they keep adding to it. And while no one will confuse Virginia Tech’s support staff with Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio State, it’s a massive step in the right direction.

On Monday, Virginia Tech announced more changes to Pry’s support staff. Here’s the following from Hokie Sports:

Jan Johnson moves from his role as a defensive analyst to a graduate assistant position, while Rob Branch assumes a new role as a graduate assistant, after serving in player personnel. In addition, Pry has added Rachid Ibrahim as a graduate assistant and Brandon McCombs as a special teams analyst.

No earth-shattering moves here. But small moves that can help the Hokies. Some of these hires have experience at schools such as Wisconsin, Clemson, West Virginia and Penn State.

Congratulations to each of these Hokies in their new positions.