Dance With the One That Brought You

For most of James Franklin's highly successful coaching career, one man has followed him on his journey to success.

That man is Brent Pry.

Franklin's success as a head coach paralleled Pry's success as a defensive coordinator. Franklin hired Pry, the son of Franklin's college coach at Division II East Stroudsburg, as his defensive coordinator in 2011 when Franklin took over as the head coach at Vanderbilt. In Pry's first season, the Commodores, a perennial doormat in the SEC, finished 29th in scoring defense and 18th in total defense.

That first season wasn't a flash in the pan, but the beginning of a solid track record of productive defenses. Here's how Pry's defenses ranked throughout his time as a defensive coordinator.

• 2011 (Vanderbilt co-DC): 29th scoring defense, 18th total defense
• 2012 (Vanderbilt co-DC): 15th scoring defense, 19th total defense
• 2013 (Vanderbilt co-DC): 45th scoring defense, 23rd total defense
• 2014 (Penn State co-DC): 7th scoring defense, 2nd total defense
• 2015 (Penn State co-DC): 27th scoring defense, 14th total defense
• 2016 (Penn State DC): 47th scoring defense, 37th total defense
• 2017 (Penn State DC): 7th scoring defense, 17th total defense
• 2018 (Penn State DC): 23rd scoring defense, 34th total defense
• 2019 (Penn State DC): 8th scoring defense, 33rd total defense
• 2020 (Penn State DC): 55th scoring defense, 17th total defense
• 2021 (Penn State DC): 7th scoring defense, 39th total defense

In Brent Pry's 11 seasons as a defensive coordinator under James Franklin, Pry's defense finished in the top 30 in either scoring or total defense every season except 2016. His defenses finished inside the top 30 in both scoring and total defense in five of his 11 seasons.

Pry's prowess as a defensive playcaller and coach did not translate to being a head coach. At Virginia Tech, he inherited a bad roster that undoubtedly put him behind the eight-ball, but poor assistant hires and an inability to recruit and develop elite talent sank Pry in the middle of his fourth season. Pry's teams always fought hard, at least until the end — the Hokies seemingly gave up in consecutive losses to Vanderbilt and Old Dominion before Pry was fired.

While Pry may not be ready to be a head coach at this level, he appears to be overqualified as a Power Four defensive coordinator. You'd be hard-pressed to find a coordinator in America with a long track record of success that matches Pry's.

Is it weird for him to return to Blacksburg just weeks after being fired? Sure — I'm not aware of a single instance where a school fired its head coach, hired a replacement, and then immediately brought back the fired head coach to be an assistant. Without context, it's an absurd notion.

But context matters. James Franklin and Brent Pry go way, way back. They've been tied at the hip for years. Pry didn't leave Franklin until Virginia Tech came calling, the school where Pry got his first taste of big-time football under Frank Beamer and Bud Foster's tutelage. 

Pry specifically chose Virginia Tech as the program he wanted to lead. Pry has always had a deep respect for the university and the fans, even when recruiting against the football program while at State College. Pry still lives in Blacksburg. It's been difficult for him to accept that he couldn't succeed as the head coach at Virginia Tech. 

Even though he didn't get it done as the main man, maybe he can help return Virginia Tech to national prominence in a different role.

A move like this only works for three reasons — Brent Pry loves James Franklin, he loves Virginia Tech, and he loves coaching football.

James Franklin faces a tall task. Since Frank Beamer's final few seasons, Virginia Tech has fallen behind on and off the field. Franklin is the right guy to rectify those problems.

Franklin's earned the the trust of the fans to put the staff around him he believes he needs. Pry is an unconventional choice to serve as Virginia Tech's defensive coordinator, but is he a bad one?

On paper, the answer is pretty clear. Games, however, aren't played on paper, so I guess we'll have to wait and find out next fall.