Some notebook-style items, with my thoughts. The items come from Pry, unless otherwise noted.
Pry is excited about the future for Tucker Holloway. He's got developing to do, but the true freshman WR will have some role to play this Fall.
My editorializing: as with most true freshmen, if they aren't going to be starters, give them four games of action but make sure you can preserve that redshirt. The exception is if a guy is good enough to contribute immediately, and fits into one of two categories: already pretty finished products who you can upgrade on by the time they're fifth-year seniors, or they're guys who are gonna go pro before a fifth year. That's not Holloway to me.
Mansoor Delane is playing both safety and corner. They're trying to find a bunch of ways to get him on the field, but he has to keep developing. He was injured for a bit, but has really gotten into the mix.
I was torn where Holloway would end up when he was a high school prospect. He has the skills to play corner, so you always want to start a guy there to see if he can adjust to the level. But the body type (and as a senior, playing experience) say safety. Trying him at multiple spots is a good way to figure that out... and it's totally possible that he only gets sparing playing time and earns a redshirt. It's worth doing whatever is possible to get him on the field - if he's as good as the staff thinks - to keep him happy and appeal to his younger brother, future five-star Faheem Delane.
On the offensive line, Braelin Moore has good background to find immediate success in college. He comes from a strong program at the high school level, enrolled early, and perhaps best of all, has an older brother with a couple years of college experience - and who's now on the same line with him. Don't worry, center Johnny Jordan has an easy trick to make sure he doesn't get them confused: "Kaden's always on my right and Braelin's on my left, and we're good to go."
Offensive line always made the most sense for Braelin. I understand the staff wanting to give him a shot to play on D, since that turned out to be his preference, but his skillset at guard has a high ceiling, and he was going to be limited defensively. I don't think just one Spring sets his development back much - particularly since that first spring in college is much more about getting used to the pace of play and developing physically, rather than the in-depth intricacies of your position.
On other offensive linemen, Jesse Hanson is just starting to come around and marry the mental and physical sides of the game without overthinking it. "Jesse's come a long way since I've been here," Jordan said of his linemate. Hanson is learning to get out of his own head.
Hanson was a guy coming out of high school who looked to have a lot of the pieces, but needed to figure out how to put it all together and adapt to a higher level of competition. That's probaby taken a year longer than expected at this point (though he has spot time, of course). There's no guarantee that he becomes a starter, but "lightbulb moments" happen at various stages of guys' careers. The fact that he had to make the typical adjustments and then had the struggles on the mental side could mean that if he's got all that cleared up, we're in business.
Xavier Chaplin is a fast learner but farther behind a guy like Braelin Moore to start. Pry noted that he's an outstanding listener who's absorbing all the coaching points. But it could take time.
There won't be any questions about his ability to hack it physically, though. Jordan: "That's a physical kid with some gifts."
Chaplin is as high-potential a player as there is on the roster. Coming in over 300 pounds with the athleticism that he has? That's a great starting point. Best-case scenario is that he's a guy who gets his feet wet just a bit this year while preserving a redshirt (though there's a case that he's one of those "won't be around a fifth year anyway" sort of talents), and the way people are raving about him both in press conference situations and behind closed doors says a lot.
The coaching placements on gameday have been established. In the booth: OLBs coach Shawn Quinn, S coach Pierson Prioleau, OC Tyler Bowen, defensive GAs. On the sideline: DC/LBs coach Chris Marve, CB coach Derek Jones, DL coach JC Price, QB coach Brad Glenn. (Pry wasn't specifically asked about the offensive guys, but I imagine WRs coach Fontel Mines on the sideline and RBs coach Stu Holt in the booth - they were still experimenting as of Saturday's scrimmage though).
You typically see the OC in the box because he needs to see the whole field, and the DC either in the box for the same reasons, or on the sideline while a trusted assistant is the eyes in the sky. Otherwise, you want your hypemen on the sidelines, to keep the juice flowing in-game. As long as there's a pretty good distribution in both areas, it's never been super-important to me how they're broken down. Coaches obviously love being on the sidelines, and can play an instructional and motivational role down there, but you need some to see the big picture, as well.
No updates on the kicking battle. It's fairly even between the competitors. Will Ross and John Love still battling it out.
Kickers are basically impossible to project at the high school level, and to a certain extent even year-to-year when they're in college (aside from the elite ones, who tend to be elite back-to-back years). Whoever wins out won't be getting the job by default, however.
Keonta Jenkins talked quite a bit about the transition to linebacker from safety. He focused on gaining weight this Summer. He entered the offseason weighing 185, now 210. Still wants to gain 5-10 more pounds, but it's not a priority during the season because he needs to be focused on the field.
Jenkins contributed when he was woefully undersized back in 2020, and that probably played a role in the somewhat persistent injuries he's dealt with in the time since. Building mass in general was always a priority for him, and moving down a level in the defense has made that even more of a priority. Given that he's a junior eligible for a fifth year from the COVID season, I wouldn't stress about adding more weight this year. Maintaining mobility is the key - it's why he's an asset at LB - and historically that means adding conscientiously and largely during offseasons. Big enough to take a beatng and make tackles is really all he needs.
He has gotten into the flow of the LB position. He had to learn motions and keys, and spent a lot of time doing that this offseason. You're closer to the ball, and have to get used to the fact that some routes are behind you (whereas at safety, you mostly don't want to get beaten deep. Then you have guards coming to get you. You need to nail those keys to get it right. Dax Hollifield has been a huge help in getting him up to speed, studying and internalizing the keys, and making the adjustment to the position.
It's wild that a guy who was an undersized safety out of high school - and largely an add-on to his close friend Tyree Saunders, more than a guy that the staff was hyper-excited about on his own merits - has developed the way he has. Even thinking back to his personality during his time as a recruit, he was always excitable and a little nervous. The way he's matured and calmed and become more willing to take a pause for introspection is impressive. If he continues developing on the field, his mindset should be right there to make him a star.
Johnny Jordan is absorbing the coaching from new OL Coach Joe Rudolph. The technical instruction - though he expects it'll be less focused during the season rather than in preseason - is at a level he's never experienced. He's a guy who's had five OL coaches and six head coaches in his college career, so he knows. "The technicality stuff is crazy" under Rudolph. Very detail-oriented in all aspects.
This is no surprise. Obviously the improvement on OL is most notable and relevant when the rubber hits the road, but all early reports on Rudolph are what we expected.
Jordan also wants to be a strength and conditioning coach when he graduates - if the NFL doesn't happen for him - so the number of coaches and wide rolodex he's building should help him get in the door.
Obviously Jordan isn't a VT lifer, but there's no question that he's going to leave college with more loyalty to the Hokies than the Maryland program at which he spent his first four years. Getting Virginia Tech back to being a place that produces coaches - and a broad coaching tree - is going to be an important goal for the Brent Pry staff. Fortunately, having players like Jordan who see that as a goal can only help. Pry comes from the James Franklin coaching tree, where there is an emphasis on branching out (in contrast to even the Beamer tree, which was much more about developing guys just to stay in Blacksburg - which is no a problem, but limits individual growth and the breadth of that tree).
Pry is excited about the future for Tucker Holloway. He's got developing to do, but the true freshman WR will have some role to play this Fall.
My editorializing: as with most true freshmen, if they aren't going to be starters, give them four games of action but make sure you can preserve that redshirt. The exception is if a guy is good enough to contribute immediately, and fits into one of two categories: already pretty finished products who you can upgrade on by the time they're fifth-year seniors, or they're guys who are gonna go pro before a fifth year. That's not Holloway to me.
Mansoor Delane is playing both safety and corner. They're trying to find a bunch of ways to get him on the field, but he has to keep developing. He was injured for a bit, but has really gotten into the mix.
I was torn where Holloway would end up when he was a high school prospect. He has the skills to play corner, so you always want to start a guy there to see if he can adjust to the level. But the body type (and as a senior, playing experience) say safety. Trying him at multiple spots is a good way to figure that out... and it's totally possible that he only gets sparing playing time and earns a redshirt. It's worth doing whatever is possible to get him on the field - if he's as good as the staff thinks - to keep him happy and appeal to his younger brother, future five-star Faheem Delane.
On the offensive line, Braelin Moore has good background to find immediate success in college. He comes from a strong program at the high school level, enrolled early, and perhaps best of all, has an older brother with a couple years of college experience - and who's now on the same line with him. Don't worry, center Johnny Jordan has an easy trick to make sure he doesn't get them confused: "Kaden's always on my right and Braelin's on my left, and we're good to go."
Offensive line always made the most sense for Braelin. I understand the staff wanting to give him a shot to play on D, since that turned out to be his preference, but his skillset at guard has a high ceiling, and he was going to be limited defensively. I don't think just one Spring sets his development back much - particularly since that first spring in college is much more about getting used to the pace of play and developing physically, rather than the in-depth intricacies of your position.
On other offensive linemen, Jesse Hanson is just starting to come around and marry the mental and physical sides of the game without overthinking it. "Jesse's come a long way since I've been here," Jordan said of his linemate. Hanson is learning to get out of his own head.
Hanson was a guy coming out of high school who looked to have a lot of the pieces, but needed to figure out how to put it all together and adapt to a higher level of competition. That's probaby taken a year longer than expected at this point (though he has spot time, of course). There's no guarantee that he becomes a starter, but "lightbulb moments" happen at various stages of guys' careers. The fact that he had to make the typical adjustments and then had the struggles on the mental side could mean that if he's got all that cleared up, we're in business.
Xavier Chaplin is a fast learner but farther behind a guy like Braelin Moore to start. Pry noted that he's an outstanding listener who's absorbing all the coaching points. But it could take time.
There won't be any questions about his ability to hack it physically, though. Jordan: "That's a physical kid with some gifts."
Chaplin is as high-potential a player as there is on the roster. Coming in over 300 pounds with the athleticism that he has? That's a great starting point. Best-case scenario is that he's a guy who gets his feet wet just a bit this year while preserving a redshirt (though there's a case that he's one of those "won't be around a fifth year anyway" sort of talents), and the way people are raving about him both in press conference situations and behind closed doors says a lot.
The coaching placements on gameday have been established. In the booth: OLBs coach Shawn Quinn, S coach Pierson Prioleau, OC Tyler Bowen, defensive GAs. On the sideline: DC/LBs coach Chris Marve, CB coach Derek Jones, DL coach JC Price, QB coach Brad Glenn. (Pry wasn't specifically asked about the offensive guys, but I imagine WRs coach Fontel Mines on the sideline and RBs coach Stu Holt in the booth - they were still experimenting as of Saturday's scrimmage though).
You typically see the OC in the box because he needs to see the whole field, and the DC either in the box for the same reasons, or on the sideline while a trusted assistant is the eyes in the sky. Otherwise, you want your hypemen on the sidelines, to keep the juice flowing in-game. As long as there's a pretty good distribution in both areas, it's never been super-important to me how they're broken down. Coaches obviously love being on the sidelines, and can play an instructional and motivational role down there, but you need some to see the big picture, as well.
No updates on the kicking battle. It's fairly even between the competitors. Will Ross and John Love still battling it out.
Kickers are basically impossible to project at the high school level, and to a certain extent even year-to-year when they're in college (aside from the elite ones, who tend to be elite back-to-back years). Whoever wins out won't be getting the job by default, however.
Keonta Jenkins talked quite a bit about the transition to linebacker from safety. He focused on gaining weight this Summer. He entered the offseason weighing 185, now 210. Still wants to gain 5-10 more pounds, but it's not a priority during the season because he needs to be focused on the field.
Jenkins contributed when he was woefully undersized back in 2020, and that probably played a role in the somewhat persistent injuries he's dealt with in the time since. Building mass in general was always a priority for him, and moving down a level in the defense has made that even more of a priority. Given that he's a junior eligible for a fifth year from the COVID season, I wouldn't stress about adding more weight this year. Maintaining mobility is the key - it's why he's an asset at LB - and historically that means adding conscientiously and largely during offseasons. Big enough to take a beatng and make tackles is really all he needs.
He has gotten into the flow of the LB position. He had to learn motions and keys, and spent a lot of time doing that this offseason. You're closer to the ball, and have to get used to the fact that some routes are behind you (whereas at safety, you mostly don't want to get beaten deep. Then you have guards coming to get you. You need to nail those keys to get it right. Dax Hollifield has been a huge help in getting him up to speed, studying and internalizing the keys, and making the adjustment to the position.
It's wild that a guy who was an undersized safety out of high school - and largely an add-on to his close friend Tyree Saunders, more than a guy that the staff was hyper-excited about on his own merits - has developed the way he has. Even thinking back to his personality during his time as a recruit, he was always excitable and a little nervous. The way he's matured and calmed and become more willing to take a pause for introspection is impressive. If he continues developing on the field, his mindset should be right there to make him a star.
Johnny Jordan is absorbing the coaching from new OL Coach Joe Rudolph. The technical instruction - though he expects it'll be less focused during the season rather than in preseason - is at a level he's never experienced. He's a guy who's had five OL coaches and six head coaches in his college career, so he knows. "The technicality stuff is crazy" under Rudolph. Very detail-oriented in all aspects.
This is no surprise. Obviously the improvement on OL is most notable and relevant when the rubber hits the road, but all early reports on Rudolph are what we expected.
Jordan also wants to be a strength and conditioning coach when he graduates - if the NFL doesn't happen for him - so the number of coaches and wide rolodex he's building should help him get in the door.
Obviously Jordan isn't a VT lifer, but there's no question that he's going to leave college with more loyalty to the Hokies than the Maryland program at which he spent his first four years. Getting Virginia Tech back to being a place that produces coaches - and a broad coaching tree - is going to be an important goal for the Brent Pry staff. Fortunately, having players like Jordan who see that as a goal can only help. Pry comes from the James Franklin coaching tree, where there is an emphasis on branching out (in contrast to even the Beamer tree, which was much more about developing guys just to stay in Blacksburg - which is no a problem, but limits individual growth and the breadth of that tree).
