Virginia Tech has fired coach Brent Pry, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel. Pry is set to be owed more than $6 million in his buyout.
The move comes a day after a
45-26 home loss to
Old Dominion, a game in which the Hokies were booed loudly while heading into the locker room for halftime.
Saturday's loss dropped Virginia Tech to 0-3 on the season and 16-24 through four seasons under Pry.
The hot-seat talk bubbled up around Pry in November of last season in Blacksburg, and if the Hokies had lost to
Virginia to end the season, a change may have been made at that point. But Virginia Tech defeated Virginia, and Pry's second consecutive 6-6 regular season landed him in a bowl game.
But as the offseason included personnel changes, the talk around Pry's status didn't fade. He entered Year 4 with a new defensive coordinator -- Sam Siefkes, a former linebackers coach with the NFL's
Arizona Cardinals -- and a staff that included former longtime Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster as an adviser/analyst.
It did not work in the early going. Though the Hokies played hard in a season-opening loss to
South Carolina, they were pushed around by another SEC team,
Vanderbilt, in Virginia Tech's home opener a week later. The Commodores scored 34 consecutive points to close out a 44-20 win in which they trailed by 10 points at halftime.
That loss, however, proved to be just an opening act to Saturday's stunning loss to in-state foe ODU.
"Clearly, it starts with me," Pry said after the loss to the Monarchs. "Coaches, players, everybody is accountable here. We've got to get back to the basics and find a way to be closer to the team we can be."
Virginia Tech will host
Wofford on Saturday, before beginning ACC play the following week at
NC State.
so maybe your idea is better.
