Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry has a special connection with his new home.

Pry was named the Hokies head coach earlier this week, and on Friday he spoke about what the Virginia Tech job means to him.

“This is where I cut my teeth,” Pry said on an appearance with Packer and Durham. “I think everybody that knows a little bit about Brent Pry knows what Virginia Tech meant to me and (how it) shaped me as a coach.”

Pry has spent the majority of his coaching career under Penn State coach James Franklin. He’s been on Franklin’s staff dating back to 2011 when the pair started at Vanderbilt.

But well before Pry started working for Franklin, he coached under Frank Beamer and Bud Foster at Virginia Tech. He was a graduate assistant for the Hokies from 1995-97. That job eventually led to his first full-time Division 1 coaching position at Western Carolina.

Fast forward to 2021, and Pry is now the leader of the program in Blacksburg.

“This thing right here in Blacksburg is just a special place,” Pry added. I”‘m very fortunate to be the head coach here and we’re going to make the most of this.”