With the Virginia Tech football team beating the University of Virginia 55-17 over Thanksgiving weekend to earn bowl eligibility and the Hokies beating Tulane University 41-20 in the Military Bowl on Dec. 28, the Hokies and head coach Brent Pry got a pre-Christmas and post-Christmas gift in the form of a ton of retention for the 2024 season.
Quarterback Kyron Draughns led the way for many key players leaving the 2023 team, announcing he would return to Blacksburg for one more season. Running back Beischul Teuten and wide receivers Jaylin Lane, Stephen Gosnell, Ali Jennings and Daquan Felton also announced their return. Defensively, Antwaun Powell-Ryland and his 9.5 sacks sealed his return. Secondary players Dorian Strong and Mansour Delane were just a few of the holdovers Pry made.
While it’s fair to say Pry was pleased with how spring practice and the annual spring game went in April, the third-year head coach had a message for returning players before the start of training camp for the 2024 season.
Virginia Tech returns 22 starters from a 7-6 team that won five of eight ACC games and a bowl game after starting 1-3. Pry had a simple message. For his team, who attracted a lot of attention in the final nine games of the season.
“They work hard. I’m asking all of them to step up their game and find ways to get better. The last thing I said on the retention part was, ‘Don’t come back and be the same person.’ Come back better. They’re all doing that. That’s the key to our success.”
– Brent Pry
His message seemed to ring loud and clear to the players: Draughns spent time working out with Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Colorado quarterback Shedul Sanders during the offseason, and he also worked out with Felton and Jennings.
The first messages were sent by players over the winter when there were a lot of holdovers, and now they are being sent by coaches and seem to be being received by a team that is excited about a program that hasn’t been done in years.
