Brent Pry Press Conference Break Down: Vanderbilt Preview

what's up hokei nation and welcome into a brunt pry press conference breakdown as Virginia Tech kicks off its 2024 season on the road this weekend in Nashville against vanderbel now there are a lot of different topics of discussion going into this week and and kind of one of the first things is the depth chart that came out this morning as of 11:45 a.m. and the offensive line is something that I think garnered a lot of attention so let's let's read it off real fast starting at left tackle Xavier Chaplan behind him is Johnny Garrett at left guard is Le ganam okay how about that behind him is Brody Meadows at Center brillin Moore kayen Moore behind him at Right Guard is kayen Moore Bob shik behind him and then at right tackle you have Parker Clemens and Montavious Cunningham what did Brent pry have to say about that depth chart let's see yeah I think it's it's it's um you know that combination we like that the best it wasn't one person it was what brailing can bring us and and as he gets better at that position a very bright player very composed player very poised player at Center uh great at iding things and good communicator you know Kaden has good experience at the guard spot he's physical he's big he's strong uh he moves well and then La athleticism you know kind of in the end we wanted to get that out there you know you sometimes you're going to get beat off the ball sometimes you're going to get behind you know on the rep you're in a defeated position and and LA's athleticism and movements give him a chance to recover you know give the play a chance to to to get something out of it I think he gives us a little bit there um we'll have a healthy rotation unlike last year we've got some depth there now with Brody and his experience with Bob and his experience um Kaden Moore you know is the is is the next Center in the game if something should happen with brilin and we feel good about Brody and Bob you know coming along and then on the outside with Montavious working at tackle now and Johnny Garrett working at the other one just in a better position from a depth standpoint as well all right so sticking with the depth chart I want to go to the defensive set of the ball and focus specifically on linebackers so Kelly Lawson is listed as the backup to jadden Keller at the well while Caleb Woodson is listed as the backup to Keon Jenkins at the star can that group be interchangeable let's see you know as I've always said we believe in those guys training at two positions you know occasionally your Mike won't do that which Sam hasn't um not in the time he's been with us um but uh Caleb's you know gotten good work at both spots and and Kelly's gotten really good work at both spots um so you know you could easily see those guys at either spot in this football game all right then how about Mo Phillips getting the start at the boundary safety spot let's see what Brent Pride had to say about that I think as a freshman Mo played with great intensity he was aggressive he was a good tackler um you know he's executing and functioning in the defense much better he's communicating much better uh plays you know with better fundamentals and technique he's just grown as a second-year player the way you hope uh that he would and um you know like I said earlier I think he's he's outplayed everybody in that boundary spot all right we talked about Mo Phillips but who's behind him well it's true freshman Quinton reddish she's the lone true freshman on the two deep and it seems like he's kind of really earned this opportunity kind of slotted in that spot here's Britt pry on why Quinton reddish earned that spot and what do he saw from him in Fall Camp he's going to play he'll be in the rotation and he'll play some you know good number of reps on special teams he's he's got a good football IQ for a young guy and he's got a I would say what you'd call a corner SL safety skill set he's got length he's physical but he's got foot speed and and true speed you know to cover um I've been impressed with q and how he's worked how he's approached things I'm not sure if you came out to practice that you would say that's a true freshman he's a little on the thin side still but uh you know he's doing a lot of things like a second-year player and then how about Nick Gallow he's such an interesting case for this Virginia Tech Team because he comes back for a six season after missing all of last year in 2023 with a knee injury now Brent price at a couple weeks ago that he's likely 5050 for the weekend has that changed let's listen yeah I'd say it's about the same right now um we'll see how this week goes you know and it's not just about being healthy it's also about do you have enough work and Reps to feel good about you know going out there and playing well uh so we'll see how the week goes sticking on the tight ends conversation what kind of stood out to me too was benj gnell regardless of injury for Nick Gallow is listed as the starter he got that starting night anyway and returns after kind of putting up some production behind dayon Wright a season ago in 2023 what stood out about Benji gnell early in Fall Camp what did Brent pry have to say about that yeah I me tell you Benji is U if there were three or four guys I were to name about uh you know just having an outstanding Camp uh he'd be one of them uh he's he's put a bunch of weight on good weight he's 255 258 he's really making the contested catches uh consist consistently that U is necessary at that position and he's improved on you know getting Pat on pad in a run game very proud of uh the progress and development in Benji right now so with Virginia Tech hitting the road for the season opener what challenges can that present it's always interesting to hear certain perspectives from different High coaches and Bren pry offered his you're going on the road to play an SEC opponent at their place to kick the season off you know there's a ton of hype uh you know they're fired up about their team and you know the promise of the year they can have just like we are so uh you know it's challenging being on the road 11:00 a.m. kick you know it's going to be hot um you know hopefully there'll be a bunch of Hoke in those in the stands and uh you know our guys are anxious to play just like everybody Camp gets long you know gets long you you you compete against each other and our guys did a great job of that but at some point enough is enough you just want to play somebody else and then to put a bow on everything obviously the hype is real I mean the preseason expectations are mile high but as Brent pry continues to say it doesn't mean yeah has that changed it doesn't appear so the preseason hype the pre-season predictions they really don't mean anything um you know it's just noise it it can affect the way we practice the way we work the way we trust the process we got to remain humble we got to remain hungry um you know I pointed out I mean you know in no disrespect but Pat McAfee talks about us winning the league and in the same breath he's talking about Florida State and the playoffs you know and then there's an upset I mean it's just it's just too early to talk about all those things to worry about those things and you know we just we got to control what we can control and for the most part our guys have done a good job with that so there you have it week one is officially Upon Us Virginia Tech and vanderbelt at First Bank Stadium in Nashville coming up at noon on Saturday still plenty to break down we got four days still kickoff and Tech sideline will have you covered thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time