Right when I rolled out my grades for Virginia Tech’s first three major hires of the offseason, the Hokies’ biggest opening arrived when offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen was hired as Ohio State’s OL coach and run game coordinator. After a roughly two-week search, Virginia Tech landed their new offensive coordinator in Philip Montgomery, the former Tulsa head coach and Houston/Baylor/Auburn offensive coordinator.
So now with Montgomery in place, it’s time to hand out my grade but before I do that, let me dive into the positives and concerns.
Positives
Let’s start with the positives about the hiring of Montgomery.
Brent Pry finally has an experienced coordinator and playcaller in Montgomery, who has plenty of history he can lean on in various situations. Having that type of experienced guy for the side of the ball opposite your expertise is a wise move that Pry chose to follow this time after taking a chance on his first OC hire, who was defined by inconsistency.
Pry is following the example of James Franklin in some ways, given how Franklin likes to hire veteran DCs who can be the head coach of the defense. Pry appears to be doing the same thing hiring Montgomery as his OC, with Pry mentioning the value in Montgomery’s head coaching experience during his press conference discussing the hire.
You can read more on how the Montgomery hire follows Franklin’s example here.
