For Wilfried Pene, the past decade of his life has been a journey as he left his home in France to attend St. Thomas More School in Connecticut with the hopes of reaching the highest level of collegiate athletics. Pene got that chance at Virginia Tech where he started out at tight end before finding his best position at defensive tackle.
He was still young at football, but showed signs of promise early in his career, working his way into the Hokies' defensive tackle rotation even if that role was limited. As time went on though, Pene wasn't able to climb much higher up the depth chart in part to the immense amount of experience in front of him.
Even once that cleared though after the 2023 season, Virginia Tech went into the transfer portal and JUCO ranks to bring in three new defensive tackles, seemingly burying Pene down the VT depth chart.
At that point, Pene certainly had to wonder whether he was at the right place to get his chance to show he had what it takes to be a high-level defensive tackle, especially since he was entering his final year of college football so time was short. There are many players who understandably would have chosen to go into the transfer portal and search for a new home knowing he had to find somewhere he could play immediately at.
However, Pene chose to stay the course, betting on himself in Blacksburg even with all the competition being brought in around him. And sure enough, Pene's bet on himself has paid off about as well as he could imagine.
The Frenchman has had a breakout season for the Hokies with 23 tackles including 4.5 for loss with 2.5 sacks plus three QB hurries and a pass breakup. It's the type of production that should have him receiving All-ACC consideration and rightly has the Hokies elevating him to a co-starter alongside standout DT Aeneas Peebles, who has similar numbers with 23 tackles including five for loss with three sacks.
So what's helped Pene make this massive jump from buried at the bottom of the DT rotation to productive starter who might just earn All-ACC honors? The Frenchman credits his confidence and more time in the film room as a major reason for his success.
