When the Virginia Tech football team opens the season at Vanderbilt on Aug. 31, it will be the third year of the Brent Pry era in Blacksburg. After replacing Justin Fuente, Pry was left with the task of getting the Hokies back into college football contention after a major slump under their former coach.

Things weren’t looking good after four games last season, as Virginia Tech started 1-3 after a 3-8 year with Pry, but when ACC play began, they were a different team. The Hokies won five of their eight conference games, finished the season 6-6 and were bowl eligible before earning a convincing win in the Military Bowl over Tulane. A win over Virginia and a victory over the Green Wave allowed Tech to sign a ton of contracts for the 2024 season, raising expectations even further. Now that a new college football season is upon us, Virginia Tech is getting a lot of hype, and one writer suggests the rebuild under Pry may soon be coming to an end.

As the season begins, so does the new 12-team College Football Playoff format, ushering in a new era of college football. Many teams have high expectations as the season begins, including the Hokies, who can rebound from a loss or maybe two and still play for the national championship. Kyle Tucker of The Athletic named Virginia Tech as a team that was unranked in the Preseason Coaches Poll released last week that could fall in the CFP, and he may have made a subtle statement suggesting the rebuild is nearing completion.

Tucker said this could be the best Virginia Tech team since the days of Frank Beamer, citing their return performance, which ranks in the top five in the country, as the reason for their potential return. And he’s not wrong. Quarterback Kyron Drones leads an offense that will put up plenty of crooked numbers this season and a defense led by a deep defensive line that could very well be near or at the top of the ACC in terms of sacks this season.

Couple all of that with a doable 12-game schedule and you have the recipe for a team that is rapidly on the rise not only in the conference but across the country. We can’t overlook the work that Pry and his staff are doing in recruiting for the future, as the program is in a very good position not only for 2024 but beyond.