When the Vanderbilt football team takes on Virginia Tech on Saturday, there will be familiar faces waiting on the Hokies’ sidelines.
The James Franklin era has had a major impact on the current Hokies’ staff. Coach Brent Pry worked under Franklin as the Commodores’ assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator from 2011 to 2013. He then followed Franklin to Penn State. In 2022, he was named coach of Virginia Tech.
Pry’s defensive coordinator is Chris Marve, who played for the Commodores from 2007 to 2011, including one year under Franklin and Pry, and then worked on Vanderbilt’s staff under Derek Mason from 2014 to 2018. After stints at Mississippi State and Florida State, he came to Virginia Tech.
Michael Hazel, who serves as Pry’s chief of staff, is not an on-field coach, but Pry called him one of his most important hires. Hazel worked at Vanderbilt from 2004 to 2014, serving in a variety of roles, most notably director of football operations. While working at Penn State in 2020, Hazel was named Operations Director of the Year by FootballScoop.
When this game was scheduled in 2019, none of them were on the Hokies’ staff, but Pry, Marve and Hazel will all return to the place that helped shape their careers on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN).
“I think the situation (of Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea) reminds me a lot of the situation here,” Pry told The Tennessean. “Rebuild at a school that you know very well, that you believe in with all your heart, that you know what is right and how to do it.”
How Vanderbilt shaped the careers of Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry and Chris Marve
Franklin took over as head coach of the Commodores for the first time. Those three years were some of the best in Vanderbilt history, with three bowl appearances and two nine-win seasons. Pry said the 2013 season, in which the Commodores beat Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, was his favorite.
“As an assistant head coach under James Franklin, I learned so much about what it’s like to be a head coach for the first time and that has helped me here,” Pry said.
In his first year with the Commodores, Pry coached Marve, who was a team captain and four-time All-SEC selection. Pry said he knew then that Marve would be a good future coach.
Although Marve played under Franklin, it was Mason, Vanderbilt’s coach from 2014 to 2020, who influenced him the most.
“Derek Mason, without his belief in me, without his ability, without his desire to promote me based on my work product and my dedication and intention, I don’t know where I would be in the industry today,” Marve said. “He saw something in me. He never trained me, but he gave me a chance. I am forever in his debt and grateful for that.”
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Brent Pry and Chris Marve on their return to Vanderbilt
Marve and Pry have spent a lot of time in Nashville outside of their time with the Commodores. Marve is from Memphis and passes through Nashville on his way home. Pry and his wife meet up with friends in Nashville every year.
But their return to Vanderbilt will be a little different. Both said they have not seen the construction progress at FirstBank Stadium. Although renovations are not yet complete, they have transformed the stadium from benches all around to premium bar-style seating in the north end zone on the porch of a new basketball operations center.
There’s not much time to process things. Understandably, Pry and Marve are focused on the task at hand. But there will be plenty of Vanderbilt influence on both ends of the field on Saturday.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Reach her at [email protected] or via X, formerly Twitter. @aria_gerson.
