In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of excitement surrounding the Virginia Tech football program. The Hokies won five of their last seven games last season, including a blowout victory over Tulane in the Military Bowl.

Head coach Brent Pry struggled in his first season as Tech’s head coach in 2022, which is understandable given the mess he inherited from Justin Fuente. Pry got to work and immediately made an effort to repair relationships with high schools across the state of Virginia that the previous staff had alienated.

Pry also aggressively pursued NCAA transfers, bringing in several future starters on both sides of the ball, led by quarterback Kyron Drones.

Other players who transferred to Virginia Tech last offseason included wide receivers Jaylin Lane, Ali Jennings and Da’Quan Felton, running back Bhayshul Tuten and defensive end Antwaun Powell-Ryland. There were others, but those five formed the core of Virginia Tech’s second-half turnaround.

Unfortunately, the transfer portal can be a give-and-take affair. Under Pry, the portal was much more generous, but in this era, you have to recruit your own players every offseason. A good NIL program helps with that.

This past offseason, any of the above players could have entered the NFL Draft or transferred to another school, but all returned. This includes cornerbacks Mansoor Delane and Dorian Strong.

Last week, Pry was a guest on “Marty & McGee” and explained why these players decided to return.

“We invested in the relationships with these guys, coach to player, but also player to player,” Pry said. “The relationships, the brotherhood is very strong. It was about believing in what we’re doing and having a chance to come back and be happy about the team that we were able to build, but also to be able to play together again. So we’re very proud of that. A lot of work went into that. Retention conversations are important, the investment there. The information to those players, their families, whether they’re considering the NFL, whether they’re looking to make more money somewhere else or a change of scenery, we feel very fortunate. And we’re proud of this group; it’s a mature group. They love each other, they love Virginia Tech and they believe this could potentially be a really good year for us.”

It’s good to see Pry acknowledging NIL and players offering their services. As a fan, you don’t have to like it, but it’s reality. If you want to be competitive, you have to embrace it, and you need your school’s support to embrace it. Pry embraced it, and so did Virginia Tech. Far too often, under Fuente or later under Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech was slow to adapt and lagged behind. Those times have changed.