Hokie Football is Back!

September has come, and every Hokie knows what that means — college football is back! The Marching Virginians are no exception to the excitement of our 2022 season, with our very first game being tonight at Old Dominion University with kickoff at 7:00 pm EST. This upcoming season is sure to be one to remember, as we introduce our new head coach, Brent Pry.

From Altoona, Pennsylvania, Pry spent time at Virginia Tech from 1995-97 as a graduate assistant to Hokie football legends Frank Beamer and Bud Foster and helped lead the Hokies to two consecutive New Years’ Day bowl games. Since 2016, Pry served as the defensive coordinator for Penn State, but was thrilled to return to Virginia Tech as our new head coach. Pry, upon returning to Virginia Tech, has fostered a “Ground Up” approach of building the team up to their full potential. The “Ground Up” initiative has also brought back a beloved piece of Hokie football tradition — the Lunch Pail.

Brent Pry speaking to The Marching Virginians (Source: Dave Knachel)

Coach Pry visited The Marching Virginians at one of our rehearsals and took the opportunity to speak with the band as a whole about his vision for the Spirit of Tech’s important role in game-day tradition. Pry voiced his appreciation of the band and the relationship that the band and football team have formed over the years. To reciprocate our appreciation, a small band visited the football team and surprised them by performing game day favorites! We also taught the football team the lyrics to Tech Triumph!

The Marching Virginians surprising the football team (source: Emily Saintsing)

Ahead of our opening game of the season, Pry will be facing off against a former colleague from Penn State, Old Dominion’s head coach Ricky Rahne. With many fresh faces on both the coaching staff and the team, the coaching staff was excited to announce our new starting quarterback, Grant Wells. The 6’2” junior transferred from Marshall and will be wearing #6. The Hokie’s record against ODU currently stands at 2-1, with ESPN giving the Hokies a 66.3% chance of victory over ODU.

The full band with Coach Brent Pry (source: Dave Knachel)

As we taught the football team during our surprise visit, “Win or lose, we'll greet you with a glad returning. You're the pride of V. P. I.”!

All information found in this post is from hokiesports.com and ESPN.

New Beginnings - Rookie Perspective

Our first week of classes comes to an end, we wanted to take time to reminisce on OUR favorite week of the year - band camp. Seven full days of marching, making music, and seeing our closest friends, as well as making new ones with rookies. We took the time to ask our rookies some questions about their journey of becoming part of the 2022 edition of the Marching Virginians!

We have 105 new marchers in the 2022 edition of the Marching Virginians!

Pictured: Our (bari)tone and (trom)bone sections source: Abbie Robertson

Question 1: How did you hear about the MVs?

Pictured: Our trumpet section and drum major Thomas Chase source: Abbie Robertson

Jeremy Teague (3rd-year rookie, Trumpet)

• “My brother was one. He graduated last winter, so I went to the games recently. I’ve always loved marching band.”

Alex Shupp (1st-year rookie, Alto sax)

• “I always knew of college marching band, but I heard about MVs through my brother.”

Lauren Watt (1st-year rookie, Trumpet)

• “When I started looking at schools I knew I was going to be checking out the marching band programs because it’s something I was passionate about in high school and wanted to continue in college so when I looked into Virginia Tech I got to see how important the MV’s are to the community and just generally how awesome and dedicated the band is!”

Question 2: What was your audition process like?

Pictured: Our goofy sax section source: Andrew Stewart

Jeremy Teague

• “It wasn’t too difficult, but it was very mental. Try to keep my focus and not get stressed about getting in. They told us to have fun and I made friends early.”

Alex Shupp

• “I thought it was going to be a lot more stressful, but all the upperclassmen made me feel welcome as soon as I got there.”

Lauren Watt

• “My audition experience was interesting! Over the summer I got to practice a little bit of music and marching as the first part of the audition and when I started band camp everyone was very nice and encouraging while I tried out in person. Overall it was very fun and I really liked the process!”

Question 3: What are you most excited for as a rookie?

Pictured: Our 37-person net section source: Abbie Robertson

Jeremy Teague

• “The football games. It’s so fun watching it, but it’ll be even better being a part of it. The environment in the stadium is awesome.”

Alex Shupp

• “Football games. I’ve watched the marching band from afar, but now that I know the dances, it’ll be so fun.”

Lauren Watt

• “It’s a little nerve-wracking as well but as a rookie I’m most excited for my first time playing in Lane Stadium as an official MV, getting to experience what it’s like in the stands, hearing enter sandman, and marching the show!”

Question 4: What has been your favorite part of MVs so far?

Pictured: Our lovely piccolo section source: Abbie Robertson

Jeremy Teague

• “So far, honestly, the breaks we get to play with our sections. The fun we get to have with our sections outside of marching.”

Alex Shupp

• “All of the saxophone traditions. Especially rank traditions #bank rank is the best rank”

Lauren Watt

• “My favorite part of being an MV is definitely the connection I feel to my section. Everyone is so kind to each other and upbeat and I really like getting to hang out together in and out of practice! I’m very grateful for the positivity and acceptance that I feel each time I interact with anyone in the band and it makes me so proud to call myself a Marching Virginian.”

We are so excited for what this year has to offer!

Pictured: The horns and their corn source: Abbie Robertson