BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech announced today that head football coach Brent Pry has completed his defensive coordinator search with the addition of Sam Siefkes. Siefkes has had stops in the football world from Division III, to his latest position as the linebackers coach with the Arizona Cardinals. But one aspect of his resume resonated with Pry.
“His ability to do what he did at Wofford, and let me say this, to do it at Platteville, and then go to a new place with new challenges, and do it again, that’s impressive. That’s consistency at a high-level, productive defenses, and to do it at Wofford with two different structures, not many guys that I know have done that.
It’s an experience Pry relates to, having built part of his career in the Southern conference
“I mean, again, my personal experience is in that league and what that meant to me. I coached in that league at Western Carolina and at Georgia Southern, there’s good football players, there’s good coaches, it’s competitive, and when you win the league back-to-back years, and do it on the back of your defense, it speaks volumes,” Pry added.
“It’s an honor to join the Virginia Tech family,” said Siefkes. “This program has a storied defensive tradition, and I’m excited to work with Coach Pry and our talented student-athletes to build on this legacy. I look forward to building a defense embodying the lunch pail mentality of the past. The energy, passion, and commitment here are unmatched, and I’m ready to get to work.”
In 2024, the Cardinals finished their season ranked as one of the top defenses in the NFL with accolades including 6th in Opponent Second Half Points Per Game and 8th in Opponent Red Zone Scoring Percentage.
“Virginia Tech and Coach Pry are getting a remarkable leader in the coaching world,” said Arizona Cardinals’ head coach Jonathan Gannon. “Sam is a fantastic communicator, teacher and has unbelievable knowledge on how to stop offenses,” Gannon continued. “He is a great coach and even better person. He will bring competitive stamina and a ton of juice to Blacksburg. Hokie Nation be ready to see an aggressive, smart, tough unit that will dominate games.”
Before Arizona, Siefkes made stops at the Vikings as assistant linebackers coach, the defensive coordinator at Wofford from 2018-2020, and defensive coordinator at Wisconsin-Platteville in 2016-2017.