Virginia Tech at ACC Media Days: D.C.-area players bolster secondary
CHARLOTTE — Among the top priorities for Brent Pry when he took over as Virginia Tech’s football coach was to make strides recruiting and retaining players from the Washington region. Entering Year 3 of the program rebuild, at no position has that blueprint been more evident than at cornerback.
Both projected starters at corner, Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane, hail from the Maryland suburbs. Top reserve Dante Lovett and backup Joshua Clarke also have DMV roots for a unit Pry has deemed among the deepest on the roster — and which serves as the anchor for a passing defense that ranked first among ACC teams last season (168.8 yards allowed per game).
“To me that’s home turf,” Pry said Tuesday during ACC Football Kickoff, the league’s annual summer media event. “It’s too easy to get to Blacksburg from the DMV. There’s too many relationships that we have on our staff with coaches and programs in the DMV. There’s too many great programs to not return to the DMV each and every year.”
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Strong is coming off his best season following an injury-plagued 2022. The native of Upper Marlboro, Md., started all 13 games last year and finished with three interceptions and eight pass breakups. He also was the second cornerback in major college football since 2014 to play at least 300 coverage snaps and yield fewer than 10 receptions and 100 yards receiving.
The third-team all-ACC selection drew interest from NFL scouts but elected to come back for a graduate season after the Hokies went 7-6 last year. They earned their most victories since 2019 and ended with a 41-20 win against Tulane in the Military Bowl, their first bowl triumph since 2016, ending a four-game skid in the postseason.
Strong had four tackles against the Green Wave and led a secondary that helped limit Tulane to 119 passing yards. In the regular season finale against Virginia, the high school standout at Wise contributed two pass breakups during a 55-17 win in Charlottesville.
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Considered a potential candidate for ACC defensive player of the year, Strong didn’t gain recruiting recognition until his junior year of high school. He spent his first two years at Wise on the junior varsity and flourished at wide receiver before then-varsity coach DaLawn Parrish suggested a move to cornerback.
Strong has embraced mentoring other cornerbacks since arriving at Virginia Tech, most notably Delane. The junior also started every game last year, highlighted by an interception against Virginia and a fumble recovery in the Military Bowl. The native of Silver Spring was a three-star prospect, according to 247Sports, at Archbishop Spalding and chose Virginia Tech over Maryland, among other Power Five programs.
Delane proclaimed after spring practice this year that the Hokies’ time for rebuilding has ended. Winning now is the rallying cry in the locker room.
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“I would call him my first project, just because [the coaching staff] has been pushing leadership on me very heavy,” Strong said of Delane. “I feel like he was the first person I bought into, so it’s been super fun to see him grow, just to get out of the childishness, the selfishness. He’s really grown into being a good man and a good football player. I’m proud to say I was there for the majority of his growth, for sure.”
Delane initially made an impact in the secondary as a freshman, ascending to starting cornerback late in the 2022 season after dealing with an injury during fall camp. In the first start of his career, Delane played all 77 defensive snaps against North Carolina State. He became the first freshman to play every defensive snap in a game under Pry.
Delane’s quick rise partly stems from his knowledge of offensive schemes he gained playing quarterback in junior high. He transitioned to cornerback and safety at Spalding, where he drew interest from the previous coaching administration at Virginia Tech.
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Pry’s impact, meanwhile, extends to the recent additions of Lovett, a sophomore, and Clarke, a freshman. Lovett is the primary backup to Delane at field corner and played in every game last season following a decorated high school career at DeMatha, where he was selected a first-team All-Met.
Clarke, born in Alexandria, was a three-star prospect at Flint Hill, according to ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports, and was selected first-team all-state at wide receiver and defensive back. Among the Power Five schools Clarke drew interest from were Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan State.
“We’ve got some good momentum, but nowhere yet are we the team we can be,” said Pry, whose background in defense includes a stint as Penn State’s defensive coordinator from 2014 to 2021. “We need to have a heck of a camp. The guys have a great mindset, invested everywhere they need to be invested. I’m excited about the team we can be.”
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