2026 Hokies Spring Football Notebook: Defense Dominates an Intense Practice

For the first, and probably only time this season, members of the media were granted access to a full Virginia Tech Practice. It was a unique opportunity to see how James Franklin and his staff are not only shaping this season’s roster, but the overall culture of the program. Thursday’s practice was intense, competitive, and efficient. The coaching staff refused to waste any moment of the Hokies’ precious time on the practice field. Players were pushed to hustle from drill to drill and get to the next play or rep quickly. To keep things moving along, Franklin himself even pitched in to clear the field.

But to change a program, that message can’t just come from Franklin, and on Thursday, his whole staff was echoing the same sentiment. Brent Pry was firing up his defense during individual drills, Norval McKenzie was intensely coaching up his running backs, demanding excellence out of every rep, and Anthony Midget was coaching up his guys even after they forced an incompletion, saying that the rep still wasn’t “good enough.” 

But while the coaching staff is trying to instill a winning culture, the Hokies are still a long way off from accomplishing their goals as a team. This is to be expected, given that it is only March and this roster is filled with young talent, but the potential is certainly there. So as the Hokies begin to put together the 2026 puzzle on the football field, here are some of my top takeaways from practice. 

Practicing Good Habits

While it may be early in spring camp, James Franklin is wasting no time trying to instill core principles and good habits into this roster. One of the first periods of practice was a ball security circuit, and there were referees on hand to flag potential penalties during competitive drills. Turnovers and penalties were two things that killed the Hokies a year ago, ranking 16th in the ACC in turnover margin and averaging 64 penalty yards per game. The early emphasis on those two areas is an intentional effort to stop the Hokies from beating themselves this season. Virginia Tech’s offensive coaches also already had headsets on to practice offensive operations, which seemed smooth, given the inexperience of the signal callers. Overall, the staff stressed attention to detail to lay a solid foundation for the young team, even if the execution was still sloppy at times.

QB Battle in the Spotlight

For the past two years, Virginia Tech’s starting quarterback has been known well before the season arrived, as Kyron Drones never faced any serious competition for the job. That situation could not be more different than the one the Hokies are in now. Three quarterbacks split reps with the top two groups today: Penn State transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer, UNC transfer Bryce Baker, and freshman Troy Huhn. All the quarterbacks got reps today and were taking mental reps behind every play, shadowing the footwork of the guy taking the snap. Grukemeyer and Baker each had their flashes, both showing effectiveness with their legs and arms. Grunkemeyer had an impressive rollout throw across his body to Tayke Heath, while Bryce Baker found Que’Sean Brown on a deep touchdown. The offense is obviously still a work in progress, just two practices in, but one thing is clear: the physical talent is there at the QB position for the Hokies

Defense Dominates

Early on in camp, it is common for a defense to be ahead of the offense and win most drills, and that rang true for the Hokies on Thursday. The DBs won most of their one-on-ones, and the defense often stymied the offense in team periods. The Hokies defense also has the advantage of some familiarity with their playcaller. Many key players on Tech’s defense played under Brent Pry a year ago, while Ty Howle and the offense are still getting on the same page. The offense did get better as practice went on, and it’s always hard to evaluate the offensive line, which was dominated by Kemari Copeland and company, without pads on. So while there is no cause for concern right now about the offense, it was encouraging to see the defense flying around and making plays.

Outside of Copeland, two other standouts defensively came from the secondary. Troy transfer Jaquez White was constantly making plays today and making wide receivers’ lives very difficult. He seemed extremely sticky in coverage and did a great job, always remaining in phase with the route. White’s partner in crime in the defensive backfield, UConn transfer Cam Chadwick Jr., also had a productive day, coming down with an interception during team drills. If White and Chadwick can keep that play up, the Hokies could feature a very scary corner tandem in 2026.  

WR Depth Shines

One of the other major questions coming into Spring ball was how the Wide Receiver room would shake out. And while we are a long way away from answering that question, we did get a glimpse of where things stand right now. Unsurprisingly, Ayden Greene and Tayke Heath worked with the first group as returning starters from a year ago. Heath made a couple of impressive catches during practice as he tries to improve on some drop issues from last season. The third receiver lining up with Heath and Greene may be a little more of a surprise: redshirt-freshman Luke Stuewe. Stuwe seemed to catch the attention of the coaching staff during winter workouts, being highlighted by WR Coach Fontel Mines.

Other receivers working with the top two groups were Duke transfer Que’Sean Brown, who I’ve already mentioned had a nice day, Chanz Wiggins, and Cam Sparks. Sparks showcases special size and athleticism at 6’2”, 225 lbs. He ran some really solid routes today to create lots of separation, but struggled with some drops. Wide receivers Jeff Exinor and Keylen “Brodie” Adams also had moments on Thursday, highlighting the depth in the wideouts room. Now, the Hokies are looking for who can emerge from that group, and it seems like consistency will be a key factor in those decisions, as that was the word James Franklin repeated to Exinor after a dropped pass. 

Sigh…Depth Charts

While it’s fun to track where guys are in the pecking order throughout camps, it is also extremely important to note that these “depth charts” are fluid and will change by the minute. Keep that in mind before overreacting to any of the names below. With that being said, here is who seemed to be rolling with the first groups today. 

Offense:

QB: Ethan Grunkemeyer

RB: Jeff Overton or Bill Davis

WR: Ayden Greene, Tayke Heath, Luke Stuewe

TE: Benji Gosnell

LT: Aidan Lynch

LG: Layth Ghannam

C: Kyle Altuner

RG: Johnny Garrett

RT: Montavius Cunningham

Defense:

DE: Jason Abbey

DT: Kemari Copeland

DT: Elhadj Fall

DE: Aycen Stevens

LB: Noah Chambers

LB: Kaleb Spencer

CB: Isaiah Brown-Murray, Thomas Williams, Joshua Clarke, Jaquez White, and Cam Chadwick Jr. all rotated in

Safety: Quentin Reddish, Tyson Flowers

The defense was also rotating individual positions significantly more than the offense, so that lineup is especially fluid.

Overall, getting a glimpse into how James Franklin is trying to reshape the program through intense and efficient practices was incredibly insightful, and it was good to see the emphasis on competition that was brought up so often during the offseason actually translate to the field.

That’s all for today’s notebook. I’ll be back at practice on Tuesday, March 24, where we’ll get the chance to speak to Coach Franklin and some of the players. So stay tuned for that as we learn more about what the 2026 Hokies will look like.