Virginia Tech’s 2026 season comes with the usual college football fog: a reshaped roster, a new athletic administration and plenty of unanswered questions. But even with all that uncertainty, a few things already stand out as the Hokies head into the fall.
The clearest bet is that this offense will still lean on the ground game. Ethan Grunkemeyer is set to take over at quarterback, but his game points more toward operating from the pocket than turning the Hokies into a quarterback-run outfit. He threw for 1,339 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions, and he finished with a net-minus-46 rushing yards on 35 carries.
That should keep the ball in the hands of Virginia Tech’s backs, and there’s no shortage of options there. Marcellous Hawkins is back after pacing the team with 749 rushing yards in 2025, and he looks positioned to take on more work, especially near the goal line. With Kyron Drones no longer taking away those short-yardage chances, Hawkins could see more of those red-zone touches.
Jeffrey Overton Jr. is another back worth watching. The redshirt freshman showed enough late in 2025 to make a bigger role feel possible, and his mix of speed, vision and added size gives him a real chance to climb the depth chart. Overton finished last season with 146 rushing yards, and Virginia Tech could end up leaning on him alongside Hawkins rather than choosing just one lead runner.
That run-first approach fits what the Hokies should want to be in 2026: one of the more ground-heavy offenses in the ACC, with Grunkemeyer’s style steering the attack away from a bunch of designed quarterback runs and toward more traditional backfield production.
On the other side of the ball, the defensive identity looks just as familiar. Virginia Tech has been committed to making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable, and that should remain the plan. The goal is to create negative plays, force mistakes and turn the game into a physical grind.
The defensive front is central to that vision. Brent Pry’s group has put real investment into the line, and that unit will be one of the key storylines of the season.
There are still injury and depth concerns to watch, especially at defensive tackle, but the expectation is that the Hokies will keep emphasizing toughness up front. Kemari Copeland leads the way after finishing 2025 with 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, including a career-high three sacks against California on Oct.
The secondary is a different kind of question. Tyson Flowers is expected to be a leader at safety again, but Virginia Tech still needs younger defensive backs and possible newcomers to grow into bigger roles. That makes the back end less proven than the front at the moment, even with Quentin Reddish and Jaquez White expected to provide strong production at safety and corner.
There’s also a youth movement building into this roster. The Hokies are not relying only on established veterans, and several younger players could make meaningful jumps in 2026. Overton is one of the names most likely to do that, but he’s hardly alone.
That’s the reality of the transfer portal era: teams have to keep developing what they have while folding in new faces at the same time. Virginia Tech is no exception. Depth pieces can become starters fast, and younger recruits can be pushed into major roles before anyone expected it.
The best teams usually uncover a few surprise contributors along the way, and Virginia Tech has several players who could become familiar names by the end of the season.
So while the Hokies still have plenty to figure out, the outline is pretty clear. They should run the football, attack on defense and count on young players to grow into bigger jobs. Those are the three constants that ought to shape Virginia Tech in 2026.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech May Have Landed A Transfer Weapon This Offense Needed
Virginia Tech already had a solid starting point at tight end with Benji Gosnell and Ja'Ricous Hairston back in the fold, and Hairstons production last season showed why that room mattered so much to the offense. Now the Hokies have added another layer with Penn State transfer Luke Reynolds, a former five-star recruit who arrived with a reputation that suggests he can do more than just fill a spot. He started as a freshman at Penn State and brings the kind of versatility that can matter in an offense looking for more answers in the middle of the field.
Reynolds is expected to be a significant piece right away because he can help as both a blocker and a receiver, which gives Virginia Tech more ways to use its tight ends without tipping its hand. With Gosnell, Hairston and Reynolds all in the mix, the Hokies suddenly have a group that looks capable of becoming one of the ACCs better tight end units by 2026. The next question is how quickly that promise turns into production once the season gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
ACC Shift Could Quietly Create A New Problem For Virginia Tech
The ACC is entering the 2026-27 academic year in a position commissioner Jim Phillips describes as strong athletically, academically and financially, but that stability comes with a lot of moving parts for Virginia Tech and the rest of the league. The conference now stretches from coast to coast with 17 football teams, including schools in California and Texas, and it is still producing more than $900 million in gross revenue even while remaining tied to an ESPN deal that runs through 2035-36.
For Virginia Tech, the bigger issue may be what all that growth means down the road. The league is still adjusting to changing eligibility rules and a college football landscape that keeps shifting underneath it, and Phillips has made clear that future membership and structure are anything but settled. The Hokies are playing in a conference that looks powerful right now, but the next phase could bring a very different map. [Read more 🡒]