Virginia Tech football: Hokies hire Ron Crook as offensive line coach

Mar 14, 2023 - 12:21 AM

Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry wanted to have his coaching staff in place before the Hokies opened up spring practice this week. On Monday, Pry hired Maryland’s Elijah Brooks as running backs coach and South Dakota’s Ron Crook as offensive line coach.

The newly retooled offensive staff looks like this:

• Tyler Bowen: offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
• Elijah Brooks: running backs
• Fontel Mines: wide receivers
• Stu Holt: tight ends/special teams
• Ron Crook: offensive line

While Bowen is back as OC, he has now taken on the role of quarterbacks coach, with Stu Holt [former RBs coach] taking Bowen’s spot at tight ends. Brooks is the new running backs coach.

As for Crook, he spent last season at South Dakota after being at Cincinnati for the previous five seasons. Crook has coached several future NFL players from his days as the offensive line coach at Cincinnati, West Virginia, Stanford, Harvard and Illinois. While his name doesn’t create a buzz like Rudolph’s did, Crook is viewed as an excellent teacher. The hope of Pry is by adding Brooks; the Hokies get a dynamic recruiter to make up for losing Rudolph.

Pry offered the following on Crook

I am thrilled to add a coach of Ron Crook’s caliber to our staff. He brings a wealth of experience coaching offensive line across the Power Five level and in major bowl games. Coach Crook is a great teacher and has a reputation for building tough, physical offensive lines. Ron’s time and ties to small college football in West Virginia and Pennsylvania means a lot to me. I know what he is about and what he will bring to our program.

Crook played at West Liberty State and is from Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Welcome to Virginia Tech, Coach Crook and family.