You know that one guy on the squad who always picks up the tab, makes sure everybody eats, and somehow still gets the work done on the field? Yeah, that’s Shedeur Sanders‘ high-school friend. Forget the image of quarterbacks just soaking up NIL cash for cars, jewelry, and brand deals; this guy flipped the script. With Shedeur Sanders grinding for the QB spot with the Browns, his longtime friend (also Cam Ward‘s cousin) is literally rewriting what it means to be a QB in today’s college football culture, and it’s a story that’ll make you double-tap real quick.

Enter Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones. The Hokies QB1 has been cashing in on NIL since he landed in Blacksburg, signing with Triumph NIL(Hokies collective) back in 2023 and stacking deals with brands like Kiser Furniture Co. and Hyperice in 2024. His NIL valuation? Estimated to be $295k in Aug 2024, putting him comfortably at the 276 spot among college football players. He was also the #4-ranked Virginia Tech football player according to On3’s NIL Valuation. That’s not exactly Arch Manning money, but let’s be real, it still puts you in the conversation. But here’s the twist: instead of flexing solo, Drones is using that paper to level up his whole crew.

On August 18, while on the Next Up with Adam Breneman podcast, Drones casually dropped one of the best NIL stories yet. “NIL is good, just for me to showcase my name image and likeness, and get people the opportunities that I didn’t have before NIL,” he said. Then he went full mic-drop: “I just took my whole receiving crew out there to Tampa to go train before camp started. So just giving guys the opportunities that they might not get since they’re not the QB, and just going out there and just all of us having fun again.” So, you see how quarterback perks can be shared like good Samaritans.

Now, context check: Drones had a mixed bag of a 2024 season. He played in nine games, tossed for 1,562 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 6 picks, while also rushing for 336 yards and 6 scores. Not Heisman-level stuff, but the man did become the first Hokie in history to pass, rush, and catch a touchdown in the same game—Georgia Tech will remember that one. Still, inconsistency and injuries stalled his shine. Missed like 4 games last season, including Duke’s Mayo Bowl against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Virginia Tech limped to a 6–7 finish, but if the record didn’t scream progress, his leadership sure did.

And that’s exactly why his going to great lengths is also a lot about building culture in a team that had a pretty big talent exodus in the transfer portal. Plenty of explanations have been floated about why things unraveled, but the truth is the team never seemed in sync from the very beginning. On paper, the roster had plenty of NFL-caliber players, both key returners from 2023 and high-profile transfers, and national analysts even pegged them as a dark-horse contender for the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. Instead, that promise fizzled quickly, and quarterback Kyron Drones has now offered a glimpse into what might have derailed the Hokies’ season in Blacksburg. And he has done so with a promise not to let that repeat.

Just a few days ago, he was a guest on the “Next Up with Adam Breneman” podcast and admitted one thing that went wrong. “ACC Championship (as a goal),” said Drones, “but the main goal is just to be where our feet are. Don’t go thinking about the first game right now. We are still in camp, so just go out there and be 1-0 each day in camp, and then when we get to the first game, go 1-0 and then go 1-0 each and every week. Be where our feet are and don’t take anybody for granted. I feel like that’s what happened last year. We had all this hype going into last year about we could be this team, and we just took a lot of things for granted, and just being where our feet were would have eliminated a lot of the failures we had.” Translation being that they need to build the sort of confidence from the camp that doesn’t overstep into overconfidence and doesn’t disappear when a single thing goes wrong.

So yeah, while Drones is the heartbeat of this team’s culture off the field, his play has to match that generosity on it. Virginia Tech averaged 367.8 yards per game in 2024, and that simply won’t cut it if they’re serious about climbing the ACC ladder. Pry knows it, and ESPN knows it, too.

Post-season ambitions for Brent Pry? What does ESPN think?

Entering 2025, Brent Pry is coaching with that “prove it or pack it” energy. ESPN’s first bowl projections give Hokies fans a little bit of everything—Mark Schlabach slides Tech into the Military Bowl against Memphis, while Kyle Bonagura bumps them up to the Gator Bowl against Missouri. Neither’s a College Football Playoff bid, but after two straight years of just scraping by, either would be solid PR spin for Pry.

At ACC Media Days, Pry didn’t shy away from the pressure. “I’m excited and encouraged by the leadership from our players, from our new coordinators, our new strength and conditioning coach,” he said. “When we reflected on the 2024 year, it was evident to me that we needed to be a more mentally and physically tough team. That starts with me, and we’ve addressed it.” Bold words, but Tech fans want bold wins.

The schedule isn’t exactly a walk in the park. They open against South Carolina in Atlanta, a neutral-site brawl that’ll test this rebuilt offensive line early. Road trips to NC State, Florida State, and Virginia could easily swing the season. Pry went heavy in the portal—30-plus transfers, a new O-line coach in Matt Moore, and a secondary boost from Clemson transfer Sherrod Covil. On paper, this is a “most improved” roster. On Saturdays, we’ll see if paper translates into points.