BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech has already put in place two pieces of the puzzle for its defensive staff, covering a lot of bases in doing so.
The Hokies officially announced the additions of Tracy Claeys as linebackers coach and former Hokies star Darryl Tapp as a general defensive assistant on Friday, filling two of the four vacant assistant positions on Justin Fuente’s staff.
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Tech still needs to add a defensive line coach and cornerbacks coach to round out its 10-person assistant staff. There’s no timetable for how quickly those spots will be filled.
The addition of the 50-year-old Claeys should come as no surprise, and though he carries no co-defensive coordinator title, he’s expected to be a veteran presence to aid newly appointed defensive coordinator Justin Hamilton.
“Tracy is an outstanding football coach who will serve as another great resource for me and our entire coaching staff,” Fuente said in a release. “Coach Claeys’ track record as a defensive coach, a recruiter and his longtime association with Jerry Kill were among the many reasons we wanted him to join us at Virginia Tech. We’re enthusiastic about adding Tracy’s expertise and leadership to our team.”
Claeys has worked nearly his entire career with Kill, who came onto Virginia Tech’s staff as a special assistant to the head coach in September. Claeys coached for Kill at four different stops, including Saginaw Valley State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota before succeeding Kill as the Gophers’ head coach following Kill’s first retirement due to seizures.
Claeys had an ugly ouster at Minnesota. Though he guided the Gophers to a 9-4 season in 2016, he was fired after showing support for a boycott staged by Minnesota’s players after 10 Gophers were suspended following a sexual assault investigation by the school. A source familiar with the hiring process said Claeys was thoroughly vetted by Virginia Tech before his hire was approved.
Claeys resurfaced in the profession in 2018 when he was hired by Mike Leach to be Washington State’s defensive coordinator, though, after proving to be a mismatched personality fit with Leach, he resigned in the middle of this year. He left two weeks after the Cougars 50 points in the second half of a 67-63 loss to UCLA.
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Even though Claeys hasn’t specifically coached linebackers in his career, he’s been in charge of defenses for Kill at three different stops, a big reason for turnarounds at Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota. His final group as defensive coordinator with the Gophers in 2015 ranked 24th nationally in yards allowed. During his one year as head coach in 2016, Minnesota gave up 22.1 points per game, its lowest mark since 2003.
If Claeys brings experience, the 35-year-old Tapp brings some youthful vigor to the staff, in addition to a healthy connection to the past. Tapp was a two-time All-ACC first-teamer at defensive end as the Hokies took the league by storm after conference expansion, earning a first-team All-American nod from the American Football Coaches Association as a senior in 2005.
A favorite player of defensive coordinator Bud Foster and former defensive line coach Charley Wiles, whose duties Tapp will be replacing, Tapp is the only player in Virginia Tech history to be given one of the actual Lunch Pails the Hokies had in rotation. He finished his Hokies career with 187 tackles, 21.5 sacks and 40 tackles for a loss and was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Fun fact No. 2 about Darryl Tapp: he's the only player Bud Foster gave an actual Lunch Pail to at the conclusion of his playing career.
Tapp brought that to his NFL career too, designing one to carry at all six of his NFL stops as well. #Hokies
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) December 13, 2019
“We’ve wanted to find a way to bring Darryl Tapp back into our program for some time,” Fuente said in a release. “If there is one former player who I’ve consistently heard Bud Foster use as an example of what it means to play defense at Virginia Tech, it’s Darryl Tapp. I know Coach Hamilton feels the same way about Darryl.”
A second-round pick by the Seahawks in 2006, Tapp played 12 NFL seasons for Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit, New Orleans and Tampa Bay, finishing his career with 331 tackles, 53 TFLs and 29 sacks. He’s spent the last two seasons at Vanderbilt and Central Michigan in support roles.
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“It’s great to be coming home to Virginia Tech,” Tapp said in a release. “I always dreamed of playing at Virginia Tech and being drafted in the NFL. Both of those dreams became realities. Then as my playing days were coming to end, I knew I wanted to eventually get into coaching. In the back of my head, I thought how cool it would be if I ever got a chance to coach at Virginia Tech and share all the lessons I’ve learned over the years. I’m grateful to Coach Fuente for this opportunity and I can’t wait to get started with him and Coach Hamilton.”
Though Tapp played defensive line and is expected to contribute to the coaching staff there, his position is as a general defensive assistant to broaden his horizons as a coach. From a recruiting standpoint, Tapp should be a boost to the 757 with his deep ties to the area, having been born in Portsmouth and graduating from Deep Creek High in Chesapeake.
(Photo of Tracy Claeys: Adam Bettcher / Getty Images)