When Brent Pry initially took over as head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies, he immediately announced he would continue the school’s long-standing tradition of picking a different player to wear the number 25 in each game.
Who will wear the No. 25 Thursday against Boston College, and why does Virginia Tech change who wears it every game?
History Behind Number 25 at Virginia Tech
Legendary Hokies head coach Frank Beamer was once a cornerback for Virginia Tech from 1966 through 1968. But, his number 25 jersey wasn’t retired by the school until 2002. This began a 14-year gap during which no Hokies player wore the legendary coach’s jersey.
At the beginning of the 2016 season, Justin Fuente brought back the number 25 to pay tribute to Beamer, as that was the first season he was not head coach. Beamer served the position from 1987 through 2015, where he went 238-121-2 as head coach, winning seven conference championships, and a National Coach of the Year award in 1999.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the number 25 typically pays tribute to “Beamer Ball” and a special teams player gets picked to wear the number 25 jersey every week on game day.
Overall, 69 different players since 2016 have worn number 25 on game day. Divine Deablo has worn the number the most as a five-time recipient. Twenty-five other players have worn it twice or more during their Hokies career.
Who Will Wear 25 for Virginia Tech Against Boston College?
Thursday, a first-time recipient will wear the number. Cornerback Dante Lovett will wear the No. 25 for the Hokies against Boston College. This is the first time a current member of the secondary will wear the historic jersey.
Lovett has played well in four games this season. The sophomore has nine tackles and two pass deflections in four games, and he’s coming off of his best game of the season, with four tackles against Stanford.
Lovett typically wears the No. 1 jersey, but Thursday, he’ll look to show why he’s worthy of wearing the historic No. 25.
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