Hokie Tracks Attended Junior Day

The coaches have determined the starting secondary for the beginning of spring ball. This is according to Torrian Gray and as always I MUST CREDIT BEAMERBALL.COM. Kyshoen Jarrett is moving from cornerback to free safety. Michael Cole and Theron Norman are the number two and three guys behind him. Exum stays at rover ahead of Boye Aromire and Ronny Vandyke. Field and boundary corner are Detrick Bonner and Kyle Fuller respectively. Fuller could also work at safety, Vandyke at Whip. It looks like they want Jarrett to be the man at safety.

Bruce Feldman lists running back Michael Holmes as one of his ten most intriguing redshirt freshmen.

The Hokies lost spectacular David Wilson to the NFL, and his production and tenacity is going to be tough to replace. Holmes is an intriguing option. Unlike a lot of players on this list, he was not a celebrated recruit. Scout.com ranked him as the No. 77 RB in the Class of 2011. ESPN had him as the No. 136 running back. Rivals didn't even rank him among backs, aside from listing him as the No. 25 overall prospect in the state of Virginia. Holmes doesn't have Wilson's explosiveness (almost no other back in college football did) but the 6-1, 200-pounder turned a lot of heads of the defensive coaches and players at Tech with his work on the scout team last fall. His position coach Shane Beamer told me he's just a back who plays really hard, has good vision and has a knack for making plays. Tech seems to have found more than its share of the latter over the past decade or so.

Since Holmes signed his national letter he's received a lot praise from the coaches. A lot of us, myself included, have been caught up in the buzz surrounding the talented running backs of the 2012 class. Holmes has been overlooked. Considering our offensive gameplan, there's something to say about the importance of a back that gets behind his linemen and takes what's there. Holmes could be the steady Eddie the offense was without last year.

A handful of recruits were on campus for Tech's Junior Day. The Hokies received two verbal commitments which you can read all about in our recruiting forum. One of the day's activities included chilling out and watching some basketball. Bud Foster played chaperon and was scowling as intently as ever.

via @hokietapes

Macho is modeling. These types of updates are infrequent, but 1) for the ladies and 2) he's rocking a shirt with a Stormtrooper on it.

Bryan Stinespring spoke with Andy Bitter about, among other things, the offensive line which needs to replace four starters this season. Surprise! It's a big spring for former blue-chip recruits Vinston Painter and Nick Acree who've struggled to impress and get on the field. It's also the time to see what Mark Shuman and Jake Goins are made of.

"So that really forces you to really say, OK, what else is going to happen here. Now it’s got to be a guy like Mark Shuman is a big come-through guy for us. I think it’s a critical spring for him, a very important spring for him and for us, how well he develops. Jake Goins. Those guys are going to have to out there, and all of a sudden they’re guys who are going from guys who got a few reps here and there, at the end of spring they might be tight end weight. They’re going to get a lot of work. And how they come through will be important."

From what I've seen and heard Painter's light going on is a coin flip, and I don't expect Acree to realistically figure into the two-deep. Shuman and Goins were two highly regarded players coming out of high school, and it would be reassuring as for as depth is concerned this season, and going forward, if they turned some heads this spring.

The first real snowfall in Blacksburg signals the annual Civilian-Cadet Snowball Fight. Here's a picture of the cadets throwing down in 1909.

via @VTLibraries

Though fewer in numbers, the Cadets always win this thing because they're better organized and tactical. My freshman year I remember being pelted by snowballs into the fetal position from five or so cadets surrounding me. My sophomore year we stormed the Upper Quad late at night (lack of precision due to drunkenness) and rained snowballs down on the cadet dorms until they came out and played. Bonus points for your stories.