I have gone back 112 pages in editor articles for year end reviews, to the loss to Michigan, and through it all the idea of being mediocre is ok, but it seems we are always looking to next year as the better year. There's only so many times we can say next year is the year.
Here are some tidbits I copied from several articles over the last few years that made me think. I hope I didnt take them out of context nor do I mean to speak for the editors here or disrespect them. It to me simply shows a long repeating cycle that needs to end. I removed Names and years to get a general over feel of the last 4 years.
I will be frank. I almost did not do a film review this week. We have beaten the dead horses over and over again: the nonsensical running back rotation, poor offensive line leg drive and fundamentals, poor reads, throws, and pre-snap recognition by ---, abysmal effort by the wide receivers, poor special teams, linebackers who are limited in space, and defensive backs who are not gifted enough to lock down receivers in man.
Over different points of the season, we've suggested reasons on this site for Tech's struggles. A few in no particular order are: injuries to an already inexperienced secondary, offensive coaches struggling to grasp a foreign scheme seemingly over their heads, said scheme putting players in a position to fail, a randomly generated tailback rotation, and loafing among others
This staff has had several ugly moments where it seems that their highest level of concern is with ensuring continued employment rather than making the football program better.
Unlike every season since 1999, this year wasn't about returning to the national championship game, it was about returning to Virginia Tech Football. Frank Beamer made that clear when he turned over his staff and stressed words like "physical" and "tough" throughout the spring and August camp.
Five familiar faces returned in - to the OLine.
- struggled, but not nearly as much as anyone would have expected a true freshman to. With only (one senior) departing, a buzz around (2 Big OT recruits), and 5 promising recruits set to sign in February, the offensive line should become a team strength. For a long time Virginia Tech football won games because they were more physical in the trenches.I might be the one who is blind, but I didn't see the vision for the future. It's unfair to be critical of a rebuild in year one, but it's reasonable to expect dividends in year two.
A group featuring four senior starters with talented depth behind them should be good, but not taken for granted. Now Tech must rebuild the o-line. Unlike during the beginning of --- tenure, the cupboard isn't bare and the players Tech is depending on to step up have been in ----s system.
Special teams were a liability this season, and that's on no one else but Frank Beamer.
Also not once in all of these posts did I see that Frank stepped up and said it stops with me. Saying something about my name is on the line. My job is on the line.
edit Source of articles
I read a lot of articles not all may be copy paste from this list but all seem to say that next year is the rebuilding year/year we change
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2012/november/6/moving-forward-uncerta...
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2013/december/1/reflecting-2013-regula...
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2012/march/20/hokies-must-rebuild-o-li...
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2012/november/20/create-narrative-bost...
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2013/january/1/happy-new-year-beat-ala...
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2014/january/3/rebuilding-hokies-futur...
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2014/january/1/sun-bowl-musings-and-pr...
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2012/february/6/looking-2012-defense-s...
And in all of that I found
I'm convinced the passing game will flourish under Scot Loeffer, but I'm not sure if that'll come at the expense of running the ball. After he was hired, Loeffler made it clear he likes to run the ball. Maybe he likes throwing it even more? Given that Loeffler's offense was built around Logan Thomas, I didn't get a sense for what a Loeffler offense would be moving forward.
So to those of you that think or don't think about HC changing the game plan there's that to consider
Comments
While I appreciate the effort put into this, I really strongly disagree with your overall point, which I've taken as something along the lines of, "we've accepted mediocrity and nothing will change with Frank in charge." However, look back to the first few quotes, which are clearly from the 2012 season/aftermath. Contrast that with the second chunk from 2013 and then ask yourself if any of those issues from back then (bad special teams play, loafing, lack of effort, a foreign scheme) issues now. I'd argue no. Special teams has made an astounding rebound, especially in the area of kick coverage, and players are giving maximum effort, from what we can tell. Every interview I've seen on the subject since the new staff was installed has quoted players saying there's a different energy to practice and there's a sense of urgency to their preparation. That doesn't sound like accepting mediocrity to me, and neither do Frank's actions since the end of the 2012 season.
Exactly.
This also no longer applies. Our freshman WRs plus Bucky are the strength of the offense right now. There's no lack of effort on their part and Ford in particular has been making some NFL quality both feet down amazing catches on the sidelines. Same with the DBs, while definitely not perfect, they've been on islands all year long.
EVERY team has something to complain about and improve on unless you're the national champion. And even then there are little things to nitpick.
Yea and I and others were upset with the team at mid season and being nitpicky but wanting Tech to be the best seems understandable
But then everything changed with a loss to Wake Forest, played at Elegant Mini Lane
They missed there nightmare season by beating VT 6 - 3 and lossing to Boston College only by 6. That's it. It has been a nightmare season for Wake. Now not so much, maybe
Lossing to wake and not scoring any points is when the lowest bar is met
Clemson Season Average
PASSING YARDS 256.3 RUSHING YARDS 146.5 - Beat Wake 34 - 20
Tech Season Avg
Passing Yards 224 Rushing Yards 137 - Wake Won 6 - 3
Whether or not they have a good pass defense is besides the point see the above or blelow on Clemson
Top Performers
Passing: C. Stoudt (CLEM) - 282 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: W. Gallman (CLEM) - 19 CAR, 106 YDS, 1 TD
Receiving: A. Scott (CLEM) - 8 REC, 122 YDS, 2 TD
That has been my issue for some time. I have heard the same thing from a lot of people I have spoken with, some from my inner circle, others random Hokies. The standard answer is always "players didn't do this, players didn't do that" or "we were a couple plays away and one or two guys made a mistake". I would like to hear him say something similar to "these guys are working their butts off out there and we, as coaches, just aren't getting the job done".
"Fake-gate" (the fake punt debacle) during the Duke game should not have happened if FB is communicating effectively with the players.
EDIT: I can't agree that we have outright accepted mediocrity at least I sincerely hope not. I think FB is at a point where he is just trying to maintain. Honestly, we might as well call that mediocrity.
100000000% agree
I would love to here Frank one time just say, coaches lost this game or we had a horrible gameplan. etc. Never have I ever heard Frank take sole ownership in a loss like you do with some of the other coaches.
Wait til next year, only South Carolina fans get to use that excuse!
Sorry that's an inside thing, please insert any school name of your choosing!
Maybe its just me, but I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is?
I mean, yeah... we have had struggles... but if you're just going to copy/paste tidbits from random articles over the years without citing anything so we have absolutely no basis for knowing the context in which things were said, you're essentially just cobbling together a bunch of quotes to make an entirely new topic.
Without context, I find this to be very much in the same vein of the following video:
We all have been talking about injuries as the excuse and how next year will be better, this year. But going back it seems that been the case for a while now.
What's the definition of insanity again
yea i did forget some sources i'll edit those in