Virginia Tech Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster and defensive line coach Charley Wiles provided head coach Frank Beamer's website with updates on Tech's defensive line. Their takes about the reserves caught my attention.
"A guy who has really jumped out at me is Seth Dooley," Foster told BeamerBall.com. "I like how much he's improved and where he's headed. Woody Barron has really stepped up. And Vinny Mihota is really having a great spring."
Pencil Seth Dooley in as the winner of the Richard Bullock Award for most improved defensive player of spring. Foster and Wiles have complemented Dooley so much I'm borderline worried that they're trying to pump up his confidence because they know how much they need a third (and fourth) end. Dooley is the guy my eye 'll be trained on the entire spring game.
"Nigel Williams was solid with 45 plays and 34 points," Wiles said. "Woody Barron recovered two fumbles, had 45 points in 45 plays with 4 tackles and 2 assists. Woody is the guy I nominated to carry the Lunch Pail this week. Seth Dooley continues to have a really good spring. I'm proud of his growth and hopefully he just keeps getting better and better. Melvin Keihn got a little better. He still has a ways to go, but he's improving. Ricky Walker was solid."
Any mention of Melvin Keihn and the immediate reaction is his size, or lack thereof. Smaller ends have had varying amounts of success at Virginia Tech. Tyrel Wilson (6-2, 230) was a solid, versatile backup. Corey Moore (6-0, 212) was a unanimous first-team All-American. I'm not going to count the 6-1, 211 pound Keihn out on size alone. However, I haven't heard, read or seen anything to leave me bullish on him contributing significant defensive snaps this season.
I've mentioned many times before, Wiles wants a dependable two-deep across the board so he can rotate bodies throughout a game. If Keihn doesn't take the next step leap forward, Tech seems to be out of options for a fourth end.
BUT WAIT...
You're starting to notice Vinny Mihota," Wiles added. "He has good twitch and quickness. He's also explosive. He had 4 tackles, 1 assist, a tackle for loss, a QB harass and had 37 plays with 22 points. I'm thinking about taking a look at Vinny at DE as we start to finish up spring ball."
If you've been an avid reader, that last bit of info should've hit you like a ton of bricks. This is a 180 from last year.
"We're probably going to look at Vinny Mihota some inside," Foster said in a Hokiesports.com video interview in March 2014. "We've got a little class conflict with a couple guys. So just getting an opportunity to get him on the field and get him evaluated. And he's going to grow into that position when it's all said and done."
At 6-5, 270 Mihota fits the traditional build of a Tech defensive tackle, not an end. However, Wiles noted Mihota's "twitch", "quickness" and described him as "explosive". If Vinny has the pop off the line that d-ends in Foster's scheme need, it's prudent to rep him there. And given there's a plethora of d-tackles, and only three ends the coaches seem high on (Dadi, Ekanem and spring sensation Seth Dooley), it's not inconceivable Vinny sticks on the outside to fill out the two-deep.
Comments
Vinny to DE?! I like it. No, I love it.
Clearly Wiles has been reading my comments on TKP. /s
99's belong on the outside. Loved Gayle before and I can't wait to see Vinny.
I got a white 99 jersey on clearance after Gayle graduated and I've been waiting for that number to come back to prominence. I knew Vinny would eventually be a beast.
Trust in Bud.
Let's get Corey Marshall some reps outside too. They've always talked about him playing both...
As much as I think Marshall would have been a badass on the outside I really don't think moving him at this stage is going to be good for him. He hasn't played out there his entire time at VT and while stats don't reflect it was the most consistent player on the line last year. He needs to stay where he is and keep creating havoc then wow with speed and power at the combine to which he hopefully gets invited to.
He started out at DE but as a rising senior it's too late to move him back, especially with All-ACC potential at DT
I thought Corey Marshall was a DE that switched to DT
Didn't you mean TE? /s
He arrived as a DE and was moved to DT early freshman year, if I'm not mistaken
I thought he switched to DT during the year he left the team and then returned... 2 years ago? I could be mistaken, though
yeah, actually i think you are right. thanks!
More accurately, he was a DT who started at DE...
No no no no no
Post of the day.
Except he's been far more disruptive and productive as a DT than he ever was as a DE. Yes, he could play it in a pinch, but he and Maddy form one of the most explosive and disruptive DT duos in the nation. Against teams like OSU, GT, UNC, and ECU, excellent DT play and getting into the backfield is the #1 way to disrupt the offense. A good edge rusher on the other hand can be mitigated relatively easily.
Yes yes yes! He is SPECIAL and GAME CHANGING at nose. He is decent at DE.
While I don't disagree about him in the middle, I think it's a bigger discussion than just saying no. Things to debate:
- Value over replacement player at both positions. If Corey slides outside during a game, what kind of drop-off is there in the middle with all this depth? And if Corey slides outside, how much better do we get if he's DE #4 instead of Melvin?
- When is the last time we saw CM get snaps outside? How do we know what he's capable of at this stage of his career out there? Maybe he was decent at DE (I thought he was better than decent), but maybe he's better than decent now.
I'm not suggesting he goes out there full time. But if we're in such dire straights at DE and we're so stacked in the middle, what's the hurt in giving him some reps to find out if we do need to slide him outside during a game we know what we're getting?
We could roll out a jumbo package on defense with four defensive tackles. I think we have the depth for that. Would be hard to run against us. The Torrian could put 7 DBs behind them. This actually might work.
Or just a 3-3-5 or 3-2-6 which was used in some practices leading up to the Military Bowl.
Goal Line Defense, Dadi, Marshall, Maddy, Baron, Williams, and Ekanem with 5 db's.
Why wouldn't you always want the whip LB on the field in goal line situations? The whip can usually cover as well as the nickel back when he's only gotta cover 11 yards, but is better in run support.
What is "run support" when you have 6 down linemen?
The guys behind those six down linemen just in case the offense manages to open a hole between any two of them.
You think anybody is going to open a hole on those six?
^this. And, frankly, if they open a hole on those six guys in a goal-line situation, then they deserve the TD.
Then we could also go with 10 TE's and Sam Rogers on offense....
QB: Logan Thomas
FB: Jeff King (yep, moved briefly from TE as a soph and then back)
OT: Duane Brown; Ed Wang; Darius Redman; Andrew Lanier
C: Beau Warren
G: Greg Nosal, Richard Graham
WR: Bucky Hodges
TE: Greg Boone, Randall Dunn; ; Duan Perez-Means (all converted to TE)
DE: Chris Drager
All other positions would be played by Sam Rogers.
nm...You are correct
Well, my concerns about the depth chart just went from
to 
Crystal Clear as Mud
How long before he gets a shot at OT?
Wait.... an NFL sized DE, playing DE for VT.
This excites me. I know we've been successful with smaller DEs, but can we be successful with NFL sized DEs? Only time will tell.
For recruiting purposes, we need it to happen.
The #4 DE (at best) isn't going to move any recruiting dials. Assuming he even stays there...
But when the senior ahead of him on the depth chart graduates...?
I know. Just the mere thought of that, well.....
Mihota could have a sweet mullet! And if Dadi has a son one day will they call him baby Dadi?
'Son, I'm your Daddy. Not Dadi, OK?'
*Baron
Think of the size of that second DL group (note: this doesn't include Walker (6'3" 286) or Sobczak (6'2" 315) or Settle (a large man) which would obviously add some serious size):
Dooley: 6'5" 242
Baron: 6'1" 265
Wiliams: 6'2" 288
Mihota: 6'5" 270
1st team:
Ekanem: 6'3" 243
Marshall: 6'2" 262
Maddy: 6'1" 293
Dadi: 6'4" 236
What do you think Chuck?
Hokie Nation Approves:
So does Jack Black:
Agreed!
VINNY TO DE. YES PLEASE!
If hes able to crack the two deep this fall, that will be a serious inconvenience for whatever OT has to switch between playing Dadi then Vinny. I don't know much about linemen getting in a rhythm, but a 35 lb swing should make him very uncomfortable
So we might still come out of this with a gargantuan DE. Spring is such a rollercoaster.
...and I thought we had to wait until Summer to get a Fullwood.
SHWING
Any idea what this point system is? I'm intrigued.
There's always been an unknown scale by which the players are graded. I believe Corey Moore owns the record for most points in a game, but Gayle and Dadi have both made their mark in the top 5 if I remember correctly. No idea how many points each possible action carries (Fumble, scoop and score, INT, sack, TFL, tackle, assist, etc.) but imagine it like a fantasy scorecard.
I cannot remember exactly, but for some reason I feel like someone recently tied or was just a couple of points away from Moore's record. I want to say it was Marshall after his comeback from his time away from the team, but maybe it was Dadi. I do remember it being a specific quote from Wiles or Foster and then the player made some comments about grading out so high.
I'm pretty sure it was Dadi's 3-sack performance against Pitt as well as many other things he did that game.
Ken Ekanem after last year's UNC game.
Article on Ken's Performance
Thanks for digging that up. I actually think that I'd forgotten that performance by Ekanem and was actually thinking of when Collins set the record. And in my head I knew it was a player that had turned the corner, but it wasn't Marshall coming back to the team, it was Collins coming back from injury, right?
Anyway, love this stuff! It would be awesome to see a full breakdown of the grading for one of these performances with film highlights, but I also like the fact that it is a somewhat secret grading system.
The Vinny Mihota revelation is an interesting one. I struggled with the position move last spring because, despite his size, Mihota had an explosive first step, great bend, and was adequate to get flat down the line on the back side of plays. His HS film was worlds more explosive than Yosh Nijman (not a knock on Nijman, but in a 3 yard race Mihota would beat him by a yard.) He was capable of being effective.
So, then a day into camp, Mihota got moved. It would have made sense. Classes and injuries meant that defensive tackle was thin behind Maddy, Marshall, and Williams. That spring, the 2D had Wade Hansen and Jeremey Haynes opposite Williams. There was a need for Mihota to move inside, and that could have been the narrative.
Insert Charley Wiles. Instead of taking the approach that this was a need when discussing the position with the press, he in effect buried the kid. We saw the same thing with Zach McCray, a talented player who floundered in Blacksburg. I don't have a problem of a coach being critical of a player, but Wiles goes so over the top that it backs hinself, the player, and the program into a corner. Now, the Hokies have a desperate need, but it isn't good motivation to make the kid think the move is only because of the desperate need, not his own capability. Talk about how Mihota earned the opportunity and has the ability. Unfortunately, that approach now sounds disingenious because of his comments in the spring.
Wiles is rubbing me the wrong way here lately. First McCray (which I wasn't aware of but add to the pile), then the Mihota debacle you spoke of, and we recently just had the Nijman incident. I get that we have other defensive guys coming in, Yosh is slow off the line, and we need OLinemen. That's the fact of the matter and should be the narrative.
What Wiles oughta say that we are stocked at DE and we could really use Yosh on the OLine and he's got the size and the athleticism and that's where the team needs him. Instead he gets behind a microphone and says Yeah I got him on information overload and his head is tying up his feet.
Wiles needs to take a more positive approach to managing his guys and their roles instead of being an asshole about it.
So when Foster and Gray say the exact same thing about their young guys in the secondary, they're not assholes because.....
It is one thing to say that they are struggling with the speed of the game. It is far different to say "X can't play the position" and then add some kind of snarky colloquialism. Gray and Foster are generally constructive. The closest that Gray ever came to getting into Wiles space was talking about CJ Reavis and his range at the beginning of Spring (which I commented that I didn't like the tenor of when he said it.) Wiles goes way beyond that in last season's assessment of Mihota. Similar comments about Collins, McCray, Dadi, Nijman and others aren't always constructive; they are barbs. I get that Wiles does it to send a message, and if he wants to teach that way while coaching, that is ok. Doing it publicly isn't needed and it brings negative attention on those players. There is a huge difference in "he is talented and needs to improve on A,B, and C" versus "he just isn't capable of playing the position."
Thank you for putting that more eloquently than I could I agree 100%.
Whoever said Foster and Gray aren't assholes?
Difference is they keep it on the practice field and out of the media room, like a good coach should.
I don't think you can really say Wiles is a bad coach just because he has a deficiency in tact.
His on-field product speaks for itself, season after season.
Could he improve in his communications skills? Sure. But then, so could most people. I'm just not going to get too worked up over off-the-cuff statements to the press unless we see some sort of negative impact on team morale & performance.
I don't think he's saying Wiles is a bad coach, but rather that he lacks an important characteristic good coaches should have. Almost nobody has the perfect skill set for their job, and being deficient in one area doesn't make you bad at it if you excel in others.
Thanks for expounding on that for me. I agree that Wiles isn't a bad coach as proven by the on field product. However, this thing that he has shown he has a habit of doing, is bad and I think it does affect the team to some extent. His barbs aren't "off the cuff", to me. It seems like he knows what he's going to say before he says it and he does it to send a message. My opinion is that he needs to send the message in the locker room and not through the press.
I just know that you don't hear other big time coaches saying things about their players that have the vitriol behind them like the things Wiles says. He needs to stay out of the media room.
Wiles has always rubbed me the wrong way in interviews for just that reason. But he is definitely the right DL coach for Bud's scheme. History speaks for itself there. I will say, I think Wiles won't ever transition well to a DC role if he maintains that tendency. People talk about how Bud would be a gruff HC, but making Charlie Wiles a face of a program could be disastrous from a PR standpoint.
Debbie Downer here.
What little I've seen of Mihota strikes me as almost the opposite of Nijman...decent first step, but not much speed after that (not exactly a good recipe for VTs occasional issues with mobile passers). I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect (like Nijman) he isn't really a DE either but rather a body getting some exposure to the position just in case. It's a lot easier to give a DT reps at DE than an OT.
Think outside the box. Mihota will play the stud side, and with right handed offenses often the stud is also on the boundary. Bud loves using Deon Clarke aligned on the edge to the boundary. That means a good portion of the time Mihota would not have contain responsibility. I would also argue that speed isn't the trick to slowing down a mobile QB. It is effective contain and holding your leverage without being shoved wide. Smaller speed rushers can sometimes get too far up field and create holes for the QB.
Finally, the Bear front has one DE slide down inside as a 3 tech DT. Mihota is perfect for that role.
I would agree that Mihota's pursuit speed is only adequate compared to a Dadi Nicolas, but he ran down Travon McMillian from behind on the east sideline on McMillian's first big run in the 1st scrimmage.
As I said...what LITTLE I've seen he looked REALLY slow for a DE. Hopefully my impression was incorrect.
Mihota is a great team paying. he plays at high level wherever the team needs help. With TIM settling in B-burg this summer, now is a good time to get Vinny a look at DE so he can get a better shot at contributing in the fall.
Maybe its really just a few reps, for depth issues.
I am not sure you get - He is now our 4th DE from -
they just said they were going to take a look at him at DE. They also took a look at wyatt teller, josh nijman etc. I can't see how he wasn't able to play DE coming out of HS at a lighter weight and now about 20 lbs heavier he will now be able to play how Wiles wants his DEs to perform.
Based on Wiles' quotes, it sounds like he's saying Mihota still has the necessary twitch at this size.
I thought that Corey did get reps at DE last season spelling Ekanem several times. Corey is not always the guy tackling or knocking down the pass but he is one great ball of disruption for the other team. He goes all out and he is allways in on the play. IMO he could easily slide out to De if required.
Mihota just needs to not be this years wasted player. We have guys who have real talent that occasionally get moved into areas of need and then forgotten as the need is filled. Mihota has talent and should be allowed to play .
Corey Marshall knows how to be effective at both tackle and end. He is an exceptional tackle in Foster's scheme because he is quick, smart, and tough as hell.