Hokie Tracks are Playing Golf at Pinehurst

ACC Football Kickoff started yesterday, and Danny Coale and Eddie Whitley are at Pinehurst representing the Hokies.

via @chickfilabowl

In the student-athlete interviews* conducted by the ACC Coale said it's a misconception that LT3 can't run, "...he's elusive, can move", while Whitley concluded, "he's the quarterback to get us to Charlotte."

/increases the Hype-O-Meter

*I wanted to transcribe these in full for you, but the ACC hasn't made them available in their archives yet.

Norm Wood tries to poo-poo #coale4punter by proposing a highly unlikely hypothetical situation.

I asked Coale what would happen if Tech faced something like a third-and-20 situation, and he went over the middle to make a catch that wound up a few yards short of the first down marker. Let's say he gets blasted by a defensive player on the catch, and maybe he needs a little extra time to collect himself prior to a fourth down play.

Before I could even ask if he'd be the right guy for the punting job in such a scenario, Coale responded with a half tongue-in-cheek answer for what he hoped Tech coach Frank Beamer and his offensive staff would do:

"Go for it," said Coale today at the ACC Football Kickoff media gathering in Pinehurst, N.C.

Has anyone seen Coale on the turf after taking a lick for more than 1/2 a second?

Whitley is ready to get back to playing safety in Tech's 4-3,

"I feel like we should just go back to the base defense," he said. "Everybody's back, we're more experienced, we know how to play. We should be ready to go."

Well, that's going to depend on how much better the Whips G-W and Tweedy have gotten, and after watching them in spring, it's night and day.

Interview videos are courtesy of The Augusta Free Press.

Mark Trible details the irony of Virginia's recent recruiting success as the motivation for Beamer Co.'s staff changes. I don't believe ACC Championships and ten-win seasons are a sign of complacency, especially for a program that's always scheduling marquee competition to get after a national championship. You can't do one without the other. But, Al Groh's tenure at UVa was something Beamer, a comfortable coach, became accustomed to. The same can be about Stinespring calling the plays and our approach to recruiting. UVa hiring London was enough to shake us out of a pretty successful routine, which so far seems to be for the better.

Josh Oglesby has unhappy riding the pine behind Darren Evans, Ryan Williams and David Wilson, even considered transferring, but now he's focussed and will make the most of his opportunity for playing time.

"I really just want to finally have a chance to showcase my talents and help lead this team," Oglesby said last week, breaking a self-imposed media silence that spanned all last season and this spring's practices. "I've been around here for a while. The seniors, we've seen the older guys before us, and we know what a leader is. It's up to us to step up and keep the Virginia Tech tradition going."

...

"I think of USC," he said. "I think David has a lot of Reggie Bush qualities. And I don't think Reggie would've been as good without LenDale White. I'm not saying I'm LenDale, but we have some similar qualities. And you can't have one without the other."

Contrary to what Josh O says, I think Wilson is capable of running just as well between the tackles as he is outside them, other people do too. However, that doesn't mean we want to be banging Dave into the front-seven at every opportunity. Oglesby would provide reliable depth at a thin position, because let's face it, no running back is going to be up for taking every snap in our scheme. We also ran a lot of two-back sets last season. I like the idea of having another back in the huddle with Wilson to line up in the backfield or to take the deep spot while Wilson splits out wide.

billdozervt drops another awe-inspiring video, this one highlighting David Wilson's speed.