Was recently watching BilldozerVT's Power Hour 2.0 and remembered when GT stole 5 VT players jerseys. Would love to hear the story of that in maybe a 30 for 30 short.
What VT moment do you think should be made into a 30 for 30?
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Danny Coale catch.
2007. After the shootings, playing against ECU. 3rd and 31. Losing to BC, but regrouping to to win the ACC. That season had it all.
Just the next weeks game experience... it just had a different feel. Gameday, the fans, the weather, the whole experience was surreal and felt a lot bigger than a game
This is the answer but it would have to be a full 30 for 30 (they do shorts I think?), actually surprised that it hasn't been made yet. Would be really interesting to see how it would be done like The U I & II with multiple perspectives or Bad Boys with a narrator and interviews or a mix.
And the best Maroon Effect Shirt ever made, and the #15 Hokies vs #23 Clemson game that was the epitome of BeamerBall
What if I told you that home isn't always sweet, but it's always where the heart is?
On 30 for 30
THIS IS HOME
#2 would be most interesting, but it's kinda already been done with the Requiem for the Big East 30 for 30.
The comeback against Nebraska.
2007 ECU
What if I told you that the Hokie Pokie is really what its all about?
Horse on a Treadmill
I think the best 30 for 30 about Virginia Tech would be the rise of the program. Frank Beamer, and what he was doing different than all the other FBS coaches that would propel what was essentially a mid-major football team to an FBS power. A lot of it would focus on Bud Foster and the defense that Phil Elmassian installed, but time would also be spent on Frank's two major innovations: a focus on special teams as the essential third of the game, and the cultivating of relationships with area high school coaches to find the "diamonds in the rough" that he could develop into quality players. Those two innovations, though essentially OBE (from everybody else emphasizing special teams, to the rise of camps such that DITRs really don't exist anymore), are what propelled Virginia Tech to the upper echelons of college football, and Frank Beamer into the CFB Hall of Fame.
I've thought about this, and while what Frank Beamer has built is rare, but he's not the first to do it, nor the best. A story about JoePa, Bear Bryant, Bobby Bowden, Spurrier, and a handful of others would be more compelling (to a national audience) than a story about Beamer's career.
Edit: Chris Peterson at Boise, while different is also up there for more compelling coaching break throughes.
Maybe, but with the exception of maybe Bowden, none of them started out as far down as Beamer did. VT had just won their first bowl game EVER. Our schedules as late as the early 1980's were filled with the likes of VMI, William & Mary, and Richmond, and we were losing some of those. JoePa, Bear, and Spurrier went to schools that had already experienced success in football; to be honest, we hadn't. That's what makes what Beamer did all the more special. You just don't see teams break into the CFB elite for the first time, and stay there as long as he did.
Agree about Bowden, though. What he did at FSU was remarkable, considering where FSU was when he started. Probably a more compelling story that VT's rise, but that doesn't mean that VT's story isn't compelling on its own.
I think it would have to touch on that VT wasn't a dumpster fire before Beamer. Dooley had a 7 season winning streak ( 10 win season the year before Beamer took over) before being forced to leave because of alleged recruiting violations. Beamer did bring us to national prominence, but everyone makes it seem like we were a 0 win team before him.
Even Dooley wasn't the only coach to have us playing really well. The thing is, before Beamer/Dooley Tech was a stepping stone school. People would go and do well there, and find better pastures and move on.
Beamer got us the recognition and never
leavedleft.Frank Beamer's ma didn't raise no trees.
Leg for you!
Which coaches used us as a springboard?
My first thought was the backstory of Frank Beamer almost leaving for UNC.
I think the two serious answers are (1) 4/16, and how the football team helped the school recover, or (2) the Mike Vick story (pretty sure this has been done, just not by 30 for 30.
I don't think there's really other choice; these are really the only stories that happened at VT that would gain interest from non-VT fans.
The one featuring Ford becoming a Hokie and winning the Heisman on his way to winning the NC.
I don't remember Isaiah doing that
Andrew?
1995 Sugar Bowl and how it propelled the program to relevancy
Good one.
FSU vs Florida
The Danny Coale catch, or the run to the national championship game, or Michael Vick, or Bruce Smith.
Or the next run to the national championship game...
I think Mike Vick's recruitment, given the competition with Syracuse (McNabb) and overshadow of the Ronald Curry recruitment.
Other good stories could be the sudden departure of Greenburg, power shift of uva to VT and path to ACC, the 1995 football player brawl with the track kid, the story of Tony Morrison (4 star LB who was dismissed on a sexual assault case that went to the US supreme court), downfall of Marcus, and the wrestling fiasco with Tom Brands departure.
And of course the tale of Bud Foster.
This is actually a really interesting (and landmark) case that set a precedent that significantly limits congress to this day. Here's a pretty interesting podcast that discusses the Commerce Clause and touches on how this case is related.
FWIW, this was a civil case because there 'wasn't enough evidence' to pursue a criminal case. Also worth noting, this incident wasn't that dissimilar from a lot of sexual harassment/abuse issues that we've seen across college sports as of late, and probably not the best representation of our school/football program (aka, this wasn't a 'duke lacrosse' scenario). Another reminder to not throw stones when you live in a glass house.
But anyways, great idea for a 30 for 30.
I think a 30 for 30 on Marcus Vick would be fascinating. From the Chosen One to arrested for flashing a gun in a McDonald's parking lot in just a handful of years. It's a hell of a story, just not a feel-good one.
Interesting, but not a good look.
Would rather have something more positive.
Personally I think it's a great look for the University. How many other programs would have turned a blind eye to MV5's off the field issues just because of his upside? Beamer put character first.
Eh, let's not give FB too much credit here. He "put character first" when it was clear that Marcus wasn't going to change.
Also, IIRC, it wasn't Beamer's decision to kick Marcus off the team, but Weaver's.
A 30 for 30 on the legend of Iron Mike Gentry would be tech football porn
HANK and FRANK
"What if I told you that one dog and one HOF Coach changed the VT landscape forever"
We often have the conversation "what 30 for 30 should they do for Tech?" I always come down to 4/16 and the year after.
Another one we play is "what story would you drunk history?" I think this makes for a better conversation and opens the door to "the hilarious downfall of marcus vick" or "#loluva" or "give it to me roscoe!" I really like the last one because it would open the door for sarcastically using a bunch of footage of backups and towel boys talking shit about the big east from the U 30 for 30s.
How about a behind the scenes look at how the hell Maurice DeShazo always got the parking spot in the bank next to Sharky's / Arnolds - every Thurs through Sat night.
1) 4/16
2) The Vicks
James Gayle's hatred of UVA.
VT 0
WF 0
Documenting what caused Tech to go from perineal ACC powerhouse and the sugar bowl to this. The focus on how this low water mark helped usher in a new era of Tech football.
I do not believe that word means what you think it means.
Perennial is the word you are looking for.
Yep. Taint the word he wanted to use, I'm sure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perineum
This is one of those awesome autocorrect moments.
Just the final field goal in the '86 Peach Bowl and Chris Kinzer giving the NC State team the finger. Have that for the first 5 mins. Spend the remaining 2 hours on how NC State fans are still chapped about it 32 years later.
I've got the first 15 minutes all set... just waiting for the part where he redeems himself.
... I'm going to be waiting a while.
The Fuller Family