Always one of my favorite write ups of the preseason, Athlon released the ACC and what coaches said about other teams without attributing the quotes.
In general, coaches seemed to be a little down on the Hokies & sighted a few strengths like Bud & the WRs. There were some shots at the number of transfers and general direction of the team.
https://athlonsports.com/college-football/acc-coaches-talk-anonymously-a...
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Ouch. Some pretty critical, but sadly true excerpts in there against the good guys.
Not a lot of good talked about Virginia Tech...
Just how I like it.
Seems like they were more critical of us than anyone else in the conference. Fuck it. Let's win the coastal.
You're all welcome.
Hard to argue with any of the points.
What do they know?
via GIPHY
I feel like they just pulled quotes from TKP for this thing and didn't actually interview any ACC coaches.
'ACC Coaches' is actually DCWilson (Just kidding DC, I enjoy some of your stuff).
Don't look now, but Fuente may have lost the "Other ACC Coaches" room.
Yeah, a bit of trash-talking in there. Like a typical recruiting thread.
I guess there's only one thing left to do.
I like them sleeping on Willis.
This one is the most concerning:
Hopefully this is just someone's gut shot reaction. Any idea who could have slung this mud?
That's not concerning. That's negging our program. It's not like whoever said that didn't know what they were doing, or didn't do that on purpose.
Guess Georgia Tech
That's a smear campaign, a Brown smear at that.
Sounds to me like bronco queefed
It's just flat out wrong too. No superstars on offense? We had a QB leave early for a draft who set a half dozen offensive records, a QB break a bone in his leg and transfer when a transfer stepped up to lead the team. WRs in the best spot we've ever had (maybe slightly hyperbolic but not too much). OL that is pure beef. RB is a weakness right now and we missed on a big transfer.
Evans left early for the draft. that is a fact, yes. he was also not drafted and has not made a roster in the NFL. Let's not pretend we lost John Elway early to the pro's. His decision to leave early was clearly ill-advised. The QB room is thin right now. Willis had a nice year at times last year, but he is not projected to be an all ACC type guy. Patterson did not complete a pass last year in limited time, and Hooker left and came back, and nobody is projecting him to be a starter here. Burmeister is not eligible yet. to say there is some question marks in that room is more than reasonable.
Nerds glass is half full, yours half empty.
Perhaps but Jerod Evans does not refute the article, sorry. That's reality, not half empty
Half empty?
No, just empty.
That stuff looks like bulletin board fodder, not some well-considered analysis.
where is our superstar on offense?
I'd venture to say the average college football fan would struggle to name one player on our current offense. And if your argument against us having any superstars is one year of Evans from 2016, then that only helps prove the point.
Quick, without searching the internet, name a superstar on every other ACC team. How about every top 20 pre-season team? Be honest. I'll bet you couldn't do either of those.
What makes a glass empty is using that as the criterion to judge the current team. We have a lot of young players who haven't yet proven themselves on a college gridiron. I'll bet you'll have some names on your mind when we revisit this thread at the end of the season. Most likely a wide receiver. Having a young team does make this a weak spot. For now.
I didn't say anything about Evans. That was DC's comment, to justify his own assessment. Which is nonsense. Like I said, empty glass.
Not every team has a superstar, so asking everyone to name a superstar on every ACC team is a dumb proposition.
It still doesn't mean that dc is wrong in saying VT doesn't have one, either
No. What makes him wrong is saying that's the way to look at this team. It's blasting our recruiting/youth.
Maybe I'm alone in thinking that some of these players will prove their mettle this year. But that's the side of this argument I prefer to be on.
I think we just have a fundamental disagreement on what makes a superstar player.
VT hasn't had a legitimate superstar since.... man probably Kendall Fuller on defense and maybe David Wilson or Tyrod Taylor on offense. (yes, I know, the Edmundi, but I don't remember the hype around them that the others got) By superstar, I mean a player who is nationally recognized, hyped, and people legitimately tune into watch. Jerrod Evans touched on it back in 2016, and could have broken through if he stayed another year, but he bolted too early to make that leap. Some of our receivers, I agree with you, have that potential, and QP certainly does, but they haven't shown it. Right now, we have a lot of players who need to prove it. I have faith they will, but right now, I legitimately cannot say that any of them are current superstars.
So this becomes a simple critique of 5-star recruits?
That's never been the best way to look at VT football in terms of potential.
well....
I mean not landing elite level recruits and not having any superstar players kind of goes hand in hand.
Another way of looking at the 'super star' term - Is there anyone on the team that causes opposing coaches to change how they game plan? Anyone who is so special that coaches have to put in a special package, or tweak their blocking scheme, or changes the scout team for (remember when we used Bucky as a TE on the scout team to plan for UNC's Eric Ebron - that's what I'm talking about)? I'd argue there's not anyone on our team like that right now.
At the end of the day, VT is nothing but potential right now. As a fan, that's kind of exciting, but also kind of scary. As an opposing coach, who has limited time and resources, the reality is that, as of the final game in 2018, there is no one on VT's roster who has proven that they require special attention. That may change, but for now, that's the situation.
A positive to your comment: the coaches know far more about our potential than opposing teams right now (I guess that could be good or bad). This combined with a weak schedule should definitely play into our favor against Miami and ND. There is a good chance that we will have some "surprises" waiting for them based on our unseen and unused potential! Maybe we can sneak up on some folks this year!
This is absolutely true.
We're a big ole question mark with a lot of potential. Yet somehow we're still good enough for other coaches to want to neg us, and to get a top 20 pre-season ranking from somebody out there.
Should be an interesting year, anyway.
If Edmundi weren't superstars, then you don't need superstars to compete. Whatever Edmundi were is good enough.
For Dalton Keene to be a "superstar" in comparison to P5 guys for example would be a 50 catch, 8TD type season for a TE. that's a superstar. He's a rising junior, not a pup. If he puts those numbers up, we can tell those coaches to fuck off. Same with Turner/Grimsley/Haze... 70 catches, 12-14 TDs is a super star college WR, all of those guys have experience now.
We have a lot of guys out there who can catch the ball, and a guy who can throw it.
That's got to be good for something.
If our offensive line can clear some room, and we get a little traction at running back, we'll be off to the races on offense.
And it's Bud's last year, so I hope he'll be scheming his ass off, and has enough talent to mount an effective defense.
I feel better already.
I see both sides here. It seems a little odd that a coach would phrase the comment in the way it was phrased. But, we are lacking SUPERstar talent. I too asked myself if I could name a star on other ACC teams and struggle to do it. Ultimately, as has been hashed out repeatedly, this is the year that this staff's guys should start to make names for themselves. If not, we may have a problem. If so, we are on track.
This is how I see it.
I can name honestly name one for Bama and one for Clemson.
Tua, Trevor Lawrence, Etienne, Cam Akers, Jake Fromm (State Farm), JK Dobbins, Rondale Moore, Jonathan Taylor, Jalen Hurts
Pretty good list.
Three from the ACC (two of those from Clemson). None of whom we'll play against unless we make it to the ACC championship.
I believe Cam Akers is extremely talented and he had a great freshman season but he actually had fewer YPC and rushing yards than Steven Peoples last year. If anyone here claimed Peoples was a superstar, everyone would be ridiculing that person mercilessly.
JK Dobbins finished 8th in total yards and 19th in YPC in the B1G. Would anyone be calling that superstar production for a VT player?
People scoffed at the mention of Jerod Evans but he was more productive on the field than those guys. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Fuente was on the cusp of a superstar with Evans. Expectations for the offense should have been massively tempered for the offense with Josh Jackson, an unheralded 3* recruit, as a redshirt freshman, especially considering the loss of Hodges and Ford. Last year Jackson broke his leg and Damon Hazelton, who was extremely productive early on, couldn't get healthy in the 2nd half of the season, yet true freshman Tre Turner still emerged as one of the most talented WRs in the ACC. I don't think it takes a ton of critical thinking to rationalize why Fuente hasn't had a "superstar" in his first 3 seasons; however, I think this is a weak talking point anyway because we can have a productive offense and win a boatload of games with guys like Hazelton and Turner.
i agree with you. no superstars on offense. maybe everyone here is disagreeing with what makes a superstar a superstar. Cam Phillips and Isaiah Ford are probably the closest we've had in the CJF era, and Turner is probably best positioned to be the next.
Wait, Evans holds the record for most passes completed in a season, most touchdowns thrown in a season, most touchdowns thrown in a game, most passing yards in a season, and highest completion percentage in a season. He also bagged the record for win after largest deficit at QB with the Belk Bowl.
Yeah, he didn't get drafted, but the boy was a star that year.
Willis will be third team All ACC this year
Willis is a preseason 4th Team All - ACC pick.
Also known as honorable mention
Take a step back and look at VT's QB room compared to the rest of the conference. We have a returning starter who put up the 3rd highest passer rating out of the returning ACC starters last year and two former 4* recruits behind him. I was very critical of Willis last year and I'm not saying he's elite, but honestly I don't see a good reason why Willis shouldn't be in the discussion to potentially make an All-ACC team.
Which ACC teams do you believe have vastly superior QB depth to VT this upcoming season? I could see Clemson, Miami, and Wake Forest but any other team seems debateable at best and ludicrous at worst.
I mean, people around here were saying those same things about the program earlier in the year when the transfers were happening. I can't blame anyone who isn't even affiliated with VT to be thinking the same thing. From an outsider, the reality is that right now we appear to be a broken program having just gone through a season where we barely clawed back to finish at bowl eligibility after losing to Old Dominion only to see a rash of players transferring out, some far more publicly than others, and now its on the team this year to prove that wrong.
And I imagine the quotes about VT would be a lot worse if it was known that Bud was retiring when this survey was taken.
This is 100% true. No one thought Fuente/Foster would go 6-7 in year 3.
"Everyone is talking about this program. Something's not right."
Hate to say this, but I've had much the same sentiments ever since last year's nightmare offseason. That level of attrition, especially of experienced players, wreaks havoc on the locker room. And last year, we surprisingly weren't ready to play ball on several occasions, leading to our first losing season since I was in college. Our abysmal recruiting this year hasn't helped the 'something doesn't feel right' sentiment, either.
Really hope Coach Fu proves this sentiment wrong this year, and shows that everything can be attributed to a very young team getting some much needed experience.
I enjoyed this one:
That could have been Mack.
Yeah I was thinking Mack or Cut, could've been Addazio too. One of the guys that's been around for a little while
I read like 10-11 of the 14 breakdowns, and I think we had the most explicitly negative comments of any school.
I don't think the team needed any more motivation than they already have after the Team meeting in the spring, NBA, and now fighting to send Bud out a winner as well, but it certainly doesn't hurt if they put this chip on the shoulder as well.
Yes.
That is exactly how that one needs to land.
Well, these guys are coaches that know our team, and they clearly aren't impressed. They study our personnel and plans ALOT more than the fans on this board. Remember in the second half of games last year we struggled mightily on offense, and we all know what the defense did. I think that is where these comments are coming from. And the RB comments are spot on. A blind man can see there is not a David Wilson or Darren Evans in that room right now.
I'm not commenting on if there is any truth to them. I'm simply pointing out it could potentially be bulletin board material, and that I think we had more negative things said about us than other teams.
If you remember, I have harped on this a lot. I posted a drive by drive breakdown of how our offense systematically ruined the BC game in the 2nd half.
I'm not saying there aren't things to be negative about our team, nor that these coaches don't know what they are talking about. However, the "idk why these kids are transferring out thing" has been more than resolved so I don't actually think that is a negative for us. By all accounts the team is more unified now and even though teams successfully used that against us in recruiting, it doesn't mean it's true. I do think it's noteworthy that the tone for talking about our team seemed more consistently negative.
Last year we had a lot of issues, not only bad 3rd quarters on O. Any other D Coordinator would have been fired after that defensive display last year. Bud obviously earned the opportunity to turn that around and I hope it happens.
Yeah I don't think he would be fired for a 77th ranked defense given the context of our summer DB attrition and injuries. First and 2nd year players all over. It was still bad, but unless he was a complete unknown he wouldn't get fired.
Yeah, but it's 8/6, and I have every right and every intention to hope that a Jalen Holston, or a McClease, or a Wheatley has undergone a complete transformation over the winter into the greatest RB in VT history, and the Hokies are keeping it hushed up. Same goes for the QB situation.
Or some of the more critical evaluations are the coaches who haven't had to gameplan against us for some time now and are basing this solely off the limited film they may have watched when breaking down another ACC team's film (i.e. Louisville, Clemson, Wake, NC State, Georgia Tech's new staff, UNC's new staff). 6 of the coaching staffs in the ACC haven't had to gameplan for us ever or at least since 2016 so they haven't really had to evaluate our team.
Some of the comments, like the one about our running backs, are spot on. Ones about kids transferring or about Willis and our QB situation, sound more like coaches who know as much about Tech football as people on the Sabre.
good points here, agree with a lot of it. Also keep in mind that unless one of these coaches is retiring, even though its anonymous, they still use coach speak to some degree and will probably rather not bash a program - Karma and superstition is huge with these guys generally.
I disagree with this. Some of those statements resemble the trash that's thrown around in the negative recruiting whispers dropped by coaches and staff. But why pick on the Hokies? Makes you wonder?
They're talking trash because they're scared of the storm that's coming for them...
Go back and reread last years comments reviews were glowing for vt and pretty harsh on UVA and GT. I think its pretty tough to say that outside of clemson even many opponent coaches know what your opponents teams are gonna look like in the actual season
edit: I might also add that they were quite bullish on FSU and francois whereas this year they're trashing him and how terrible he is....seems pretty revisionist to me. Hindsight is 20/20
Exactly. Coaches know their own team and teams they have played (past tense). They aren't a great source for another team's potential.
I'm not really worried over the concerns of transfers. I think it was pretty clear that some of those guys did not fit, and for others they simply got passed by on the depth chart. I don't really have a problem with that. It seems like the team has been very cohesive in what limited coverage we've seen, so hopefully we can leave behind some of the drama that we had last year. That in itself should make us a better team, and with the progression of the young roster I'm cautiously optimistic.
It's interesting that there's not much good to say for us, but for UVA above us they are all but gushing. I know we had different seasons last year, but outside of a couple of players that roster just doesn't scare me. We'll see as the season plays out I guess, but they're banking a lot of success on a few players. And they haven't beaten us since I was in college.
VT vs UVA
All about reference points. Hoos had no where to go but up! From a dumpster fire, They are getting better every year... Bronco has had the advantage of being "cute and cuddly" for a year or so.
Thanks to Coach Beamer's character and timing, VT wasnt a build from scratch, It was a re-model. Things in a remodel always look the shittiest at the end of the teardown! (Last year).
Couple of these read like pitches to smear our look towards recruits and I'm sure similar things were said to recruits considering us.
Harsh but true. Hopefully we prove them wrong
The transfer stuff is such a weak talking point. I know we've beaten this horse dead, but I assume the coach that said that doesn't know too much about Tech's two-deep this coming season.
And the point about super stars on offense? I'll go out on a limb and say that some of those players in Fuente's first year were stars. We saw what Hazelton was capable of when healthy - we saw what Keane can do and got glimpses of what Tre can do. I don't think this comment is accurate in context nor will it age well come Oct/Nov.
Otherwise, nothing that shouldn't be expected. I'd maybe argue semantics when they say Tech is thin at QB with both HH and QP backing up a returning starter (not sure too many programs have that much of a deeper QB room). Whoever is sleeping on Willis probably didn't play Tech last year since a "that Willis kid" type moniker shouldn't really be reserved for a returning starter that has a strong argument to be considered at least the 3rd best QB in the conference.
"Something's not right"???
Some of these coaches comments seem to be at best a little premature and at worst, maybe even some "cheap shots". FUENTE's PLAYERS haven't been the ones leaving......
With the exception of a Co-DC who chose to not keep it in his pants, what has he lost that HE has built? Out of all the Fuente recruits in 3 yrs (70ish) not counting the transition year, how many players of his have left (transferred)? 2-3?
Although Coach Fuente and Beamer seem to have similar core values, I just see the program changing as to fit Fuente's vision and personality (obviously a different offensive philosophy, more process, structure, less tolerance for B.S.)
To Coach Beamer's credit, this wasn't a dumpster fire (see UVA transition for Bronco), Fuente used the pieces he already had and had to transform/adjust accordingly. The holdover's made decisions over a 3 year period... (oh yeah, and more than a few have also made it to the NFL)
After the last year of hard choices, the man now has "his guys" and we will see how the results play out.
It's really hard to forecast these guys.
Yes, it is.
This has more meaning than most of the rest. They really don't know what VT will be.
The most incendiary comment about "so many kids transferring out" is really just a regurgitation of the narrative that has been in the media for a year. I think we could see a couple of stars emerge this season on offense though, between Willis, Mitchell, Keene, Turner, and Hazelton. I guess I'm not holding my breath, but McClease or Holston could also break out. They're about at that age. Peoples really came on last year, so I believe in the ability to coach that group.
The problem is that the offense Fuente and Cornelson have schemed to run is that off of the read option where the mesh point between the RB and QB drives everything else we do on a given play. The fact that we still don't have a feature back is problematic when the offensive gameplan is put together to have such a big focus on the RB position itself. Its going to keep the other skill players who should be stars from reaching their potential here.
The better our O-line performs, the better our backs will look!
The gem of the article was about Louisville...
Truth. Ruth. I'd let RichRod date my daughters before I'd hire Bobby Petrino to coach my football team.
Rich Rod, Galen Scott, and Bobby Petrino walk into a bar...
I don't have a punch line for this.
...You would have thought one of them would of ducked.
Nothing but the finest of dad-jokes from you. +1.
Is Penn State interviewing for a coaches position?
I'm not sure why the movie scene popped into my head. But, I tried to find a gif, but was unsuccessful. So:
pedrofromnapoleondynamiteaskingisshehot?.gif
It hurts to read this about our team, but honestly there is some truth there. We don't have any real standouts on offense. Turner and the receivers are going to be very good and hopefully they will prove others wrong. The same for RW at QB. I hope Fuente reads this and it helps to light a fire under his behind to get out there and recruit well. If he can't do it himself he needs to hire assistants who can coach and recruit. Plain and simple. Recruiting has always been a concern of mine when he was hired. With that being said I am still optimistic that we have a better season. We do have a favorable schedule. Go Hokies!!!
This is just insight into how coaches are negatively recruiting against us...
Found Steve Addazio.
Hey they said something good about us...dammit
Talent ultimately means nothing without discipline. If he gets too emotional against us, it could mean an early exit via unsportsmanlike penalties or a targeting call.
No need to fret over any of this. General consensus is these excerpts are from position coaches and grad assistants. Just talking points. Most of it is just mailed in sound bytes. Take it all with a grain of salt.
Exactly.
The BC comments were exactly what I was expecting. We should do very well in that game or it's going to be a long year. They will test our weakness (run defense).
Whoever said the negative things about VT, especially the first comment, would never say that publicly. Now, I understand that is the point of the article, but let's be real, Frank probably never said anything anonymously in that type of interview that he also wouldn't say publicly. I get the feeling that Fuente is the same way. I like that. I don't have much respect for someone that is willing to make negative remarks in an article like this, remarks that he would never make publicly. I get the feeling that this type of thing gets Fuente fired up and pissed off. I'm imagining a similar type of attitude that he has had towards Fedora and UNC these past few years. After those quotes, he needs to have that same attitude towards the entire ACC this season!
Am I missing something?! Are people seriously offended? Does anyone actually think this is inaccurate, offensive, disrespectful, or anything but true?! Let's take a look at this comment:
Let's break this down...
Yea, we know this. Bill C said it best:
Moving on...
Again, also true. We had a ton of attrition last season, posted our worst record in 25 years. Not sure how anyone can argue nothing was wrong last season. Also not sure how anyone could just assume that all issues from last year were fixed without seeing a single game yet.
Did ANYONE in 2015 think that, in year 4 of the Fuente era, VT would be yet to produce a top 40 offense? Literally EVERYONE on TKP, in the media, hell, even at UVA, thought Fuente was a perfect fit for VT, and that it was the best hire of the 2015/16 offseason. This isn't a hot take or a remotely shocking comment.
At worst this comment is like seeing the hot girl from high school for the first time in 7 years and saying "damn, she put on like 30 lbs." Is it a nice think to say? Probably not. Is every one thinking it? Yes, literally everyone has noticed it and it's impossible to deny.
I wonder(ed) what's going on in the locker room too. Why are there so many people transferring? What's going on? Very reasonable question, especially for someone who spends all day watching tape, not reading message boards like us.
THIS COACH EVEN RECOGNIZES THAT FUENTE IS LIKABLE AND HE'S STILL CONFUSED! The person that made this comment is reading the reports, seeing that VT appears to be trending down, and doesn't understand why - completely reasonable take.
IT IS! Literally no one in CFB media knows what to expect from us this year. Returning to Bill C's comment:
I genuinely don't understand how anyone can look at this and be offended, think this coach is trying to manipulate recruits or slight VT, or think this is at all immature. I'm not sure if it's disillusionment or ignorance, but I'm shocked at the some of the comments I've read in this thread.
I regret that I have but one leg to give for this
in lieu of another leg, here's one of the best gifs I've ever come across. Enjoy!
Ours fan love to play victim. Anytime someone calls us Va Tech we lambast them. An AP writer drops us in a poll? It's a mob on twitter. Some coaches say some honest stuff about a 6-7 team last year and this forum loses its shit and claims it's a smear campaign. We have done nothing to earn praise.
Like I said, none of this matters. It's just admins and grad assistants. It goes back to the Heather Dinich days. Folks are still immature toward her. We just want to be victims.
Bar with the straight facts fire
yeah but fuck 'em for pointing it out
Outstanding comment!
The best expectations are ZERO expectations.
Following my approach to dating, are you?
Zero sexpectations?
I assume you mean Zero losses, not Zero wins?