Recent Comments
Chris Barnes, WR #10 for Wake is a nightmare.
He has a 98 yard Kickoff return for TD and 70 yard catch to set up another TD already in the 1st quarter.
100% agree
IMO simplified tactics work best for a national team. A lot easier to get spacing right when you know you have 3 guys all the time rather than guess if it's going to be 2, 3, or 4.
Ream is still serviceable but I worry how much he's going to decline before next summer. He's less exposed in a back 3, but you absolutely can't play him in a 2 CB formation anymore at the highest levels. And we don't exactly have solid depth at CB so you've got to work with what you've got.
Getting extra bodies in the center pushing up into the box is why I think I prefer the 3-5-2. Dest and Robinson will give us all the width we need and Weah can back them up, and give us pace off the bench. Get two guys up top(-ish) that can get into the box, along with a couple midfielders that can either pick a pass or crash the box as well. Not sure if we've seen Pulisic outside of a winger or 10, but I want that guy with space to run at defenders going towards the box, not the end line.
I put him on the list more as a sign that nothing was changing in Merryman, and even getting more calcified. Less about the #firebryanstinespring throwback. I don't think he would be a good hire in 2025 but not for the same reasons he was a beleaguered OC
Honestly Stinesrping wouldn't be that bad as a HC, he was great as a position coach and the issues with his offense were olY calling, those offenses ranked his plays to perfection, they just didn't work within the flow of the game. If he hired a real OC I would be disappointed in the VT leadership for both hitting a bigger name, but we could do worse.
Let's not try to claim developing Hooker. Tennessee did that. Could he have been developed here? I don't have high confidence in that.
Other ideas I didn't see on the thread, non-joke edition:
If we were able to poach him it would make me feel better about our program: Manny Diaz
If you can't spend with the big boys, get creative: Jeff Monken
Whoever we hire should either come with a definitely-not-tampered-with QB or hire an OC who will
Wrong answers only:
Scott Satterfield (ACC experience!)
Steve Belichick (famous dad!)
Scot Loeffler (familiar with the program! knows Tom Brady!)
Bryan Stinespring (clearly we've strayed too far from the glory days and need to retVTrn!)
I was there from 2004-2009!
I don't have an issue with the back 3. If he keeps adams as the 8 and Chris Richards as the middle pivot cb. Ream looked ok on the side the other night. Knowing they are playing as 3 allows them play as 3. Not sometimes as 3, sometimes as 4. There were times when they weren't sure if the 4th guy was getting back or not. But on top of that, when attacking, we wouldn't have more than 1 or 2 in the box. Everyone packed the middle under Gregg. Tuesday night, we had numbers forward. Im all for that.
I understand that it's all about the phases of the game, and the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation has really been a back three in possession. However, I'd rather have three dedicated CBs staying home rather than forcing one of Dest/Robinson to stay back in a more defensive role. Plus, against more technical sides, I'm more comfortable defending with 5 in a mid-block instead of 4, and I want Chris Richards in the middle of a back 3 where he can help on both sides if needed. Not sure of your views on the back 3 and/or the 4th back, but my only hesitation is that I don't fully trust any centerback not named Chris Richards. I think I may trust Scally as the RCB in a back three more than our other pure CBs. This team needs to get better at defending first - Adams is the only guy that regularly knows how to defend in the middle 3rd (Tillman has been getting better). I agree that everyone else seems to want to shuttle the ball carrier to the back line and hope not to get exposed.
Pulisic had a very small window where he looked competent on set pieces, but that was maybe one or two games. I agree, he's better when in the mix. Having Richards/McKennie/Pepi (when playing) crash the box on set pieces and Puli trying to get on the end of the 2nd ball is the way to go.
Poch doesn't seem to know what he wants to do yet, other than shake up the status quo, so there's no way the team has any idea what he wants to do. The roster and tactics are all over the place - it feels like the opposite of GGG, but too much. Undercoached vs micromanager. GGG's tactics were suboptimal and predictable, but they knew their jobs and played hard so they could often win in spite of it. Now, I agree that everything looks tentative because nobody seems to know what to do (or hasn't been put in a place to succeed) due to inconsistent lineups and tactics. Playing tentatively is a death sentence when the pace of play increases, even for players who are used to it in the bigger leagues. Not to mention playing with guys that just don't have the skills to hang at that pace of play...
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10 months 1 week
# | It is shit or get off the pot territory for Virginia Tech and its football program Higher status.... lol... in what category? Have we or those responsible for this law not looked around recently? At best we're even. At the worst... I'll just say that it wouldn't surprise me that within the next 10 years JMU or ODU become the schools that pay VT to be their September cupcake win.
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10 months 1 week
# | It is shit or get off the pot territory for Virginia Tech and its football program Dont forget about that trophy case that we placed in Merryman for our future national championship trophy. I don't recall whose idea that was, but it certainly helped give a false expectation.
You see when you have money you get access, we have far too few boosters with access.
I will believe Pry's seat is hot when either Whit or him get fired. To many people that think we gave Frank the time.
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Anyone who's read my posts...Gregg and Poch have employed the back 3 for their entire tenure at the helm of the USMNT. Sure, they say 4, but the one back was always a wing playing up. At least lining up 3, he admits it's a 3 in the back system. That's something. I'm made my feelings clear about the abandonment of the 4th back....
What bothers me is his deflections after the 2-0 loss to S. Korea. I've had bosses that treated the employees like that "I can't score the goals...we need more support (but I didn't pick the best guys...)" GTFOH!!!!!! Make the guys run thru a brick wall for you. Poch hasn't done that yet. I feel like they still don't really know who he is, or what he's about, or his style or personality...so they are on eggshells. At all times. That means you practice, talk, act, and especially play tentatively.
We still have this bad habit of escorting ball carriers like it's basketball. Instead of engaging and stopping, we run with them for 30-40 yards while the ball is moved deeper in our zone to shot taking territory, or for passing to a dangerous runner that's been able to engage and enter the play because of the escort.
And for the love of all that is #10 in red, white, and blue, can we stop having Pulisic taking free kicks!!!!!! He might be our most talented person in a small space...have him in the mix to get a trash rebound and put it away. All he does is fire it into the chest of the defending wall or 10' over the bar. He hasn't set up a goal for us in 5 years taking the kicks.
I'm not even bothering watching this game (or possibly the rest of the season). I'm going to be way too angry seeing our defense incapable of stopping a G5 rushing attack.
If we're going to do this, I'd like to see us (a) funded closer to Clemson and FSU, and (b) have those funds wielded by competent people.
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Thought this was good context for my non-college football fans so I shared it with them.
me:
boy someone made a VT video that is really sad
them:
someone got real drunk and nostalgic and angry
me:
we do that every saturday
Urban Meyer at Florida?
David Harris was hired in 2023. Prior to that, he was at North Iowa from 2016. From ESPN:
He's from Baton Rouge, also brings significant football experience. As the senior associate athletic director at Iowa State, he was the school's sport administrator for both football and men's basketball. He has also worked in the athletic departments at Wisconsin and his alma mater, Ole Miss.
I think the next AD has to be a fundraising expert. They don't need to know about football - they can hire an Associate AD of football who can drive hiring, facilities, etc for football. We need someone who can get more gifts in - IDK if David Harris is that dude.
Wake's LBs look like ours so far. State QB Bailey may eat us alive running the ball.