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That doesn't fit the narrative many people want that this staff is just bad, Frank Beamer only hired Shane because he is his son. Rational thought out analysis of an issue has no place here.
That Coach Beamer allowed his son to mess up the rb rotation for so long this season.
While I agree that the head-scratching RB rotation was probably mostly on Shane, I just can't buy into that being definitely true. We cannot rule out the possibility that Loeffler had more to do with the RB rotation than we think. We just don't know for sure without being in the meetings with coaches.
That being said, if you go by the logic that the RB coach is responsible for the RB rotation, I think you could argue that the burning of the QB's red-shirt is the responsibility of the QB coach. That one falls pretty squarely on Loeffler's shoulders IMO. I think he might have promised Lawson some playing time. In effect, promised that he wouldn't red-shirt. Look on the bright side, we probably have a pissed off and talented QB who is going to give it his all to prove the doubters wrong. That, paired with a proven QB developer, could do some serious damage. I'm excited to see what our offense looks like in a couple of years.
Thanks for the post AND the pic. That pic gave me a chill - really gonna miss that guy.
The discussion is moot at this point.
The mighty Whit has spoken, and managed to get what many of us thought VT needed. A great new offensive mind on board to run the offense, while keeping Bud on board to run the defense.
Good discussion, because in hindsight it looks like a tough pill. Given our past history to retain the red shirt unless in dire straits, I don't think the coaches would've arbitrarily burned it. I think they had a plan for the season, but then after Brewer went down and Motley moved into QB1, it became less about designing packages for him and simply prepping him to be QB2. Was burning the shirt and giving him playing time a way of getting him prepped as QB2 in case Brewer didn't come back, ensuring we didn't have him taking the first snaps with the game on the line?
I'm no expert but I expect those are highly different sets of parameters, and something the coaching staff didn't do lightly. Add in the fact that we probably did anticipate getting him specific packages and told him that, and *poof* we have what we have. We also don't know what his development progress has been, good or bad. I think we'll know a lot more when we see Coach Fuente's offense in the spring, and who's doing what.
Add in the fact that most of our games were down-to-the wire, come-from-behind, every-play-matters, and there probably weren't many places our staff felt we could get him that playing time. Maybe in Shreveport, we'll get to see all 3.
i think i put the rb rotation out of my mind and not sure how it didnt come to my mind when thinking about this topic.
always will think back to a few season a go when we did the famous 3 and long draw play to dustin pickle.. rational was it was his turn in rotation and no way miami was expecting it. LOL
That along with hiring his old HS coach...
i thought about this...
I was just a little south of you in New Orleans for that one.
You're right it was a catch. Most of the people in the stadium knew that.
I left the stadium a little stunned that night, and not really in the mood to celebrate. But it sure was a fun trip overall anyway.
That Coach Beamer allowed his son to mess up the rb rotation for so long this season. It was nice when McMillian finally got the bulk of the carries over the lets make sure every gets a participation trophy mentality...
Let's not act like the ACC is screwing us over. We got dissed in 2000 when we got sent to the gator bowl because a BCS bowl wanted the ND fanbase; this is just a 6-6 team going to a 6-6 bowl.
My buddies and I totaled a rental car on our way back from that sugar bowl when a moronic woman decided to pull out in front of us. It was a painful week for all hokies.
I am pretty sure it is something like this:
Dan Patrick: With the first nine months of the Baseketball postseason out of the way, the playoff picture is starting to emerge.
Kenny Mayne: So, with last night's victory over Boston, next week the Milwaukee Beers must beat Indianapolis in order to advance to Charlotte. That's in an effort to reduce their magic number to three.
Dan Patrick: Right, and then the Beers can advance to the National Eastern Division North to play Tampa.
Kenny Mayne: So, if the Beers beat Detroit and Denver beats Atlanta in the American Southwestern Division East Northern, then Milwaukee goes to the Denslow Cup, unless Baltimore can upset Buffalo and Charlotte ties Toronto, then Oakland would play LA and Pittsburgh in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.
When you fight like hell to be 6-6 and make it to the top 80 out of 128 teams, you don't get to pick which bowl you're in. You do your best to win the one you're assigned. You can bet Tulsa would LOVE to beat Virginia Tech.
I'd have liked it to be the Sugar Bowl, and I absolutely would have been there for that. As it is, though, I'll have to watch this one on TV.
This and the RB rotation at the beginning of the season. Burning Lawson's redshirt was just bad all around. The only thing that makes sense is that he was promised playing time. But just because that makes sense as far as burning his shirt goes, doesn't make it smart or a good precedent to set. Still scratching my head about it and how it takes half a season to realize you need to give McMillian the rock.
I can understand that people might have wanted an easier drive to Beamer's last bowl game, but I don't understand the attitude that VT somehow got robbed, or the great injustice of it all.
FWIW, the ACC bowl process now is less subjective than it was 5 years ago. The current structure is very much a compromise between bowls (who want the best traveling fanbase/team regardless of record) and teams (who believe a better record should guarantee a more prestigious bowl/opponent.
Whether or not we'd be better off is another question.
Unless the ACC splits in to North/South divisions, and puts us in the North, then I have no desire to go to the SEC.
Nevertheless a 4-4 team was selected over a team with a 6-2 conference record and I cannot believe that the fact that it was Bowden's last game and he wanted it in Florida did not affect this selection.
Bowden didn't have any say in it - FSU's fanbase was the best-traveling fanbase available, so the gator bowl snagged them. This wasn't Bowden manipulating bowl selection.
This is all #sauces, but there was a pervasive rumor swirling that the SEC was prepared to extend an invitation to VT if they received assurances we would accept. Couple that with a few SEC execs mentioning VT by name as the type of program the conference would look for in future expansion and there was certainly at a bare minimum a high interest in our program by the conference. Had Weaver been receptive, I honestly believe we would be in the SEC East right now.
Whether or not we'd be better off is another question.
Ratio may be better, but I do know Air Force ladies are typically better looking. So, there's that.
What chance??? VT didn't have an offer to go to another conference. Would you be happy in he AAC??
Really could you link to it.
My theory is that we burned his shirt because somebody promised him playing time this year. He got his playing time (technically) and so he wasn't lied to. I think it was a pretty raw deal for him either way. I really don't understand why we burned his redshirt for 1 (2?) game. That's really shi**y IMO. Hopefully that puts a chip on his shoulder and he works like hell to win the starting job next season and plays his nuts off to prove that he is a stud and deserves some QB1 PT.
Lawson played in 5 games, although he played very sparingly outside of the Furman game.