Recent Comments
I think the bigger issue than the 85 schollie cap is the 25-man signing class cap. Still, I think the coaches have a good idea of who will need a prep year, plus the 4 guys that enrolled early and the Taylor decommit. Somehow, the numbers always work out.
*EDIT* I'm pretty sure we'd only need 1 guys to prep to get all 6 of those guys. 247 lists us as having 25 commits, with 4 of them enrolling early and thus counting towards last year's class. One of the six mentioned is JH, who's already counted in there, leaving 4 spots for 5 potential new commits. In a class of 21, it's hard to imagine that at least 1 guy won't greyshirt or need a prep year. Numbers should work out just fine this year.
The funny thing to me, is that at the crux of this is the argument that players voluntarily participate in sports and are promised an education in return; certain institutions-cough-UNC-cough-have failed to provide an education and therefore breached this contract.
This will be fun.
To paraphrase the great Chrissy Hynde-"I say Hey, Ho, way to go Chapel Hill."
At this point, it seems rather unlikely that we'll land him, but you never know. This kid reminds me a bit of LT3 (minus the abuse, of course) in that he's got some mechanical issues (the throwing motion mentioned by French as well as some footwork problems he'll have to work on) but has scouts drooling based on his size, athleticism and arm strength. The only difference is that while Thomas has size and arm strength in the extreme, this kid has athleticism in the extreme. He's just making dudes look silly out there. His line also appears to be completely disinterested in preventing anyone from getting to their QB, good thing Gibson can run.
Side note: I'd take a good, long look at whoever #1 is on that team based solely on the fact that he always seems to be around the ball carrier offering a block 30+ yards downfield.
I understand how BristolHokie feels since I too live in Bristol and work with many (worthless) UT grads. It's embarassing that they already have their tickets. I'm dying to get these tickets and lock them away until 2016. This game could be great with how UT has been getting better and how young our team is now. We should have experience all over the offensive side of the ball for once. And Bud and Gray always has it covered on the defensive side.
I think the next hire is a statement by the new AD, (assuming he makes a change.)
To come in and get a new coach tells me that he intends to make basketball a priority and fix it.
Which coach he choses, and how much money spent will tell us which direction he intends the program to go.
Pearl, IMHO, is not the direction I want to go. I really don't want UT's sloppy seconds.
Was thinking a few days ago....wonder if we could get UVA's coach. Ha!
I just wish Pete Carroll wasn't their head coach. Now, if Kam goes out, plays a hell of a game and gets defensive MVP of the Superbowl, that would be fine. I just can't pull for Pete to win a Superbowl...
Kam has always been a physical beast. I always knew Seattle got a steal when they drafted him in the 5th round. I think he took over as starting safety his second year?
Pearl has a questionable background, but the man is a phenomenal coach and has the ability to re-build a program. If he intends to get back into coaching - which I think is a given - a program like Tech's is exactly the type of place he should be targeting. Power conference, moderate expectations, located in a good recruiting territory, and can only go upwards.
Do I want a guy looking to rebuild his persona and coaching credentials and then bolt when the bigger name comes calling? I'm not sure...but in many ways I find it unrealistic for us to expect to find a Frank Beamer equivalent for the basketball program. Is Pearl the answer? Again, I'm not sure...but I think guys like Howland and Pearl, who are trying to resurrect themselves, are a good group to target in addition to the "up-and-comers." Heck, once upon a time, Bruce Pearl was the hot name after he lead UW-Milwaukee to the dance and parlayed that into the UT job (which was in a similar state as the VT program today). A lot can and will happen over the next 3 months.
🌏MAN OF MYSTERY🕵
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12 years 6 months
# | Northwestern Football Players Take Steps to Be Represented by Union 
thanks dude. flattery always gets some legs, here's some from over here in China
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🌏MAN OF MYSTERY🕵
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12 years 6 months
# | Northwestern Football Players Take Steps to Be Represented by Union The 97% you're talking about aren't vying to be or will not be a professional athlete. They will therefore use their free degree to pursue alternate professional careers. Most student athletes have a fairly good sense of whether or not they can go pro, or at least try to.
Likewise, just as that top 1 - 3% will have the most gripe about not receiving money from television rights and merchandising, the bottom 97% constitute very little revenue in terms of merchandising and television draw for the university. We all love the wrestling team but how much money do you think VT is making off of them? Therefore the free education, opportunity for some to break the glass ceiling (Cody Grimm, Danny Coale, etc) into professional sports and all the other benefits given to student athletes is more than commensurate.
I do agree with you on medical issues however and think that all student athletes should be covered on university insurance for up to 5 years after school for ailments and medical attention related to playing sports for their school, unless they turn pro. But that is very different from merchandising and money from television rights.
yeah, niemo at techhoops has been throwing pearl's name around. i just dont see it happening.
i always thought dino gaudio got the shaft at wake. they were mad because he "just" got them to the tournament most years. granted bzdlk has a better squad this year but their program has gone way down hill since dino was let go.
There is not a chance that Howland or Pearl will be in VT's price range, despite how their tenures ended poorly at UCLA and Tennessee. Pearl also has all kinds of off the court/recruiting and academic violation type stigma all ver him.
Donnie Tyndall, Ben Howland, Leon Rice, Mike White, and Bruce Pearl are my top 5 in no particular order right now.
HOKIE HOOPS WIZ
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12 years 6 months
# | Northwestern Football Players Take Steps to Be Represented by Union That's great news for the 1-3% of players that go on to play their respective professional sport, what happens for the other 97% that don't become professional athletes and deal with medical problems the rest of their lives? (Don't know what percent of this pool has said injuries so I won't speculate)
Anyway I think we both agree that right now its a legal rabbit hole and will be interesting to watch it play out.
Offer Isaiah Mckenzie right now and tell him his first job is to make this kid a Hokie. Absolute beast!
A lot of people seem to be thinking that Grimes is going to be making $500k+ at LSU, but if he is only the line coach with no other responsibilities, I really can't see it being much over $300. To me, $265-290 seems totally reasonable for Searels as a position coach in the ACC.
While I totally agree that the Hokie Club needs to step up its game, this doesn't seem to be a case of us not having the money to hire and retain a quality coach.
Loeffler is bringing the approach that most top programs employ, and that is to identify talent that can work within and potentially augment your system, regardless of present depth. Injuries happen. Players leave early for the pros. Heck, some have run-ins with the law or fail to meet academic standards. Coaches cannot take anything for granted and need to constantly look to improve the roster in the short and long term. Until these kids step on the field, they are nothing more than "prospects" - unproven commodities that have star rankings attached to their names since high school, evaluated nationally by a bunch of guys who are seldom qualified to properly evaluate talent.
In 2006, USC chose not to pursue a QB in their recruiting class in hopes of convincing Jimmy Clausen (the far-and-away consensus top QB talent in the 2007 class) that he should stay home and become a Trojan. Now, history has shown us that Clausen's decision to shirk USC and head to South Bend had little impact on the Trojans at the QB position (though it did force Matt Barkley into the starting job as a T-Fr), but it was a huge gamble that could have come back to haunt them.
I like the fact that Lefty & Co. are not resting on their laurels and continue to seek out top talent that can make VT a perennial power. Take nothing for granted.
He is doing something we may not be used to around here:
Get the best damn players you can on the field and then adjust your system to exploit their talents.
That is how you win big.
That's a really good explanation. Thank you.
2007? Seems like he was just on the team yesterday!
Thanks for the write up, French. One question: the words "stare down receiver" terrifies me (an LT era legacy, I'm afraid). Is Ford prone to this a lot, or only when he has a very favorable matchup? Thanks in advance!
It's quite possible he wasn't offered yet because of qualifying problems.
It certainly sounds like he's been told the requirements and he's signaling that if he can get the qualifiers he's got VT as #1 on his list.