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I agree with you. But you know, rich schools (or boosters) always find a way.
Not sure if you've read this before, but I just recently saw this article about Chip Kelly's spread offense and when you mentioned needing a running quarterback to win with that type of offense it reminded me of this.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8631595/the-success-chip-kelly-orego...
If I can swing it, I'd go to the bowl game every year, win or lose.
Look, I know you're ending your argument with VTguitarMan, but, I'd like to say a few things. First of all, I've been following this program since I was 5 years old. I remember 1999. I remember the Sugarbowl in 2000. A lot of people wanted to fire Beamer after we didn't make the MNC in 2001. A lot of people wanted to fire Beamer 2006-8 when we didn't make the MNC. A lot of people wanted to fire Beamer when we didn't make the MNC in the 2010 season. You're just the latest version of a long running stream of people calling for Beamer's head.
So, let's not discuss why I think you're wrong, let's discuss why it hasn't happened in the past.
PART I: WHO THE HELL WANTS TO COACH IN BLACKSBURG, VA?
Let's talk about some of the draws of Blacksburg: It has Virginia Tech football. It has some nice hikes to go on. Biking in the mountains is pretty cool. The bars are filled with young people.
For a prospective college coach, none of that is actually a draw. You might say that Virginia Tech football is a draw, but frankly that's circular logic. That's your job to make it interesting, it's not inherently interesting. The hikes are kinda pointless because you're going to be on the recruiting/coaching trail all of the time. The same goes for the biking, and I'm not sure there are a whole lot of coaches in the NCAA who are in the cardiovascular shape to try and tackle Montgomery/Giles/Pulaski/Roanoke County on a bicycle. (SIDEBAR: If someone can find a gif of Frank Beamer riding a bike, I feel like that would make me really happy)
I really don't want coach who's amped about the fact that our bars are filled with young people. That's weird. I don't like it. Make it stop.
That basically leaves coaches who are alumni or familiar and comfortable with southwestern Virginia. I don't know about active coaches, but that basically leaves the Beamers. There are some others as well, but a large number of them are already coaching at Virginia Tech or have already coached at Virginia Tech. All the others would just look at Virginia Tech as a bullet point on their resume. We could get someone capable of acquiring the chrystal ball, but they wouldn't want to stay. They would rather go coach a powerhouse like an Alabama, a Stanford, an Ohio State, or a Florida State.
The reason for this will be covered later in Part II.
PART II: WHO THE HELL WANTS TO PLAY IN BLACKSBURG, VA?
In part one we established that there's basically fuck all to do in Blacksburg, VA, unless you motherfucking love being outside (hence why I think it's a great place). There's a lot of the same for players too. They're going to want a few things out of a program that they are considering committing to: Bitches, Stuff to do at night, places to work out, piss easy classes. (NOTE: This is not the case for all recruits, just some of them.)
We got bitches. So that's a plus.
There's stuff to do at night, as mentioned before, and it's not weird for players to be amped about bars filled with young people. Awesome. (NOTE: There is an asterisk here. We don't offer nearly as much to do at night as, say, Miami, Palo Alto, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boulder, Denver, or Eugene).
The places to work out have largely expanded due to the Beamer effect. When you drive up Southgate, you are driving past the house that Beamer built. Thank him. He makes it much easier to get people to come to our school.
The classes are where it starts to get weird. We have the highest graduation rate of any NCAA DI school along with Stanford. To a lot of recruits that kind of looks like "They want me to learn stuff that isn't the playbook. Fuck all that noise." We have to gun for the recruits who think "CAN'T WAIT TO LEARN." This greatly limits the players available to us. To Beamer's credit, he doesn't use this as an excuse like our friends up north. I can see a lot of coaches hearing that and packing their bags for another town, like Tuscaloosa, Columbus, or Tallahassee.
Honestly, off the top of my head, I can think of UVa, Stanford, and VT who brag about the acedemic standards they hold their players to. Of course, UVa is disqualified because they lose games and don't graduate as many players as we do. Seriously. UVa, what the fuck?
We need a coach who can take all of these things together and say, "I think you'll love it in Blacksburg." While at the same time convincing the parents of Johnny A. Recruit that they will love their kid going to Virginia Tech. That's a pretty tall order, requiring someone with experience with Virginia Tech and southwestern Virginia. Now the requirements of some one close to Virginia Tech have gone up even higher.
PART III: HOW THE HELL IS THIS GUY GOING TO PULL ALL OF THIS TOGETHER?
Our best options at the Head Coaching jobs are:
- Graduates of Virginia Tech
- People from Southwest Virginia
- People with Football Experience
- People with experience recruiting to Virginia Tech
That leaves:
- Frank Beamer
- Bud Foster*
*Bud Foster is not a graduate, and spends a lot of time on the lake instead of in town experiencing Blacksburg.
Jeebus that's a short list. I still take Frank Beamer over Bud Foster. Frank Beamer is experienced managing an entire staff. He's experienced making tough calls about moving players around. Bud Foster has some of that, but Frank Beamer has more experience doing this. Does this mean Bud Foster shouldn't get a shot? No. He definitely should. But let Frank Beamer decide it's time. He just brings so much to the table.
PART IV: WILL HE EVER SHUT UP?
Yes.
I would have but all I know is your screen name and then everyone would have figured out how Unevenhanded I am.
I am hoping one of these years my friends will wise up and go to vegas instead of the bowl game. At least I might enjoy dropping several hundred in vegas. Every year it goes like this:
"Jsketch, you want to go to the bowl game this year?"
"Uhhh no. Do you remember that feeling in your stomach during that 16 hour ride back from the Orange bowl?"
"We can fly this time"
"So, you want to spend more money watching a team you know will disappoint? Can we just waste money in Vegas instead?"
TL;DR - You can only milk the fan base so many times
Did anyone happen to get a copy of this before it was removed by the owner?
I'm offended that you left out a line saying how awesome I am. I gave you a turkey leg though, because I believe in positive reinforcement.
Sam Rogers pancake vs. Miami
I jumped out of my seat:
Kyshoen Jarrett ain't got time for your shit.
lol
#AJ4HEISMAN
OK THAT'S ENOUGH. FOR NOW.
Blocking the punt vs Marshall
But the rule actually puts the health of the kids at risk.
Nvm sorry again I'm reading where I put my comments wrong, I should probably stop commenting for now
the point of the spread offenses such as Baylor's or UCF's was to spread it out to make the field almost an equal playing field against superior athletes...If that were the case doesn't that mean that perhaps Tech should go to a spread offense to equal the playing field
Very good question, and a great writing prompt. I may choose to do an article on this down the road...
But basically, when the spread first hit the scene it did give smaller teams advantages over the power houses because it was so unique (similar to how PJ's offense gives him an advantage over other teams). However, now that so many schools use it, there isn't really much of surprise factor to gain anything by switching.
There is a reason that most national championship winners are pro-style offenses. The only exceptions in the BCS era were Texas, Florida (the 2nd time), and Auburn. All three had all-time great rushing QB's at the helm. Vince Young, Tim Tebow, and Cam Newton. Repeat, the only spread offenses that have won a national championship are the teams which had to rely on their quarterback to be a very large percentage of their overall offense. I think there is a fundamental flaw in asking your QB to carry that much of a load (good dual threat QB's are damn rare and have a tendency to get hurt). The rest of those national championship winners? They had strong rushing attacks, explosive vertical passing games, and devastating defenses. AKA, Beamer's formula.
Regardless of what system of offense you run, you have to have great personnel to win the big game. If Beamer and Co. can keep improving on their recruiting classes, then he'll have a shot before he retires. If they stagnate on the recruiting trail again, then he won't.
The thing that sticks out to me when I say that is the Danny Coale fake punt in the Sugar bowl. I believe a "killer instinct" coach would have called the play they wanted - punt, fake, or go for it on 4thd down - without having to call that timeout
I'm going a little OT with this, but that Danny Coale fake-punt "option" play (see gif below if you can stomach it, it's not too late to look away!) still haunts my dreams to this day. But I don't think it's fair to blame Beamer for Coale not making the decision (seems like a executional flaw more than a playcalling flaw) to pull the trigger and punt the ball away sooner.
Crap sorry some how I replied to the wrong message, I thought my previous comment was to one of I miss tyrods messages about needing a ballsy coach
So does that mean Paul Johnson has a better chance then Beamer?
Our identity, in the 90's and early 2000's, was a tough, pounding team, very similar to Stanford and Michigan State. That's why we pounded Texas and had a lead on FSU late in the NC game, our offense and defense WERE well above average.
The lack of a spy was not the problem. Lack of good tackling was. The guys were in the right place (ie. the same space occupied by Lumley), they just couldn't bring him down.
Really? What part of that post was offensive? I'll change it.
There is a reason why he made all American despite missing the last 1/2 season.
One viewing of the first Q against GT and if one does not realize how special he is, then there is no mental hospital big enough to hold all those psych problems.
Saban also has an incredibly larger budget both for the team and recruiting.
I think part of the problem was all the injuries too.
With all the playmakers out there was a lack of leadership.
Sam Rogers generously gracing the field for our enjoyment and sparing us from the chaos that would have ensued had he scored a TD. He knew we just weren't ready for that. Next season though....
2022 ACC CHAMPS 🦃
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12 years 6 months
# | My 2 cents on the current state of this program (Long Read) I agree. I'm a 50 year old with a tremendous soccer player for a son. I would love for my son to play for a coach like Beamer. He is pure class. Can he win a NC, Yes. If we continue to recruit the kids we seem to be now getting, Bud will always coach them up on his side of the ball, we give special teams to anyone different and Scott delivers a real NFL QB along with a playmaker RB and WR, we have a shot. We play in the ACC, so we always have a shot. At best, we need to beat two top 10 teams to win the conference. It will start with better athletes. UCLA had them, we did not. That simple! Go Hokies. WE all start 0-0 again, THANKFULLY......
Stanford's catch against Miami. Sam Rogers pancake block on Trey's touchdown against Miami. Dadi going nuts on Pitt
Haha posting the gif was like stabbing me in the gut. I blame Beamer more than I blame Coale on this play actually. You told a senior star in his last game to go out there and during the middle of the play decide whether or not to punt the ball. Obviously he's going to do everything in his power to get that first down. I believe the coach should make the call to fake it straight up, go for it, or punt it, not a player whose emotions are running buckwild during the play.