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This made me literally laugh out loud.
He's been around for 20 years, this has been a distinct problem for over 10. Nothing has happened.
Bud may have had a say 5 years ago, and significant enough change wasn't made. Now Bud's locked in with the annuity, he's lost any leverage he had. And, not seeing this as a negotiation but as a equity partner and friend in this investment, any voice he has had for change has to be diluted by now. If he was a proponent for offensive change as has been the gossip, it's clear that he hasn't been heard.
Especially with Duke on the up-and-up. Wait, what?
Touche
You hit the nail on the head on so many fronts.
I am having trouble watching games without fear of having an aneurysm as a result of the piss poor blocking effort of our wide receivers (I'm talking about you, Dyrell and Marcus). Even worse - and I know French you've discussed this ad naseum - how many times have we seen our O-line crumple into a heap of crap followed by Holmes running straight into said pile of teammates? When I watch other teams run the ball, even the mediocre offenses create enough space for their running backs to make plays. Outside of the Duke game, I can't recall too many of those moments for our backs.
Its just getting tiring to watch week after week. I find myself looking forward to games each week thinking, "Okay, if we do this, this and this right we might be okay," rather than the attitude of old of, "screw the talent gap, we're going to punch them in the mouth from the opening whistle."
You don't think Bud can step up and say something?
Because it's so true...
Don't want to accept that this season could be more than an anomaly, but I'm afraid that's the case. I'm really hoping for changes on the Offensive Side of the ball and improvement on the Defense, but I'm just not sure it's possible. Not saying that VT will become NCst, but it's possible that we go 5 years without a BCS Bowl appearance. That's just scary.
Bowden took FSU down with the ship at the end. They recovered, but he caused the damage to what he had built himself. The FSU brass (AD/boosters?) caused the Jimbo move, which ultimately saved them.
I don't see that at VT. There aren't any boosters with that type of power here because they weren't boosters before Frank. The AD is a notorious budget wonk with poor personnel intuition.
Frank has to make this move on his own, and he has proven in the past incapable of doing so. There is one chance, and it's Shane. I think Frank listens to Shane and Shane has to see the writing on the wall. The Beamer family has to have this grand vision of Frank coaching until he's 70 and handing it over to Shane. That won't happen unless there is significant change on the offensive side.
I agree, Shane deserves a lot of criticism for the unfathomably stupid RB rotation. But he's our only shot at rebounding.
Welcome to the Terror Dome, baby!
He's ran more than he's passed every year since Auburn.
If people are calling you out for being negative, that's a "you" issue, and it might have something to do with the overwhelming amount of your posts being negative (fire Beamer, etc...). You haven't been that over the top, and it's your opinion, but expect to criticized because it's extremely unpopular.
Also, there's tact, "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING". Holmes isn't the best tailback option, but if you're talking about being responsible, give him credit for running hard against Georgia Tech and in the second half against Cincinnati. He's a main reason why Tech came back in DC.
Well the good Lord may show up and help out the Hokies on....oh wait, you were talking about Marcus.
French, your analysis of the offensive woes is spot on, and your prescription for what needs to happen to bring about positive change there is unequivocal. HCFB must revamp his entire offensive staff with a new OC and new position coach hires across the board, or 2013 and beyond are doomed seasons. The new OC needs to have the autonomy to hire guys that will coach his system well and get significant "buy-in" from the players, much like what has happened at Clemson and probably UNC.
Our offense looks worse this season than any previous year since the beginning of Beamer's tenure because the effort and the coordination that comes from sound coaching are not evident. Beamer's early teams lost due to lack of talent, not lack of effort. The defense seems well coached, but just has lost a lot of players, especially in the secondary. I suspect the defense also suffers from mistrust of the offense's ability to win the game, which then affects the defensive morale. Special teams have been in the toilet the last few seasons, and I would argue that ST have been the deciding factor that cost us several games, most notably ECU a while back, Boise State and this Miami game.
I hope and pray that you are correct, that we see a house cleaning on the offensive side this off-season and adopt a strong direction going forward with a new OC who will commit to a successful philosophy and recruit players who fit well in that scheme. If Richt can do it at UGA, why can't VT do the same?
Thank you for all of the great analysis. Go Hokies!
This article makes me think, "Well no duh, now what can we do to get you guys back on track." We need that leader on the field, both off and def. we can get beat up and down the field all day everyday, but it sucks when you beat yourself the whole game. We've seen what this team can pull off when people step up and get that ship in the right wind. Hopefully, the right people step up in the right way to win, at least, the UVA game. They have plenty of talent, just gotta get everyone on the same page of the playbook.
Beamer has the power to fix this. I agree with your proposed changes and vision, I hope others see things this way as well.
would have got a ballin out night drinking on me.
not over yet ... but close. reg season and conf championship games only.
Hall was just keeping it real...
Just throwing this out there, but I'll be watching election results on the only news sources I care about -- Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert at 11 o'clock tonight.
I understand. I wasn't suggesting that you created the forum to hate on MD, at all. You said nothing negative about him. You posted his comments and spoke to the lack of leadership on the team.
He has been a disappointment this year and has been pretty bad at times, I'm not denying that at all. I actually agree with most of the negative comments that were said.
I wasn't trying to single out BlameGlennon either. I was just speaking more to the fact that I (and others) got called out a few days ago for being negative and "spewing hate" towards Michael Holmes, who has contributed nothing to our programs success, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. But then days later, there's a bunch of negative comments about someone who actually has contributed to our programs success (and failures as well, I know).
Like I said though, I'm not here to tell anybody what to say or think. I like reading all of the negative and positive insight everyone has to offer. Guess I was just defending myself.
While I do think we're gonna get beat by FSU, I don't know that it's a forgone conclusion that we'll lose. They're a good team, but a Thursday night in Lane is something they haven't faced this year. Hell, playing at NC State was enough to throw them off their game, so if the students can show up and be as loud as humanly possible then we could steal this one.
The O-line is another reason I like Fridge. That's his specialty, so he might be able to improve us there too.
I was watching Kansas State this weekend and couldn't help but think that Logan Thomas should be running that kind of offense. They use Klein as a power runner and then use their running backs as scat guys instead of whatever the hell our running backs are doing on any given play. Klein and Thomas are both big guys who should be running between the tackles, not this stupid off tackle crap we've been running with Thomas recently.
For what it's worth a lot of players and their family and friends read the site. Specifically, I don't believe the poster you're talking about is Davis' mom, rather a close family friend (God mom maybe?) Either way, I've tweeted back and forth with her before and she seems like a nice lady and someone who loves Tech. Like anyone close to a player, it probably hurts when she reads negative comments. I don't think what BlameGlennon wrote was scathing criticism, rather his personal opinion, and I can't change that. However, he shouldn't speak for everyone.
When my I write about a player's or coach's performance above all else I try to tell the truth which is the most fair way to be critical--positive or negative.
I posted the quotes because there had been a lot of threads and comments here about leadership, and now someone on the team is finally questioning it and making it public. That's something to talk about, hence why it went into WaPo. Most of us don't know who the leaders, followers, or egomaniacs are because we aren't privileged to watch practice. Assuming Davis is one of them, isn't fair to him.
Davis has helped contribute to win games, but based on his measurable I thought he'd be a superstar by the time he left Blacksburg. I don't think he's played at that level. Personally, any receiver who consistently looks for a flag after a dropped ball and doesn't block downfield doesn't endear himself to me. I was an offensive linemen, we blocked hard then walked back to the huddle after. That's the type of play I relate to on the field. Do I still want him to succeed, go on to have an NFL career, and will I root for him? Absolutely.
The real question is why has someone so gifted struggled. He was an "athlete" coming into Tech and the program was supposed to turn him into a polished receiver.
...I see 6 carries in his future!
Collins is turning to the next McCray.
enough of K-State to form an opinion, but they are rolling over everyone they play.