Recent Comments
1) I want to see the team play with heart and drive. Where's the swagger?? Come into the stadium determined to win!!
2) At the very least beat uva and get to a bowl game. As far as the rest, I want the games to at least be respectable. Losing close games to f$u and klempson won't be the end of the season.
3) start tooling ahead. If we burn redshirts then so be it. If someone is that good they don't stay til their senior year anyways. If we start recruiting properly then it won't be an issue anyways.
4) I don't know much about JUCOs but go look for some that can start next year, specifically in the awful secondary
5) Tweak the coaching situation already. Even if its just a new O-line coach...something!
Is this a real thing that people compete in? I thought they were a drill
(3qtr, 3rd & 8, catch at the 50)
I didn't see outside alignment on that play. Fuller was playing his man straight up and even shaded to the inside as the receiver released downfield. Except the receiver wasn't releasing downfield.. he was faking a fly route and actually running a 10-yard square in. As soon as Fuller turned to run with him, the WR slowed and cut inside, under Fuller. Fuller stumbled making that change in direction,and lost leverage, but he did recover in time to make the tackle.
He's simply not excellent at straight man-to-man coverage down the field. He's also playing injured shoulder that's going to affect his agility & tackling (see that last Fuller clip where the RB drops a spin move on him)
Should Beamer get fired or resign? No
Should he make changes on his coaching staff? Yes
Given the consistency and predictability of VT's coaching and recruiting, is it unrealistic in expecting to win a national championship? Yes
Person to call on the phone and ask for advice? Mike Riley
Is loyalty a double edged sword? Yes
Think about how long it took Meyer, Saban, Carroll, Stoops, Miles, Chizik, Tressel to win their first BCS title at their program? Rather quickly... the exception is Mack Brown, lets hope Beamer pulls a Mack Brown, but realize the odds are against this.
Do a film review on the performance of our equipment staff to show us what has gone wrong?
is that, over time, football (especially college football) has a cyclical nature to it. Teams are great for a while, cycle back to being only good, average, maybe even lousy, but can cycle back. Sometimes it is with different coaches, sometimes it is with the same coach. Remember, we beat Bama in the Music City Bowl? They rebounded, as did we. I think we can do it again. Most of the issues that we see are correctable with either talent (new, or improved) or re-direction of coaching effort. The question is, can the current staff make the changes and adapt their side of the equation on offense. I think that we'll see some changes in that regard made by CFB at the end of the season, similar in timing to bringing Shane in. Don't see many changes on the defensive side of the ball, mainly because it's personnel issues there. The older I get, the more long-term my field of vision becomes. I think this gets turned around, with CFB in charge, but it may be a two or three year timeline.
I would also be willing to chip in some funds. I'm sure if Joe set something up, enough of this community would help out to at least cover the cost of site hosting and other things that cost money to keep this site up and running.
I might have to quit reading these articles.... it is too hard seeing just how bad we are.... *sigh*
French - that is a compliment
Similar to Joe, I look forward to your film review every week.
Thanks for the response. I happen to think there are plenty of resources available. Good talent pool, great facilities, great fan base, Virginia's recruits, easier path to the 4 team playoff considering the ACC sucks, and prob some more if I really sat down and thought about it. Just my opinion though.
And last question: Do you think Beamer will ever win us a national championship? or do you feel that expecting VT to win a national championship is expecting too much?
I don't care if we wear pink & purple plaid helmets.
is that we don't have Al to kick around anymore.
I didn't say I want us to cheat for it and I never condoned cheating, hence the unc mention. I'm saying that we need to lose this thought that being loyal to our coaches is more important than being an elite program. And lose the thought that preserving 250 year old trees is more important than being an elite program. Etc.
Sorry that my message wasn't expressed more clearly, but I never ever want us to cheat or do anything similar. In fact, I was having a talk with a Hokies fan who also wants Beamer gone and he said, I kind of hope for some kind of scandal that will force him out. And to that I quickly disagreed saying "I'd rather continue with our current status as good but not great, than have a scandal and tarnish Beamer's name and everything that came with it." I'm not an immoral, only-football-matters kind of person.
Just saying that I think some of our priorities need to change to reflect the business that we're in.
Great film review. My untrained eyes suspected as much on Saturday, but this really confirms it. Going forward, no game is a gimmee, nor is a bowl appearance. Frank and gang, adversity demands strong leaders, so it’s time to earn your dime.
Also, I wholeheartedly second your comment as it relates to financial backing. Maybe just drop a post on the main page with a PayPal “pay to” that serves as the first annual “100% optional contribution to keep this great site free” sort of thing, with a recommended donation of $20 or something. I guarantee you will get a very favorable response. I subscribe to one of the other sites but definitely spend as much time here as anywhere, as there is content and community that just can’t be found elsewhere. If you wouldn’t drop a $20 to support that, then what’s the point?
As painful as it is to watch, I thoroughly enjoy the breakdown. Top notch as always.
interesting to see that, no idea how awful our defensive recruiting has been
I have only been watching VT since 08/09 but damn this is awful. I didnt expect us to get whalloped so badly
Is our team looking bad? Yes, are there changes Frank and co. can make to remedy it? Certainly. Are these changes not happening because Frank just doesn't care enough? Absolutely not.
You seem to forget that Frank played for this team, which is more than any of us can say. Frank's livelihood comes from coaching this team, which is, again, more than any of us can say. You think that $250 for season tickets compares to what Frank stands to gain from a successful season? If you think his efforts are lackadaisical then you've really got a few things to learn about being on a team, or coaching one. No one hates losing more than a coach. Not only does Frank have to deal with the loss personally, he has to also put on a strong face for his players, who I'm sure are just as upset about these losses, and I can't even imagine being the ire of Hokie fans right now. Knee jerk reactions are not how we should be handling this.
Now, I get drunk, angry, and react ridiculously at times regarding out player's heart, our coaches as well, but in a calm frame of mind, there's no doubt in my mind that Frank is thinking long-term, and is doing everything he can to fix this. All the while, we sit here for 6 years and bitch about an antiquated offense, yet, when Beamer tries something with some spread looks and the pistol, we freak out when it doesn't work in our first season. If anything, a little patience is what is needed. Frank's staying the course, understanding that changes don't turn into championships overnight. Shoot, we haven't even had a chance to reap the benefits of our new recruits. Every team has seasons like this, yes, EVEN IN THE SEC. Florida, anyone? It happens. Being consistently good year in and year out is near impossible, and sometimes it takes seasons like this to reassess what it takes to win it all.
Now do I believe Frank's loyalty is a hindrance to our offense? Yes. Curt Newsome obviously can't find a line he likes, and our offensive coordinator(s) just seems a bit over his head, but it's also Frank's loyalty that gives us that warm tingly feeling, where we can look at teams like Wisconsin and say "Frank would never do that after 3 games". Of course, it's plain that things aren't working out, and something needs to change, but that's Frank's decision.
Also, I've been told that Frank has no interest in being AD. I personally don't think a guy that can't use email should ever be one. And I also think the next HC should be the result of a national search. Nepitism never works out, and the best option should get the job.
First off, this write up is, as always, superior. Many thanks as always, French.
Now, I don't know if it's my immaturity or my longing to laugh after consecutive beat downs, but French's superb write up contains one of the greatest sentences ever written:
"the rejection of Wang narrows the hole."
If you ask me, no truer words have ever been written.
As always, excellent analysis, sir.
RE: Joe et al: If y'all need financial backing, I'm happy to chip in. I don't have much, but for analysis like this, I'm happy to lay down some duckets for this superior quality. I literally quit TSL because it wasn't half this good on their best day. Thanks again, guys!
These 7 on 7 tournaments are where you find the athletes that can play in space and cover the spread offense. That is pretty much the whole point of 7 on 7. That is why they take the lineman out to open things up. I know Frank thinks that there are shady aspects of recruiting these tournaments and believe me there are but if he wants to stop getting throttled every damn time we play the spread this would be a great place to look for those athletes he needs. As a former defensive back myself it hurts watching some of the mistakes being made in our secondary every week. Bonner just looks genuinely uninterested every snap. Also see them all stand still at the snap and wait to turn and run with the receiver and by then it is too late and they are beat deep. Also pet peeve jumping up and bumping chests in the air after breaking up a pass. That is what you are supposed to do. If you get a pick 6 I get it but don't celebrate every tackle. I think some of our players have developed this swag bullshit and forgot about the "lunch pail" attitude. Just a thought.
I agree, we are in for a train wreck unless something drastic changes and I don't have any inclination we'll see that. This is just a bad team. From the coaching down to the execution on the field. Nothing in our play inspires me that something will change.
I said before the Cinci game that I was worried. I thought we'd struggle vs Cinci and then likely lose at UNC, so that put us on a two game skid heading to Duke. And my thought was that that woulc spell disaster. Now I am almost sure of it. You would think this would be a weekend to turn things around but our confidence is extremely low and Duke's is so high that I think Duke is going to win this thing. That takes a bad season for VT and sends it into a death spiral.
That said.... it will still be gameday in Blacksburg. Let the tailgating/bar crawling/turkey leg eating begin!
It didn't look like cramps.
After reading this I think there is a 25% chance VT beats Duke... at home
Play your ass off and win! Earn some respect!
As a lifelong Atlanta Braves and Virginia Tech fan, I've always seen Beamer as the Bobby Cox of college football (or vice versa).
Both pretty much built the team up from nothing (Cox as the GM before he started out as manager while the Braves were awful, Beamer built the program up after some pretty bad years at the start). Both were among the most loyal people in their sport which benefited their teams in a lot of ways (players loved Bobby for the loyalty) but also hurt in ways too (Cox would stick with some players way too long after they stopped performing, Beamer is doing that with coaches).
Both had parts of their teams trademarked for being excellence (for the Braves, pitching, for Tech, Special Teams and D) but had flaws in game management (Cox struggled with bullpen management at times, I've never thought of Beamer as a guy who mastered the when to go for it (be it with a fake or just regular play) when to kick decision).
Both had their signature assistant coach (Cox had Leo Mazzone for a long time, Beamer has Foster).
Both have amassed incredible streaks (Cox with the division title streak and Beamer with the bowl and 10-win streaks) but been continually criticized for coming up short in key moments (Cox with only one world series, Beamer with just 1 win in BCS games).
Yes, this has been a bad season and I don't see it getting better. We very may well lost to Duke this weekend and miss a bowl game for the first time since 1992. And changes certainly need to be made within the program to get us back to a perennial 10 win team. But I'm not ready to say we should fire Beamer. He's earned more than one bad year (yes, I know we haven't won that coveted NC, but I think Beamer has more than met reasonable expectations). If things don't change and this continues... fine, move on from Beamer. But not now.
Bobby Cox knew when it was the right time for him to move on from managing, and until I see otherwise, I'm thinking Beamer will too.