After last week's loss to East Carolina, I was absolutely livid. Angry with the defenses' ongoing struggle to defend designed quarterback runs; frustrated by the lack of progress on the field despite improved recruiting and evenly distributed talent.
After the Hokies' 17-13 loss to Pitt on Saturday, the only emotion I felt was sadness and I know I'm not alone.
Two weeks removed from an overwhelming feeling of hope, I woke up Sunday morning and realized that the speed with which Hokie Nation is moving through the five stages of grief is rapidly increasing.
Following the Sugar Bowl loss to Michigan, we spent three seasons in denial. It started with Danny Coale's touchdown reception that wasn't and morphed into a solemn wave goodbye to ten-win seasons. An increased investment in the program, coaching changes and a renewed focus on bringing top-level, college-ready talent to Blacksburg buoyed our hopes. In hindsight, maybe it was just Frank Beamer pulling the wool over our eyes.
We flirted with full-on anger last season, especially after the Wake Forest debacle. But constant reminders of the widespread youth and a strong showing in the Military Bowl against Cincinnati gently pulled us back from the ledge.
We spent an off-season convincing ourselves that this was the year we would return to our perch atop the ACC. We basked in the promise showed by Brenden Motley and the offense despite the absence of starter Michael Brewer. Then ECU happened.
Missed tackle after missed tackle on Pirates quarterback James Summers drew the ire of Hokies everywhere. A second straight loss to the Pirates and tone deaf post-game comments by Beamer brought the fanbase to a boiling point.
The fact that perennial thorn-in-our-side Pittsburgh loomed only exacerbated the panic.
Heading into the game, it seemed like fait accompli recently-demoted quarterback Chad Voytik — who decimated the Hokies a year ago with 118 yards rushing — would be sporadically dispatched to try and defeat the Hokies with his legs. On only the Panthers' second play from scrimmage, Voytik entered the game and ripped off a 26-yard run. I became incensed.
A week removed from an embarrassing performance against a mobile quarterback, Bud Foster's defense failed to execute once again. Everyone watching knew Voytik had entered to make plays with his feet. It was as though the defense had learned nothing between games.
To their credit, the defense played a pretty solid game on Saturday, and held the Panthers to only 276 yards of total offense and star wideout Tyler Boyd to 48 yards on 5 catches. What damned them was the occasional lapses in focus that have plagued them in the past, none worse than Qadree Ollison's 38-second one-man show to open the second half.
34 minutes of solid defense undone by a few brain farts and stupid penalties. Go Tech Go.
As the defense began to tighten things up, the offense failed to reciprocate. As Scot Loeffler's unit repeatedly sputtered, I found myself reflecting on how we got here. Where did it all go wrong? What could the program have been done differently?
I suddenly missed those routine ten-win seasons; the annual trips to the ACC Championship Game; getting frustrated over rankings and national respect. Did I appreciate the good years enough?
A series of, "What If's" flooded my mind, ranging from, "What if Michael Brewer hadn't broken his collarbone" to, "What if Shane Beamer understood how to use his running backs?"
My personal journey through the bargaining phase was short lived. After Motley threw his third and game-ending interception to Pitt's Mike Caprara, I felt profoundly sad.
Watching the Hokies play football is one of my favorite things on Earth. The anticipation of a new football season gets me through the endless winter snowstorms, the rainy spring months and the scorching heat of the summer. For four months out of the year, Virginia Tech football makes the work week fly by, it dominates my social calendar, and it brings back great memories of my time in Blacksburg.
In hindsight, the last few seasons have been like watching a loved one fall ill. It has been a slow, painful process watching Tech struggle with the physical and emotional up's and down's. One day they look like their old self, leading you to wonder whether they are turning the proverbial corner. A short time later, they can't even get out of bed and you're left worrying that the end is near.
I hoped I would never get here. Being sad about this program makes me even sadder. I don't want to blow everything up and start anew. I don't want to see Frank unceremoniously kicked to the curb. I want to see him leave on his own terms, carried off Worsham Field on his players' shoulders like he deserves. It's not supposed to end like this.
In any sport, it's easy to blame the coaches when things go wrong. Everything begins and ends with them. In collegiate athletics, coaches recruit the players, serve as de facto parents and promise to mold them into great women and men.
In the end, everyone's fate is decided by the performance on the field. Coaches do their best to prepare their players and put them in a position to succeed, but the players are ultimately responsible for seeing things through to fruition.
It leads to circuitous conversations over whose role is more important, and who ultimately deserves both credit and blame.
Football, arguably more than any other sport, relies on its precision. Coaches cleverly orchestrate where their players should be at a given time, stringing these movements together to form strategies aimed at defeating the opposition.
Yet despite its structure, the beauty of football lies in the organic nature of each play. One play could be won through clean and disciplined execution, another lost because of someone's ability to adapt on the fly.
It's a never ending dance between teams; poetry in motion.
Legendary choreographer Paul Taylor recently said, "Poetry doesn't always spell everything out. They leave room between the lines."
Coaches can only be expected to do so much. While they create something that is beautiful in theory, it is ultimately up to the players to bring it to life.
That symbiotic relationship between coaches and players is what builds successful teams. Right now, everyone within the Virginia Tech football program is failing to bring it all together.
I haven't yet moved on to acceptance. I'm still sad. Maybe you are too.
What scares me is the fear of the unknown. Where do we go from here? Will this recent spell of poor play come to characterize this team, pushing the program closer to college football purgatory? Will the fan base become mired in this depressive state, or can the Hokies make the necessary adjustments to reverse the trend?
I wish I knew the answer. All I can do is hope that someone in the Merryman Center figures out what to do. Otherwise, we'll all be coming to terms with change sooner than we expected.
Comments
And with that read I am going to go jump off my office building...
Damn, that is one of the saddest gifs I have ever seen.
i'd give a turkey leg for this but i still don't have enough to dole them out so I'll offer this up instead.
I'm still in the denial stage...
you might get sacked in the morning!
When Cameron was in Egypt's land...
...let my Cameron goooo
And no matter what every saturday this is how I feel about VT football.....
I refuse to blame the players for this kind of play. It's been 4 years and the same issues are there. It's been 2 offensive coordinators and 3 play calling coaches and the same issues are there. It's been 4 years and the same defensive issues with the inability to tackle, especially players who can run from the QB position, are still there.
Adjustments weren't made by the people paid to make them. I used to think that the salary we paid Beamer was a bargain, but considering the pay scale the top coaches are getting we are getting exactly what we are paying for. A mediocre at best program coached by guys deserving of salaries less than half of that of the top coaches in the country.
"It's been 2 offensive coordinators and 3 play calling coaches and the same issues are there." Exactly. One of the things VT has been repeatedly touted as a strength was the coaching staff stability. When things lagged, that strength also drove Hokie fans nuts. Well, we got the change we wanted, and with repetitive coach changes, we didn't get the improvement we'd hoped for. Now we're shouting for wholesale change. Is it the right thing to do at this point? I think Whit's got a tough call to make on that.
But I think constantly hiring the new hot coach and hoping for near-immediate change is the real football purgatory. Just ask Notre Dame how their carousel worked out.
I think the fact we've made all those changes, and yet nothing significant has changed points to the fact that we were just moving deck chairs on the Titanic/putting lipstick on a pig/reorganizing Enron/whatever metaphor you want to use. It points to the very real possibility that the root cause of all our problems starts with the head coach, and until any changes are made there, you will not see any improvement in the program as a whole.
At this point, we know what we have if we keep Beamer. Its a declining program that is unable to pull itself up, and cannot recruit to the level it needs to in order to regain its stature. Will a new coach guarantee that things will improve? No, but it guarantees that something will change, and right now, having seen the 4 year path this program has been on even after we did everything but replace Beamer, I'd rather take the unknown than the known. At least with the unknown there's a chance of hope, something I just don't see with this current staff anymore.
There would be hope. But we'll need to temper our expectations, because it is possible (very likely) we'd drop quite a bit further before the new coaching staff is able to 'recruit their own folks' and 'right the ship' - something that the blueblood programs consistently learn. What worries me is that our 'blueblood' tradition started with CFB, hence we done have the long term tradition of success that (insert school here - Alabama, OSU, etc...) have to fall back on for recruiting during the down periods, because 'another big season is right around the corner'. I truly hope that someone else could come in and continue it. But that's not a given. And if the program takes a step the wrong direction, all of the success CFB built could be viewed as 'VT had their time in the sun, now let's get back to (insert traditional powerhouse school - 'Anyone can win at Alabama.')'.
Sure, but what we know almost for sure is that with CFB still in the program for another year or two we are not going anywhere. We will stay a mediocre team.
This scenario you are explaining is going to happen. There is no way around it, CFB has at most 2 years left in him before he retires. If we do it then it will be too late and we will lose a decade because of our irrelevancy. If we cut the cord now we have a chance to temper that 'drop' that occurs with a new coach.
So either we rip the bandaid off now or we wait 2 years for it to get worse.
Whit's got a tough call either way.
removed. Was thinking out loud.
I agree with these sentiments. Additionally, id say..
You can't blame the players for a lack of genuine talent. I never doubt the fight in this team, or the work they put in before each gameday. As crushed as I am after watching performances like last Saturday, I know the work ethic is there.
We have previously maintained success with a couple of really talented and dynamic play makers in key positions, with just enough around them to enable success. But in today's CFB world, you need a constant stream of new play makers and we dont get them in quantity anymore, with a program roadmap that guarantees some turmoil on the horizon. We consistently rely on walk-ons to step up, we miss out on the big names despite good facilities, a dedicated fan base and the opportunity to play in primetime. As inept as the coaching staff has seemed all year long, the general lack of talent is the most indicative of our quick trip to the bottom of the conference. Having an ancient head coach with a recent track record of no success, doesnt have much appeal to a 17 year old kid with offers from teams who can compete for a national championship. If for no other reason, they need a fresh face who can breath some excitement back into the recruiting efforts. That'll only come with a new head coach. I'm confident Whit will open the checkbook and spend accordingly, he understands the importance of D1 sports performance to the viability of a school's brand.
This limbo we live in now, is horribly uncomfortable and outright depressing. The writing on the wall says move on, now. What good would another season of mediocrity be, just to satisfy the Beamer at Bristol and 2016 retirement plan in place.
Hey man, great read. You summarized how we all feel so eloquently. I'm hanging onto a sliver of hope that Beamer, the 20+ year successful icon, can right the ship during the fiercest of storms.
ahh..good! I'm not the only one stuck in the denial stage!!
I've actually been in the "acceptance" stage for a while. A lot of our early success (late 90's) was a mix of tremendous innovation, "scheduling for success", and smoke and mirrors.
We didn't really recruit "smaller faster guys to fit the scheme" on defense. We took the guys we got and created the scheme around them. We used the ball control offense to shorten the game to rest the undersized defense, and try to be within striking distance in the end. And we used special teams as a prioritized weapon, when no one else did, catching everyone by surprise.
It got our foot in the door. Hell, we almost busted the door down. And I will forever be in awe and grateful that Frank gave us all of that.
But when 2000 rolled around, the momentum stopped dead. We didn't evolve. We didn't seize on our popularity. We didn't land the top players. We stubbornly believed we had the magic formula - or at least we were led to believe that. But time and time again, we ran into big boy teams that proved that formula wrong. Every now and then along the way some small time guys proved it wrong, too. At this stage of the game today, we seem to be heading into every game as a toss up.
I don't see any way to turn this around without an upgrade in recruiting. And I haven't said it before, but I believe recruits aren't coming because they think Frank is soon leaving, lots aren't coming because he is STAYING. The jig is up. And it is unfortunate that Frank has done what he said he never would do - stay past his time like Bobby Bowden.
I, too, would have loved to see Frank carried off the field on his triumphant victory lap. I really have a lot of love for Frank Beamer. But fantasies are for children. It ain't happenin'.
I think this is an accurate and fair assessment.
To augment your point, we started to fall apart in the Big East as many of those teams (Miami, WVU, Pitt, BC) were ascending. Then we moved to the ACC and besides BC (and oddly, UVA), we caught everyone in a descending cycle. Miami fell apart after 2005. FSU was dead for 5 years. Clemson was Tommy Bowden'd. UNC, GT and NCSU had some good teams but were very inconsistent. Since Dabo and Jimbo upped the ante, we not only have seen those two programs become national powers but we also see ascendency out of Louisville, GT, and Duke. NCSU, UNC, Pitt and BC have maintained their current path. VT, Miami and UVA are descending.
But that's the breaks. As that guy from Titanic said, "A real man makes his own luck." We could reverse our trend if we make a good hire, just as Pitt may be doing.
It's gonna be hard to attract another legendary coach to Blackburg. We don't yet have the budget and the alumni base to support a national contender year after year. I would also disagree with the statement that recruits aren't coming because of Beamer and Foster, that's the ONLY reason they are coming. Recruits like Khalil Ladler who committed to Tech last week after witnessing two home losses are coming because they have the opportunity to play for one of the coaching greats. A new hotshot coach isn't going to have that kind of pull, and it's going to be very win games based on sheer will in an increasingly talented ACC. With all the huge football programs with experiencing disappointing seasons this year and last, it's going to be next to impossible to get another big name coach in Blacksburg anytime soon. Whit got Williams to come here because of a huge salary and a chance to play in the ACC. The ACC doesn't carry that pull in football and we don't have the budget to support the football equivalent of Buzz's salary.
As we blame lots of our poor performance on poor recruitment, we need to realize that our coaches have no longer been designing plays based off of how our players are built/work on the field, and we need to go back to designing plays based off of the skill that we have on the team
^ This. At the moment, our guys can't run the offense Lefty wants. We need an effective stepping-stone-system between what we can currently do and what Lefty ultimately wants to do, and tailoring our system to our current talent is a step in the right direction.
The sad part is we had tons of NFL talent throughout the 2000's. Close calls against the likes of USC, Auburn, Georgia, and Alabama. We literally had championship caliber teams. But we always seemed to just fall short against the powers and we seemed to always lose a game each year that made us scratch our heads. Yet, all we heard was how great it was to win 10 games. But I was one of those who instead was saying, but we should have won 11. Why weren't we winning the ACC every year? We knew that Clemson and Florida St were down and everyone else sucked. We should have won every season.
Wasted opportunities. We were classic underachievers with the talent we put on the field.
I am also one of those, almost verbatim. Never be satisfied. And when seasons like this keep happening, it makes me numb.
Well written.
I enjoyed it, even though the subject matter is so sad.
I, like you have hoped for a return to glory on Beamer's watch and a gracious and gentle changing of the guard at VT.
Im not optimistic now.
There's still some football left, and there's a lot of wounded pride on the current football staff. I think that THIS will be one of the questions for the remainder of the season: Can our HOF coach and his staff trying to set themselves up for their next jobs convince the players to go out and win?
The next question, which would be interesting, if I weren't so invested in the program, is how plum of a job is VT? Are we an upper tier program that can switch horses and cruise on, or was that our 15 minutes of play on the outskirts of college football royalty?
All eyes on Whit......
I think we have a lot going for us as a program. Brand new practice facility says a lot about where the school sees this program going in their vision. Labor Day gave us a lot of name recognition again being that the ratings were so high (regardless of how many people just wanted to see OSU).
I think we're still in those years where we can go either way from a downswing, but our path is not yet decided. Trying to predict where we go from here is like trying to say who's going to win the Coastal.
"The next question, which would be interesting, if I weren't so invested in the program, is how plum of a job is VT?"
What scares me the most about this question is that, if all things continue on their current trajectories, we may well be looking for a new Head Coach at the same time as LOLUVa. As much as we like to make fun of them, they have a lot more money to spend and it could be argued by outsiders (definitely not me) that UVa would be a better job. No one wants to be the coach that follows the legend, and that definitely isn't an issue with the Hoos like it would be at VT. I sincerely hope that Whit can out-AD their AD when the time comes.
VT has more passionate fans and nicer facilities. Those could be potential selling points Whit could hammer on. It's not much, but we'll need every little bit of help we can get.
VT is a name football program
UVa is not
Correction:: VT was a name football program more recently than UVA.
No, we still are.
The Coastal is viewed as down because VT and Miami aren't strong. The expectation is there that we should be good and it speaks negatively on the division and conference when we aren't. UVa doesn't have that kind of name.
Beamer Ball :(
That's an incredible sulk.
Saturday, Pitt played the way we used to play when I was in school. It was embarrassing to watch us flounder so badly, and mad me angry and sad that we have fallen so far below our standards.
Well written. You really wrote what I was/am feeling. I have to say that, on a practical note, 2012-2015 has been the "right the ship" years, and it simply has not happened. The ship may well be sinking this season (no bowl type season, UVA loss type). After watching the team, it is clear that this year should be Frank's last - period. If he wins out from here on, still his last - then he goes out on top. If we loose out from here (which is MUCH more likely), then it is a bitter ending that still, in no way, outweighs his great accomplishments. So in the largest sense, I am at peace with this team right now - we are not good, and Frank needs to retire.
(no bowl type season, UVA loss type)
That's a mighty scary thought...
funny you say that, as I was watching on Saturday, I started thinking...man, Timecop is probably getting pumped, this might be the year they have finally have a legitimate chance.
Drastic changes must be made.
That thought has been running through my mind the last few weeks.
Great writeup, man.
"What if Shane Beamer understood how to use his running backs?"
LOL
*sigh* obligatory...
For some reason, I had "Piano Man" playing as I read this.
Bud's workin' with Shaney, who runs by committee, and probably will be for life.
Frank and the boys have an opportunity to reel us back in this Friday. If we lose another home game on national TV things are going to get really really ugly around here.
I'll finally be back in Lane for a night game this Friday. Hopefully my presence will have an effect.
Because reasons.
Well, it certainly can't hurt.
Good luck.
I really hope Lane has a great atmosphere Friday night just show the players we support their efforts. This might be one of the most meaningful games a 2-3 team can play.
Terrifies me too. I've been a little less scared since Whit proved he wasn't messing around by bringing Buzz on board.
This is probably a gross over reaction but I've definitely had the thought "will we ever be good again?"
My mind goes there sometimes, but then I remember we have Whit in charge, and I know that's a guy who will make sure we're set going forward, and if anything, will make sure the next coach we bring in will exceed our expectations and rejuvenate this fanbase.
I'm still stunned at the coup he pulled off in basketball. And lets be honest, its one of many great decisions he's made in his short time here. He understands the value of finding the right guys for the job, and he understands that he must hit a homerun with the Beamer replacement. I don't think he's going to be letting us down, even if he has to overpay for it.
I know it's usually said in a joking manner, but during the game Saturday I legitimately thought "Man, when is the first basketball game?"
Enough said.
Sorry, Pierson, I have to disagree with you a little bit. Our loss against Pitt was nothing at all like our loss against ECU.
This comment, I simply cannot agree with it. Were there breakdowns in Bud Foster's defense against Pitt? Yes, absolutely. And that is the exact nature of Bud Foster's scheme. Now more than ever, the Lunch Pail is a "break but don't bend" defense, where an opposing offense is either going to gain 2 yards (which is the common result) or 50 (which happens a handful of times per game). The level of individual responsibility placed on players in key positions in Foster's scheme is monumental, and they play without a safety net, meaning one mistake can lead to a touchdown regardless of where the line of scrimmage is on that play. It's the nature of the defense. We simply must accept this after so many years of "big plays" being the only knock on the defense we run. It is who we are. These breakdowns are not an ailment to be repaired, they are a necessity due to the nature of the defense we run.
You can look at the big plays on which Pitt amassed the majority of their yardage and say, "If only we could have stopped them," but if you do, you're fooling yourself. You're asking college players to play perfect games. That's what it would take to avoid the occasional big play the defense gives up. The key defensive positions would have to make no mistakes at all over the course of the entire game. It's an impossible standard. We should all stop perpetuating the myth that it's possible.
17 points and 276 total yards. That's all that matters. The defense did its job. Forget how Pitt got their yards and points. The defense handed the offense a winnable game, and the offense could do nothing with it. For the first time this season, the offense is solely responsible for a loss. The offense let the entire team down.
As Virginia Tech fans, we're conditioned to judge defensive breakdowns more harshly than offensive breakdowns, simply because as a program we have leaned too heavily, and for far too long, on the defense to win games. But Pitt is completely on the offense. We should always expect our offense to be able to put more than 17 points on the board. That level of output is simply unacceptable. It was the offense's one bad outing so far this season, but it was so colossally, monumentally bad that it simply cannot be excused. Everyone's entitled to a bad game once in a while, but when that one game is the worst offensive showing in the tenure of a 29-year head coach, that's a sign of a significant and systemic problem.
Agree. Aside from the bonehead opening to the second half, I was perfectly fine with the defensive showing.
The offense shit the bed. A lot.
You can disagree with my comment regarding my frustration with the defense after Voytik's long run, but your excerpt removed all context from the passage. The preceding sentence noted that issues laid in the fact that it was Voytik's first snap. After a week of getting crushed by the college football universe for their inability to stop a mobile quarterback, weren't you just a tad bit annoyed that Voytik broke a big run?
Second, the paragraph that followed your excerpt noted that I thought the defense played a solid game. I didn't criticize the defense's performance as you state — I simply voiced my frustration with their failure to stop another QB run. On one play.
Sorry if you felt I was piling on or misrepresenting your position. Neither was my intention. Having gone back and reread that section, I now can see it as you state above, as a reaction to that one long run from Voytik. That was not the way I originally interpreted it.
I did notice you followed up with an acknowledgement of a solid defensive game. I realize now I perhaps quoted the wrong excerpt of your article, because what I was actually replying to was this:
That quote does strike me as being in the vein of thinking the big plays given up are the fault of the players. And admittedly, they are, but only insomuch as any football player is going to make occasional mistakes. Foster's defensive scheme puts key position players in a spot where mistakes are magnified exponentially. When the free hitter makes a mistake, the result is usually a big gain and/or a score. But I can't blame the free hitter for that unless mistakes are made too frequently. Three or four times a game, that's human.
Also, I should offer an apology here. After rereading my own post, I realize it comes across as argumentative and critical, which is bad on me. I was responding to a general theme I see amongst our fanbase to point fingers at defensive lapses more harshly than offensive failures. I was attempting to disagree with a theme I thought I sensed in what you wrote, and in the process I came across as disagreeable. I failed to follow my own rule of "praise the whole, critique the specific." For that, I apologize.
No worries!
TL:DR
If our defense gives up two or three huge plays, that's a good showing. If our defense gives up six or eight big plays, that's a bad showing. Pitt had four: three runs and a pass. All 17 of their points are attributable to those four plays. The defense had a good, but not great, day.
I watched the Clemson game Saturday night. Despite torrential rain, and despite historic flooding, their fans packed their stadium, and in the end they were treated to a great win on national TV in prime time. Fans were happy and euphoric, they took the field.
It ended a game day that was one that displayed polar opposites; a once respected national power in decline and the emergence of another. It was bitter. It has been a long, long time since we've experienced such a win in Lane Stadium, and, it's my fear that we won't experience a win like that in a long, long time.
Politely disagree. We will see wins like that with the current coaching staff. They will elate us and give us false hope, which will then come crashing down when we subsequently lose to a team that is outmanned.
Our problem is not that we aren't a good team, it is that the coaching staff, and by that I mean Frank, has fostered a culture of inconsistency. We can beat anyone. And we can lose to anyone. That's what is unacceptable. Not that we suck, because we don't. It's that we have no idea what to expect going into any given game.
I was at the game. I told my Clemson buddies to appreciate the game and win. I mentioned that VT used to win games like that and to enjoy it while they had it
I was at the Clemson game as well. And let me tell you the difference between Clemson and VT. It is support, it is emotional. Not only does Clemson provide training, equipment and technique to succeed, Dabo connects with his players. He motivates. You don't see that at VT. You USED TO SEE that, but it is gone now. What? What happened? There is an "I don't care attitude" you see with the VT players. It's as if their effort will not matter. There is no enthusiasm, no swarming of the ball. They make lackluster efforts, expecting to lose. And with a lackluster effort, you lose.
Frank is 68 and frequently acts ten years older. Dabo is 45 and frequently acts 20 years younger. It's no surprise to me that Dabo is way better at connecting with his players. They feed on his enthusiasm.
Yes those kids just don't relate to him at all.
http://youtu.be/e2U6N2YyuPY
Sure, they'll whoop it up when Frank dances after a win. Who wouldn't laugh and clap when a Hall of Fame coach does that? It's great for team morale. I love it.
But do you think a lot of the players actually relate to Frank on a personal level? Like come to him with problems about their girlfriends, their families, the one asshole professor nobody can stand? I can imagine those conversations happening a lot in Clemson's locker room. I imagine them becoming rarer in ours as Frank ages and deals with mounting health issues.
It happens. I respected the hell out of my grandparents, but I didn't relate to them. Frank is probably older than a lot of his players' grandparents.
I understand your point and even your frustration, but disagree wholeheartedly with players having a "don't care" attitude. While I am not privy to "inside", I am on campus every day. I see these kids walking into Merryman each morning between 6 and 7 AM, usually in position groups. Most days they have a lot more pep in their step than those of us working at VT. I see them doing reps without the coaching staff even around; I see athletes pushing cars in the Chicken Hill lot from time to time. I think that saying they expect to lose is a disservice to them and the efforts they put forth on behalf of VT. They attend class and put forth the same effort as other students, on top of their athletic responsibilities. Yes, we've had two bad games and there are things that all levels of the program should be working to fix. IMHO, though - let's focus on improving, giving these kids and VT Athletics our support and showing everyone that VT WILL REMAIN a perennial threat, rather than being negative. It's not "They are Virginia Tech", it's WE ARE VIRGINIA TECH. #GoHokies!
I just checked Tennessee's standing and, if the Battle At Bristol was this weekend, VT and Tennessee would be evenly matched.
I really don't know how I feel about that. I'm looking forward to the great venue (maybe over-hyped) but it just seems so lackluster with how our performance has been thus far.
UT is also 2-3 but it feels like a very different 2-3. They are doing it with a lot of young talent, performing well and seemingly trending upwards. Arkansas is a good team who had their back against the wall. UF had a rather remarkable comeback against UT. OU may very well be a playoff team and UT was up 17 on them.
I remember a time when I wanted more seats in Lane. Now, maybe 45,000 attend our ACC opener. Low East sideline tickets were going for $6-8 on stubhub. I hope Friday night is better but there's little reason to expect it to be.
I love this feature.
I hate this season. It reminds me of the first Beamer years.
I think we have a right to expect 8 wins and 1, 2, or 3 finishes in the Coastal every year. No excuses for not doing both. And this is the 4th year of a slide that just keeps taking us lower and lower.
I predict no bowl and an end to our possession of The Cup. And it is *OUR CUP*!
I wish my employer had a liquor cabinet and some bourbon...
Beamer was given 6 years to build the program. I hope he's not given 6 years to destroy it. We're already on year 4. Maybe 5 if you realize how lucky we were in 2011.
I had hoped he would retire after the 2010 ACC championship season. Seemed like the perfect time to go. Foster could have taken over the reigns while the momentum was there. Now, nothing short of a full house cleaning will do.
Well, I bet on Pitt and won... this week is NCSU. Its a pick'em at the moment.....
considering we opened as a 3 point favorite.....
Ahaha, not surprised at all. Ugh
Nice article Pierson. Very heart felt and accurate. It is not suppose to end this way. But I feel there is something very wrong with this team. I think (and I speculate) that there is still something not well with Frank. Was the surgery unsuccessful? I just wonder if he even has the energy to coach anymore or does he need to direct his energy to get well. This trewnd we are on has been happening for a while, we are all just eternal optimist. But the reality is now, that is probably not going to happen.
So I will welcome the change. You watch around the league and you see innovative plays and coachess and I constaantly say why can't we be like this and then I realize I know the answer. That's not Va. Tech football. Well it should be because what I saw the last two weeks is not the Va tech football I remember.
Ok off the soapbox now. This ship better right itself quickly or it's going to get ugly in the Hokie Nation.
as somebody else said (I can't remember to give proper credit...sorrys) I think we need a new boat
As soon as I saw that picture up top, all I could think was, "One of these things is not like the others..."
Yeah, about that. Shane needs to take that headset off and go pick up a set of pompoms.
Acceptance is a scary place.....and I think most of the VT fan base is here now. Walking out of the stadium Saturday I wasn't mad/sad.......I just walked out. No one around me was cussing or talking about what could have been...ect. People were just discussing the weather and their plans for later.
The five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. I was at the Wake game last year. After that effort, I quickly went into Acceptance. The VT of yesteryear is gone and will not come back. I am not going to pay any more money for any more tickets only to watch ineptitude on the field and lackluster efforts.
As you could probably see form the comments Pierson, most of us are already at the "acceptance" phase. We know he has to leave, and we know it's sad and it hurts, but we accept the reality in front of us. We are Virginia Tech.
Watching the Hokies play football is one of my favorite things on Earth
Reading those words made me feel like someone gets it. No matter how bad things get it's as though I can't turn away. It's the proverbial train wreck. Great read. So much could be said and it's been mentioned here that 10 win seasons and ACC championships were great, and they were, and they gave us a sense that we had attained some national prominence, and maybe we had. But the cold hard facts are that great, no I'll just say good, football teams don't lose to the likes of JMU, ECU, or even the bottom dwellers of the P5. They don't just win the games they're expected to win they win the games that really matter. Those games are the games that launch a team into the national spotlight. VT hasn't done that in a while. Keeping things close with USC, or Auburn, Alabama, Ohio State etc. isn't what I want. I want to pull for a team that CONSISTENTLY fields teams that beats those teams. I don't want to look at the line and be a 10 point or more underdog when we play good teams and MAYBE a 3 point favorite when we play middle of the road teams IF we're at home. I've been a Hokie for a long time and I'll be a Hokie for life. I just hope that doesn't mean there was only a few years in the early 2000's that I can look at with pride and say, "Yeah we were really good then. Too bad the rails came off because we were afraid of change."
I'm hearing you.
I would be happy with a return to the not-so-distant days of Virginia Tech fielding teams that came to play.
Our product is so flat now.
We used to knock the socks off of the other team when they stepped on the field-we knew it, and the other team knew it. Our opponents, and their coaches would circle VT on their schedule because they knew regardless of outcome, it would be a game and they respected that.
We may not have had the most talent, or won every game, but we came to play and did.
That's why those few games in the past were so painful-the Stanford Bowl game, the Kansas Orange Bowl-they were rare games where the other team out-hearted us. Now, ECU does it every damn year it seems. And Pitt, and even UNC, and Wake Forest.
It's a cultural issue within the program, from the top to the bottom. And I'm not confident that our coaches know how to fix it.
I hope that Whit does.
And this is the exact situation we are in now. Basically everyone who isn't resigned to the fact that it's time for the changes up top is that way because they are scared of the unknown. They're so terrified of how bad things could get that they ignore his bad things currently are.
Fortunately, Whit is in charge.