What causes passion to come and go is part of the human condition I haven't figured out and probably never will. What I have figured out about passion is that it's too fickle to be trusted. Like anything else, perception is rarely reality.
The guy who cut you off in traffic might actually spend all of his available energy and money helping the disadvantaged. The couple that appears to have the perfect marriage may barely speak in the confines of their own home.
For four years I ran a sports blog. It started because writing was cheaper than therapy and grew into something that superseded all other hobbies, relationships or responsibilities. For about a year, it was all I cared about.
That's probably the number one reason why I got burned out on it. Following right behind were the new hobbies and life changes that finally gave me a better idea of what was important and what wasn't. Toward the end, the perception that I even remotely enjoyed writing couldn't have been further from the truth.
That brings us to Virginia Tech athletics. It's the one thing I have stayed passionate about the longest and strongest no matter where life has taken me. It's also what I wrote about for four years on my cliche-y, niche-y corner of the Internet.
The Hokie football team has lost 17 games over the last three seasons following eight consecutive campaigns in which they won at least 10 games and lost a total of 24. Outsiders can watch Frank Beamer's media sessions from the tail end of last year and come away with the notion that his competitive fire might be close to flickering out.
But if you watch footage of him dancing with his players following the Duke game or listen to Bud Foster get choked up while talking about him after the bowl you get the idea that what those truly in tune with the program see and what we see are two different things. Frank's always been one who never gets too high or too low following games. When you're winning, being even-keeled is perceived as leadership. When you're losing, it's perceived as complacency.
Hokie basketball hasn't been to consecutive NCAA tournaments since Reagan was in office. Since then, any success has either been in flashes or involved deep runs in the NIT. However, a new stark-raving mad leader has emerged and seems poised to lead Tech to success by any means, including sheer force of will.
Buzz Williams, at least throughout the course of an ACC game, drinks in the highs and lows and then sweats them out into fine merino wool. His zeal for the game and his team is always on full display.
Others have breathed life into the program with letters to the student paper and Selection Sunday conspiracy theories. But their passion for themselves sometimes seemed more genuine than theirs for Virginia Tech.
It's easy to watch Buzz courtside and envision a bright future for the men's basketball program with him on the bench for the next 10 years. But ask a Marquette fan and they might warn you against getting too attached to him. For whatever reason, Buzz's affection for Marquette waned and Virginia Tech benefited from a relationship gone sour.
Still, it's amazing what a leader with visceral passion can do for program that bordered on moribund. It's what many view as the missing ingredient from the football team.
You probably won't see Frank tweeting out inspirational quotes that sound like a mixture of Confucius and @tkp_ebooks. And you probably won't see him scissor kick through the air at the sight of a game-winning score.
#Hokies coach Buzz Williams has serious hops. AP photo from today's game against #UVa. pic.twitter.com/3TV3cEJDne— John Shifflett (@John_Shifflett) January 25, 2015
But it doesn't mean he's disconnected from his program. Just like those things don't mean Buzz will lead his program to sustained success.
I'm optimistic about both situations. On the football side, I'm not delusional enough to think a national championship is in the Hokies' immediate future, but I believe this year's group can at least avoid being the first senior class to never play in an ACC Championship Game. On the basketball side, I've enjoyed watching this group play a lot more than any of those teams from the last 2000s that actually won games. I think winning (and winning with Buzz) is in their future.
But I'm definitely at least prepared for things to not work out.
In the case of football, it's possible the air of calm hides someone who doesn't know how things got so bad or is too tired to try and fix it. For Buzzketball, our situation may not line up with what happened to Williams at Marquette, but if you put that much passion into something, it can leave you pretty low and looking for answers if it doesn't get results or, even worse, isn't appreciated or reciprocated.
The perception surrounding the final chapters of Frank's time roaming Lane's sidelines and the beginning of Buzz's tenure are polar opposites, but equally interesting. One program is supposedly on its way down with a head coach who has mentally checked out while the other is on the rise thanks to coach with endless enthusiasm. The reality will be revealed only by time.
Comments
Nice piece.
I think everyone knows where I stand with your last para.
great read, agree with everything you said
Nah, we need to get rid of all coaches over 50. Take them behind the barn and shoot them. Old people are worthless. :-)
Hm. You might be right.
Really well stated. Great read, thanks!
Very nice article. I have been a VT fan for over 40 years and it has never been easy. So many ups and downs across all the sports and so many times I thought we were turning the corner, only to run smack dab into a wall. But through it all, it has been my passion as a member of the Hokie Nation and knowing that any where I have been around the world, I have had somebody say "Go Hokies". We may never win a NC, but I will approach every year as if we have a chance.
47 years a Hokie for me, and I feel very much the same as you do about it. I have watched a VT football game in Durango, Colorado with our waitress being a recent VT grad, in Moab, Utah, where I was told by an onlooker who noticed my VT hat, that they didn't know Vermont even had a football team, and run into Hokies while flyfishing the Green River...Point being, Hokies are everywhere. We have the school and the sports in common, but if I never saw another Hokie I didn't already know, I feel like I am a part of something. Win or lose, thick or thin, I am a Hokie. I have gripes and suggestions like any real fan, but NC or no NC, I am happy to be a Hokie, even when it isn't so easy to keep my chin up, and I won't stop cheering for them until I slip beneath the sod. Until that day, though, like you, Scottyb, I believe hope springs eternal, and I'll believe we're in it until we aren't, regardless of opponent, record, or sport.
"Point being, Hokies are everywhere"
This is true...I was in Bahrain last month and had my VT hat on and ran into 2 other Hokies out there. It's crazy.
Give Beamer credit, he set the bar high enough to disappoint the fan base with seasons above .500.
Always great read seeing your perception on things.
I think most of the fanbase is excited about Buzz Williams. He has done a remarkable job with the roster getting the team to play hard every night and sports writers for other teams have even stated how VT could be a problem for teams starting even next year. Next year holds a ton of promise with guys getting experience and a lot of players coming on as well.
My view on Frank Beamer is that he's a legend and I hope he leaves on his own terms but to me it seems as that day is probably sooner than later. I hope he looks in the mirror and really thinks to himself if he has the energy/desire to do everything that a head coach needs to do on non-game days as being the CEO of the program especially in the realm of modern recruiting. The team this year has the ability to win the coastal division with Bud Foster's defense and a lot of young talent coming back on the team. I think the negative recruiting of Beamer's future is becoming a bigger deal and the national perception of Beamer that only became solidified from the picture at the end of the Wake Forest game. Frank Beamer did used to be more fiery and I remember the coach that maybe went a bit too far slapping Ernest Wilford on national TV. My dream is that the 2015 team gets to double digit wins allowing Frank Beamer to ride off into the sunset to usher in Pep Hamilton in 2016.
I apologize in advance for the critical response, but many of your comments regarding Frank I see the opposite.
I don't doubt that he has the energy or desire, but I do question at times does he have knowledge to do so. I don't know the specifics of his recruiting strategy, so I won't speculate as to how involved he is with recuits, but we do know he's not active on social media. It's widely known that he doesn't do email, does he text recruits? Does he have a means of interacting with recruits other than calling or visiting them?
I know nothing of the day-to-day tasks in recruiting. I know it's important to build a relationship with a recruit, but how does one go about building a relationship with someone a third of their age? I don't believe that Frank doesn't want to do this, but I do wonder if he knows how to do so effectively (enough to compete against Bama, FSU, now PSU, and others).
Not sure I buy the negative recruiting due to Beamer potentially not being here in the upcoming years. I've heard recruits discuss the continuity of our staff as a positive, I've never heard any recruit we missed say "I was unsure of how long coach Beamer would be around, so I went to School XYZ instead of VT." I know this sounds like something a recruit would keep to himself, but if a recruit is willing to post pictures of himself holding wads of cash to instagram, you'd think at least one would share his thoughts here or there.
Another thing I disagree with, granted I may not have a long enough memory - I started following VT football in 08 - But I think I've seen Frank more fired up in the past 2.5 seasons than ever before, probably because he's had to take more heat than from 2008 - 2011.
Honestly, I think Pep Hamilton will get an NFL head coaching gig long before the Hokie's head coaching position is even open. Even if he got the VT Head Coaching Job tomorrow, I bet he'd get NFL offer in 1-2 years. Not to say that we shouldn't hire him for fear that he would leave us quickly, I just think he's an NFL guy. Most guys that succeed at the NFL don't come back to college. He looked pretty good this past season.
I think it's a thoughtful response and one of the reasons why TKP is an awesome community is that people can disagree in a thoughtful manner.
As I mentioned I think Frank Beamer is a legend that I want to retire on his own terms but was just providing a critique of what it seems like to me from what I've read/seen.
I don't think Frank Beamer lacks to resources to be more modern in his recruiting approach if he wanted to. I believe that if Beamer wanted to get education on how to use social media or text messaging to talk to recruits the athletic department would definitely provide him the means, the rest of the staff does it right now. Also it seems as if he's not making the recruiting visits that some of the other head coaches are able to but of course this year probably due more to his recent surgery.
There's been a few articles regarding this that I've read and it's even been mentioned on ESPN. It's fine if you don't believe it but it seems to be something that's come up.
Being more "fiery" is inherently very objective but I'll just keep it as in my opinion it seems as if Frank Beamer was more involved a few years back on the sidelines. The incident I mentioned was from 2003.
Regarding Pep Hamilton I prefaced as just being my dream because I think he'd be a great fit year with his experience in the area as well as supposedly almost taking the OC job in Blacksburg. Pep Hamilton has gone from a brief stint in college to the pros for a few years then back to college at Stanford and now in the pros with the Colts so don't know if it would be that far fetched to see him give college another try, he did interview at Vanderbilt for their HC position before turning it down supposedly last second. Everyone assumed he'd get a NFL head coaching job this year but didn't so there's a sliver of hope for just a dream. Of course I also don't have any idea when Frank Beamer would hang it up and stated I hope he retires on his own terms when he's ready.
The ESPN article doesn't mention anything about actual 'negative recruiting' (other schools saying, don't go to VT, VT is bad because of X, Y, and Z). From the article:
All that says is that Frank is under some pressure due to the team's record the past 3 seasons - just like any other coach who has had 3 consecutive 8 or less win seasons. The article literally never mentions the word 'age' or 'old'. In fact, the ESPN article doesn't even discuss recruiting - it breifly mentions the class we just signed (using the term 'disappoint', even though I think this is our best class in the last 6 years) but mostly focuses on our young team. This article never quotes a recruit, high school coach, VT coach, or coach at another school discussing recruiting efforts by VT or competing teams.
I'm just as excited about this young football team as I am about this young basketball team. I don't see them trending in different directions at all. Future of Hokie sports is bright.
Your views of passion is spot on. It's what makes college sports great.
As a Vol fan Ill give you guys some advice. I can see it coming, and I told people years ago (gokartmotzart can vouch) that Beamer was the next Phillip Fulmer. Long tenure, looks like hes sputtering, and eventually "retires"/fired whatever you call it. Do not let that happen. Getting rid of Fulmer was one of the biggest mistakes we ever made, yet we all wanted it at the time. Looking back to 08, Fulmer had Bryce Petty and Taj Boyd both committed to Tennessee. We would have been fine. Like Beamer, Fulmer lead us to the highest of highs, a place we hadnt been in 50 years and havent been since. It was his own success that led to him being fired. Yea he could be a bit conservative, but the guy loved, and still loves Tennessee. You can tell Beamer is the exact same way about Tech. Its all hes really known, and all he really wants to know. I love Butch Jones and what hes doing, but I would trade him to get Fulmer back this instant.
I personally hope that Frank Beamer gets to leave on his own terms whenever he decides to retire.
With that said I don't think the comparison to Fulmer stacks up.
Yea but it had been building for a while. We were ranked #1 by some in 05, and at least consensus top 3, and ended up with 5 wins. Fulmer has/was always known for his conservatism, people had wanted him gone before that, and 05 just added fuel to the fire. We also had a terrible AD at the time who gave him the infamous (in tennessee circles) "8 is great clause". As long as he won 8 games there was zero chance of him getting fired. For a fan base that was used to 9 wins benign a bad year, that wasn't going to cut it. Yea Tennessee has a little higher expectations, but you guys were lucky to win 6 last year, I know you all have higher expectations than that. Another year like that and the firing drums will start beating.
Edit: I'll also add that there were other outside influences, John Chavis basically stopped recruiting because he didn't like to travel. That's why he went to LsU. Those top recruitng classes of Fulmers at the end were good on paper, but only paper. He had stopped watching film and just took the Rivals 250 list. We had a ton of busts. Just comparing that the 2 situations (legendary coaches/not meeting expectations type thing)
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