(01-02-2020 12:10 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: (01-02-2020 11:47 AM)H.U.S.T.L.E. Wrote: (12-31-2019 03:35 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: VT is still a program fundamentally in deep doo doo. The next 2 seasons are critical for the Hokies to determine if they'll pick up the Beamer mantle or if they're going for a decidedly more Kansas State approach (going to rehire Frank for another 6-8 years if it craters?).
I really don't understand this reasoning. Fuente's teams have been extremely young the past two seasons. VT returns 21 of 22 starters next season. Other than this year's small recruiting class, Fuente's recruiting classes have all been ranked around #25.
If they don't live up to expectations next year, then sure, I think it's time to rethink things. Youth won't be an excuse any more, and it's fully Fuente's guys in the program now, all the way from the players on the field to the coaching staff.
But I don't understand the doom & gloom surrounding the program, even from Hokie fans that follow it closely.
They lost like a fifth of their roster to transfer. You don't just replace 20 dudes without repercussions. The anchor of the program (Bud Foster) is leaving this year. I think Bud is as important to what VT was doing as Ralph Friedgen was for GT in the 90's. Basically, the margin of error has shrunk substantially in Blacksburg. VT could play so-so and stumble to 10 win seasons not long ago. If they play so-so these days they barely make a bowl. I think so-so going forward will be no bowl.
I think the transfer stuff is overblown. If it was as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be, how did this year's team finish with more wins than last year's team - the one that needed UVA to shoot themselves in the foot to make a bowl game last year? We were young this year (again), but finished with a better record and team stats across the board.
People saw all the contributors leaving a 6-win team, but never considered that maybe they were part of the problem after all. Once this year's team got exposed by Duke, they righted the ship and were a win away from being Coastal champs.
As far as Bud goes, I tend to agree with Mark. Dude is rightfully considered a defensive genius, but there's been enough of a shift in college football over the past half decade that what made him so successful has been difficult to maintain as spread offenses became the norm. His schemes have always relied on gap fits to allow a free hitter, but as more of the game is played in space the margin for error for that free hitter is smaller.
There's already been talk of the new defensive staff prioritizing length on the DL, where Bud & Charley Wiles (also leaving) have prioritized motor and "twitch" (speed off the line) over size. Granted, that's mostly because during VT's football relevance, the guys who have great motor, twitch and size end up at blue blood programs. Guys like Tim Settle ending up at VT were the exception, not the norm.
VT is certainly in an interesting phase right now, but I'm more optimistic about the future than most.