There have been so many transfers from VT recently that Fuentes issued a statement. What is going on in Blacksburg?

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Here's the latest list of Virginia Tech players who have either already transferred or are at least in the portal (all since 1/22/19!):
WR Eric Kumah - entered the portal on 1/22/19
TE Chris Cunningham - entered the portal on 1/22/19
RB Deshawn McClease - entered the portal on 1/23/19
QB Josh Jackson - entered the portal on 1/22/19
LB Rico Kearney - announced transfer to UCF
WR Sean Savoy - announced in November he was leaving

This in addition to all the players Hokies lost on defense in 2018 (most of which were 2017 starters or projected 2018 starters, and many with eligibility remaining for the 2019 season)...

From "Virginia Tech’s attrition problem just keeps getting worse":

April 2018 (primarily NFL Draft losses):
DT Tim Settle - 5th round NFL draft pick, Redskins
LB Tremaine Edmunds - 1st round NFL draft pick, Bills
FS Terrell Edmunds - 1st round NFL draft pick, Steelers
CB Greg Stroman - 7th round NFL draft pick, Chargers
LB Andrew Motuapuaka - undrafted signee, Jaguars
CB Brandon Facyson - undrafted signee, Chargers
Also, co-defensive coordinator Galen Scott resigned due to recruiting scandal.

June 2018:
CB Adonis Alexander - declared academically ineligible, and declared for the supplemental NFL Draft.
DB Jeremy Webb Jr. - tore his Achilles tendon during offseason workouts, out for the season.
July 2018:
OLB Mook Reynolds - dismissed from the team
DT Cam Goode - released from his scholarship to transfer elsewhere
September 2018:
DE Trevon Hill - dismissed from the team after the Old Dominion game; at the time, he was the team leader in tackles-for-loss.

https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2019/...12419.html

I've been wondering the same thing once I saw all the player departures announced on Twitter this week. Are there rumors of players unhappy with his coaching or leadership style? Everyone has grad transfers now but this seems like an abnormal number.

Most of the reporting I've seen seems to think that they'll be okay but I don't understand how you can be so confident about it. VT has never been a program with a ton of depth so I don't understand how they're going to overcome missing out on all of these losses. It's not like these are unhappy bench players either, several of the names listed are starters or highly meaningful contributors.

(01-25-2019 10:03 AM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  Most of the reporting I've seen seems to think that they'll be okay but I don't understand how you can be so confident about it. VT has never been a program with a ton of depth so I don't understand how they're going to overcome missing out on all of these losses. It's not like these are unhappy bench players either, several of the names listed are starters or highly meaningful contributors.

The only "explanation" I've seen offered so far is that all but two of the transfers were players recruited BEFORE Justin Fuente was hired... the idea is that they stayed because they didn't want to lose any eligibility (but now they don't have to worry about that). So, if this theory is true, it's just a delayed "my recruiter isn't here any more" thing.

Personally, I'm wrestling with whether I believe that theory or not...

It's looking like the dismissals of Mook Reynolds before the season and Trevon Hill during the season after the ODU game were huge factors in how the few remaining Beamer holdovers viewed Fuente.

I know it looks bad from the outside, but I think for the most part this will end up being addition by subtraction. There was a real void in leadership on the 2018 team - for starters, there just weren't that many upperclassmen contributors left after graduations, early entries, and academic/discipline issues decimated a very good 2017 defense. On top of that, the upperclassmen on last year's team were either quieter, lead by example types (like Ricky Walker), or guys like Hill (who wears his heart on his sleeve, and by what inside info I can gather, really rubbed a lot of guys the wrong way with his "leadership style").

Then you've got info like this coming out of Josh Jackson's camp:

https://www.roanoke.com/hokies/inside-vi...93548.html

Quote:One of the major factors in the decision was that Jackson felt disrespected when asked to compete for the starting quarterback job again this spring, a source close to the quarterback said. Jackson lost his spot when he suffered a fractured left fibula against Old Dominion.

“He won the job as a [redshirt] freshman, he won the job as a sophomore, he breaks his leg and now has to do it all over again?” the source said, of Jackson’s thinking. “He gave them three years.”

Jackson was also concerned about the number of players planning to leave the program, according to a source.

I'm not sure how to read that and see anything other than a sense of entitlement.

The guys who are left seem to be fully bought in to Fuente's vision, as it's pretty much only his guys in the room now. After a team meeting following all the news of transfers, there has been an outpouring of positivity from the remaining players on social media.

The other thing Fuente has going for him is VT's baby soft schedule in 2019. Look at this:

@BC, ODU, Furman, Duke, @Miami, Rhode Island, UNC, @ND, WF, @GT, Pitt, @UVA

That schedule lends itself to a solid year (in theory). Yes, the team will be young again, but there's a lot of returning experience now at least. The 2018 team had a lot of true freshman and sophomore contributors, especially on defense. Depth will be a concern but I think the team chemistry will be much improved.

If he can't get to at least 8 wins with that schedule though, I think Fuente is in real trouble. We shall see, but I'm more positive about the future right now than negative.

With the relaxed transfer rules, this could be the norm. Get mad a the coach... transfer. Want to be closer to mom... transfer. Girlfriend in another state... transfer. Not enough PT... transfer. It's Tuesday... transfer.

VT football is Beamer. When you follow the GOAT at a school you're probably not going to do as good. Fuente isn't. It's starting to snowball out of control though. The timing probably couldn't be worse since several Coastal teams are clearly upgrading.

And what about those pink basketball uniforms?

yowza...