BuffaloTraceHokie

They will be severely disappointed in the QB play. Morris was a gamer. They played a terribly weak schedule last season and needed some miracles against some really bad teams. I don't think they repeat the success. But, as you stated, they have a really weak schedule again, so who knows... its the ACC.

you aren't entirely correct about the Holmes situation. .

ingredients in a dish you're making because you don't like them as stand alone ingredients... You put a lot of work into this and it is really quite interesting to look at! I'm not sure the point you are trying to make is one that should be thought about too much. At the end of the day you need a roster full of 4* and 5* kids to compete at a high level. You stand a much better chance at hitting on those kids than you do a roster full of 3* kids. Also, remember, high school recruiting is a bit challenging. You are predicting how well a kid will do at the next level based on physical metrics and the good old fashioned "eye test". Anyone can miss something along the way there. Lastly, there are a ton of variables once these kids leave high school... Do they stay healthy? How committed are they going to be to the S&C program? How well does the scheme they are part of fit their skill set, and if it doesn't, are they going to get the development they need? How well will these kids mesh with the coaching staff and teammates? That will impact development as well. There are more, but my point is this - take any one of the "overrated" kids and dig a little. I wonder if you'll find some variables that might indicate circumstances led to what happened more than the fact that they were overrated. For example - I would argue that Michael Holmes was grossly underrated coming out of HHS. He happened to be running behind one of the worst, if not the worst, run blocking lines in the history of VT football. Additionally, his career was cut short because of some VT "politics" (I'll leave it at that). That kid was an absolute stud who didn't have the opportunity to develop and would have likely fallen into the "overrated" category on your list. Again, I appreciate the work you put in here. It was quite the dig and a very interesting read, ,so don't hear me saying what you posted isn't helpful. I just thought I'd offer some perspective from my vantage point.

Based on the metrics, you cannot win a National Championship with a roster like that. That being said... Curt Cignetti is breaking all the molds.

But rebuilding your roster every year is a gamble. And remember, as good as UVA was last year (and they were a pretty good team), they benefited from a historically weak schedule while also getting insanely lucky against some bad teams. The key factor in some of those close wins against bad teams was the QB play. Morris was really good. I liked him. Their current QB room will be significantly less stellar this season.

And I'm not "picking a side" here on TSL... the money DOES NOT follow the players. Players follow the money. While I appreciate any and all types of things related to our freedom to protest in this country, money rules the day. End of story.

The second best season they've had in almost 30 years and they still couldn't get a sellout.

the really good Bowen offense we saw from time to time. He was just really bad at making in-game adjustments. He was always one step behind, or in some games the opposing DC simply had his number the entire time. Granted, he lacked some talent across the board and you can't overcome that every Saturday.

He seemed to always start the season slowly, finally adjust, then failed to make appropriate in-game adjustments. At the end of the day, it's a game of chess. Really good coordinators have a knack at going in with a gameplan while also having the ability to adjust to stay one step ahead of their counterparts. This is both a gift and a learned skill. TB struggled in this regard. I do think he is a talented coach who will be a good coordinator one day.

My recommendation would be to head towards The Walker Course, park on the side of the road (free) and walk to the stadium (its about a mile and a half or so. Not bad). We parked at around 5:30 and both sides were pretty full at that point. Fortunately we drove the Prius (gas sucks right now) so we were able to squeeze in pretty easily. As stated in another one of my comments, my buddy had a parking pass right in front of Gate 11. He left in time to arrive by 5:30 (gave himself an hour and a half to make the 30 minute drive) and still didn't get into the stadium until midway through the Cody Johnson set (maybe 7:30 or so). The traffic around town and around the stadium will be absurd. I don't think you want to mess with it even if you have a pass. Finally, we left just before the final song, hustled to the car and pulled out with zero issues. The traffic was a little thick leaving, but moving. We made it back over to Seneca in 30 minutes. Just note... you WILL get towed if your tires are touching that white line. ** Edited by BuffaloTraceHokie at 5/6/2026, 12:20:38 PM

to load up for a long night!

that doesn't mean you'll actually get one. We decided, after waiting for 30 minutes past our pickup time (we stayed down in Seneca) that we would drive in. We headed towards the Walker Course, as my buddy told me that would be the place to park, and hit some heavy traffic. Finally, we decided to park on the side of the road about half a mile from the course. We walked much faster than the traffic. Ironically, my buddy had a parking pass right in front of Gate 11... He was in traffic for 3 hours and didn't get into the stadium until Cody Johnson was about halfway through his set. Again, the traffic thing I get. a town of 18K people trying to accommodate 90K will cause problems. But everything inside the stadium was awful. We did create a nice trick though... My GF filled up some breast milk bags (about 3oz in each) with "drinks" and shoved them down insider her boots. That proved to be the hack of the night!

Sheesh.. what an epic disaster of a venue. I haven't been down there in over 20 years, so I guess I forgot how bad that place was/is. Now, to be fair, there were 90K people there, so we did expect traffic to be really bad. But the overall experience in the stadium was the worst I've ever experienced (and that says a lot). I would be curious to know if anyone who has been to a game there in recent years has the same experience. Despite all of that, Cody Johnson and King George put on a great show!

full of "one and done" players. That has been his biggest issue IMO - is inability to keep a cohesive roster together year over year.

I love CMY and he did have some injuries this season that certainly hindered the development of this roster. However, this team was bad at the basic fundamentals of basketball. Failure to adjust, inability to every play any sort of zone, and the absolutely bone headed decisions night after night after night by his players are things that are inexcusable by a team with a veteran coach. This new era of having to re-recruit your team every year and rebuild a large portion of it isn't what CMY was cut out to do (he needs players to be in his system for 20-4 years for min go find success). He has represented VT well, and he certainly has us competitive (relatively speaking), but he needs to be in a spot where he can shake hands and kiss babies for VT Ahtletics.

No question. And I'm excited about 2026 because I think we will be a competitive football team. However, Franklin has traditionally not been one to consistently punch above his weight class. His skill set is gathering talent and letting his staff go to work. It's served him quite well over the years. I'm not being disparaging in any way, I'm simply highlighting the type of coach Franklin is.. He isn't the Curt Cignetti type who will beat teams with superior talent on a consistent basis (but that's a skill reserved for a select few... Beamer included). All that being said, I would expect 6 to 8 wins this season with the talent we have and the schedule ahead (it does get challenging in November). However, if he can get the players and coaches working in a cohesive way early, we could really make some noise late in the season.

The refs sucked. But we play in the ACC where it's their job to suck. As to the "better team" thing... that would also include coaching, and Miami has the edge in that department. I think multiple things can be true at the same time, but what we saw last night is an analytical trend with this particular team.

over 60% of Miami's points in the second half (again, this is a trend) with zero adjustments from CMY. It was an incredibly physical game and again, no adjustments on our part... Just rigid, stick to the system CMY.

this is an obvious trend with CMY and this years team. We had a 5 point lead with 2 minutes left and scored 1 point over the last two minutes of the game. Not only that, we allowed their guard (another trend) to shoot over 60% of Miami's points in the second half. CMY has to know these things... CMY is not the type of coach to make adjustments. He's incredibly rigid in his approach. Are ACC refs really bad? Yes. But we aren't losing because of the refs. We are losing because of CMY's inability to make any meaningful adjustments.

like this

Coach Pry is absolutely everything that Hokie Nation needs on a football staff. He simply wasn't good at, or ready for, the Head Whistle. No shame in that. I'm incredibly happy for him and for our program that this worked out the way it did.

Tony Elliot has proven a number of things, one being he is one of the worst recruiters in the country as it relates to getting quality high school kids to commit to UVA. I wouldn't worry about Franklin at this point. Most of your higher rated recruits don't commit until much later in the process anyway.

Grunk will be a "serviceable QB" at worst. And let's be perfectly honest, that is a significant upgrade to what we've had. Additionally, he will have the benefit of a solid, if not very good, run game, some great weapons at the TE and WR spots and an OL that will, likely, be a bit better than last season. I don't think this is anything to panic about.

I think I'm looking at the macro while you may be looking at the micro. In any event, I digress. I appreciate your engagement. Part of this is me being a former coach at the high school level.

I was speaking specifically about the sport of football. Historically, Friday nights are for high school... Saturday's are for College... and Sunday's are for NFL. That was a good model that allowed football fans to focus in on their local communities, affiliated college, and NFL team without conflict. I tend to hold high school as the most sacred of all as that is the purest form of the sport - a place where the vast majority of kids will end their careers - a place where communities are brought together. When College football is televised on Friday nights it messes with that mojo a little along with blocking out fans who might want to watch that football game (I tend to record the one's I want to see). Call me a purist. It's just how I see it.

millions upon millions of potential viewers will be playing or watching high school football games all across the country. So yeah, it seems like that would move the needle to a certain extent.

While college football is primarily about broadcasting, there are millions of people (football loving people) who attend local Friday nigh high school football games. Millions of viewers who aren't viewing... Additionally, it takes the recruits ability to be able to watch or attend away from the schools playing. Call me old fashioned (I coached high school for some time), but it's a sacred night for high school kids and local communities alike.

first half on that L'ville run. That being said, CMY isn't particularly gifted at making in-game adjustments when his team is getting bullied around. He never has been. Additionally, Neo looks completely lost out there. I'm not sure what needs to be adjusted, but something needs to shift with this group. I don't think it's anything significant, rather a combination of little things that we can't seem to get quite right. But CMY will do what he does... go on a mid season ACC slide. Limp into the ACCT, then make a little run to keep us on the bubble for the tournament.

as I heard it on the TSL podcast. I think a big part of the success will be determined by two things. First of all, as has been pointed out, the OL. The Pass Pro simply has to be better. Could it be worse?? I don't think so. Secondly, I thought his OC did an outstanding job of getting the offense into a rhythm with bubble and tunnel screens along with that little shovel pass inside to both the slot and the TE. That seemed to keep the LBs on their heels a little bit, thus allowing the offense to find some rhythm. Additionally, Grunk, when he can set his feet, throws a very nice deep ball. I expect, with the running game and the things I mentioned, we might see some explosiveness next season.

I think anyone denying how great of a job CTE did last season doesn't really understand football. That being said, there is next to zero P4 talent on the UVA roster outside of whatever transfers pan out. He has done a historically poor job at recruiting high school players and developing them. What that means is that he needs every single transfer to pan out to be a productive ACC player. He did it once. But banking on that happening year over year isn't something that is sustainable. James Franklin, on the other hand, has loaded the boat with talent. To your point, it is young and relatively unproven. But the talent is undeniable. Can he get these guys to gel early and get these young players ready to go? That will be a tall task in 2026. What I think you'll see is a really competitive team that isn't always on the same page... A somewhat vanilla scheme early with more complexity later in the season... A team that grows throughout the season with a lot of to look forward to in 2027.

Clearly Tony Elliot, despite the cupcake schedule, did one helluva job last year. You can't be one of the worst coaches in the ACC and do what he did.

Kitchings struck gold with Morris and Pribula, no matter how you cut it, won't be close to as productive in the passing game. The UVA defense will be solid, if not good. But remember ladies and gentlemen... the Wahoos played the easiest ACC schedule and still needed miracles to beat some of the worst teams on that schedule.

However, the room is a full as it's been in quite some time. I think he finally has the freedom to lock guys into the position that best fits their skillset and operate that way. I guess we will see in just a couple of months.

I also wonder if Gabe Williams will find a spot in the 2 deep (maybe the STAR). Very gifted athlete who was injured early in his career. We definitely have some solid prospects now, I hope Pry can get them developed quickly so that the LB unit can at leas be serviceable.

Coach Franklin is having a Texas Tech level of portal success (not far off anyway). It is quite possible we could make a run at the pathetic ACC next season. That being said, much of the portal success is with younger, albeit incredibly talented, players. While we could certainly see an ACCCG push, we could also see 6 wins. I'm more interested in how the product looks next year. For the first time in a decade we will actually look like a P4 football team from a size standpoint. For the first time in over a decade we will have quality prospects to develop at almost every position. We have one of the biggest OL & DL in the ACC, along with a hand full of upper level ACC RBs. We've upgraded at every position whether that be a starting spot or as it relates to depth.

1. He is a downgrade to Morris and the UVA faithful will be frustrated with Kitchings next season as a result (they don't understand football well enough to understand who is "at fault" for one thing or another when it comes to the product on the field. 2. I don't want the ACC to exist past 2030. The quicker this thing dies it's inevitable death the better for all parties involved.

This will be the most talented roster we've had in 10-15 years, no doubt (one of the top 2-4 most talented teams in the ACC based on the metrics). But it's a new roster. Franklin's work this season will be bringing a brand new group of young men together and molding them into a team (CTE did an excellent job of that up in C'ville this past season, so we know it's possible). I think James Franklin was a genius when he built out his staff. He went back to his roots and leaned on guys he is really familiar with. What that means is that managing staff issues won't be a main part of his job. He will be able to fully focus on running this team and doing whatever it is that makes James Franklin successful. Now to the question at hand... I see 5 games that we absolutely should win (one of those, VMI, is likely to be replaced). I see another 2-3 that, based on team cohesion and development, we could definitely win. Then we have a small handful where I wouldn't necessarily expect a win. So I see anywhere from 6-8 wins. I think anything under 6 would be a disappointment, unless there are multiple key injuries. All that being said, the ACC is hot garbage. I mean, Duke and UVA played for the title this season. If UVA had a remotely decent schedule they likely wouldn't have been in that game (remember how many close games against bad teams they had?). Anything is possible these days, especially when you consider the fact that James Franklin is having a bit of a "Texas Tech" level of portal acquisitions.

same thing he did last season. They have a pretty easy schedule again, so they certainly could win some games. However, They aren't adding the same type of guys from the portal that they did last year (at a quick glance) and not as many. CTE has not recruited well, so it will be interesting to see if their gaslighting about how they will continue to build is actual reality.

When Miami hands the ball of, and it doesn't matter if its power, IZ or OZ... they get yards. Period. And a lot of yards. The defense can bring all 11 guys in the box and Miami would still get a push.

They could have attempted zero passes and won that game.

I can appreciate that a little more than the way 247 does it.

If I'm not mistaken, On3 is basing some of this on the current ranking of these transfers. A handful of these players were blue chip recruits coming out of high school - a metric based on POTENTIAL. Transfers are based on PRODUCTION. These guys don't have a lot of production because most of them are young. So, if I am correct in this assessment, this transfer class could be much better as it relates to potential that we are actually seeing based on those metrics.

He represented VT excellently. He deserves it. I hope he has great success as our DC, not only for us but for him as well.

Franklin sated with absolute clarity how he wants to build a roster - With high school recruits while filling gaps with the portal. He will obviously need to lean heavily on the portal early, but it seems like he's targeting guys who will, potentially, be around for a couple/few years. This helps him accomplish both things. And the guys he's targeting were blue chip recruits out of high school. The reason their portal rankings are low is because they simply haven't taken a ton of college snaps. James Franklin knows how to identify, acquire and develop talent.