DurhamHokie
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Member since:
September 15, 2006
Last post:
12/14/2021 04:19 PM ET
Posting History (46)
Football Board
4 mo ago
What our gym owner used to say...
At our CrossFit gym (which does not have HVAC), the owner used to joke when people complained about the cold was that he "had a part on order... called May"... and in the summer that part would be called October.
It was funny, and we just suffered through the conditions, it's not that big of a deal - and it made us tougher.
Football Board
5 mo ago
Worst memory...
Was back in the early '90s - when pizza boxes, cups, and even empty bottles were thrown every time either team scored...
The lowest point I can remember was when Chris Slade from UVA intercepted a pass (from Will Furrer??) and got to our endzone so quickly that he had time to turn around backwards, hold his hands up in a "V" and then fall into our endzone.
There were lots of "Fire Beamer" chants in 1991-2 before he got things turned around.
Football Board
5 mo ago
Agreed...
This also needs to be considered in other sports as well. An example is track & field, where lots of schools are now bringing in 25+ year old "freshmen" runners, many from Kenya, who have already been competing internationally for 5-10 years... it's destroying the chances of US HS kids who may have dominated their region/state and even won XC championships with ~15 min 5K times - while many of these Kenyan recruits are already running sub-14 min 5K.
I guess the bigger discussion is what should NCAA sports represent - should our public institutions funded by state taxpayer dollars serve as a place for their kids to compete, or is it a 'win-at-all-costs' situation where grown men are brought in from all over the world??
Football Board
6 mo ago
Similar story with our son...
College coach overtrained all of the athletes right out of HS, and treated them like cattle, despite what was "sold" to him and us on the recruiting trip. Threw them all into super high mileage immediately and got most of them hurt/injured. It was not the rosy experience he hoped it would be - toughed it out and fought through injuries for 4 years, but indeed ended up with a ton of shoes and workout gear.
Football Board
6 mo ago
Just curious, where do you see 6 losses on that schedule??
I can certainly see us losing to Miami, maybe Clemson, maybe a loss to UVA or GT or SMU... but doubt all three of them. We will have a significant upgrade in talent and coaching prowess...
Football Board
6 mo ago
Our son was also a D1 athlete (non-revenue sport)...
And those athletes certainly didn't get nearly the scholarship coverage (maybe a few thousand bucks after they split a full scholarship 5-10 ways) but did get free athletic gear, some snacks, and coaching. The head coach made ~$75K/yr. So they certainly don't invest a ton of money in non-revenue sports, certainly not compared to football.
Football Board
6 mo ago
Football Board
6 mo ago
Agree...
And in some states graduate students are unionizing to get more pay + benefits and it now costs so much for a faculty member to support one that they just won't do it. It's cheaper in the end to hire a technician.
In this example, I worry these 'greedy' graduate students are pricing themselves out of existence... and perhaps less well-funded football schools will have the same problem, not being able to afford this pay-to-play model.
Football Board
6 mo ago
Yes and no...
The money that schools have is typically earmarked for specific things... they may have a substantial endowment, but can't use that money for certain things... and they may have an athletic department flush with cash and a coach that makes >$5M while their academic departments are poor and are being consolidated or canned altogether. Or some departments are wealthy while others are broke - and faculty in some disciplines make hundreds of thousands while those in others make peanuts. It's a mess.
The way money flows into and around universities is really, really complicated.
Football Board
6 mo ago
Football Board
7 mo ago
They blamed it on alcohol policy violation, but...
That's just a smokescreen - he was allegedly sleeping with a student. And after what transpired at UM with Moore, there's no way they're going to allow that...
I guarantee that Ohio used the alcohol policy violation as the formal reason b/c they didn't have hard evidence of the affair.
Football Board
8 mo ago
PSU has a bit of a geography problem too...
Very remote, but they do have Beaver Stadium, which I think is worth a lot... both Nebraska and PSU have great histories.
Football Board
8 mo ago
Class rankings matter a LOT
They're certainly not everything... but if you compare average class rankings over the past 5 years to the current AP Top 25 poll they line up pretty well.
Football Board
8 mo ago
Hopefully a competent OC can help...
And in the ACC we should get to 8 wins by just improving our talent pool... having bigger, stronger, faster guys with nastier attitudes will get us to the point where most games won't come down to decisions like that.
Football Board
8 mo ago
And hopefully starting next year he can win VA back
It's been so frustrating to watch the top VA recruits flee the state over the past ~10 years... if he can establish relationships with coaches and consistently land 3-5 guys from the top-10 in VA we'll be in great shape
Football Board
8 mo ago
Football Board
8 mo ago
Oh, he screwed em all right...
How would you feel if you were a huge Ole Miss fan who'd been paying part of Lane's $9M salary or NIL deals for his players? He gets them to an amazing 11-1 season and you're psyched about a playoff run, a shot at the National Championship... and then selfish Lane up and quits and it's all gonna go down the toilet?
Football Board
8 mo ago
Well, in Lane's defense he was only making $9M per year...
You really expect loyalty and dedication for that type of chicken scratch (TIC)??
What a selfish jerk, he's screwing the players, the students who supported the team, the alumni who traveled to watch the team, the boosters who paid 90%+ of Kiffin's salary, the other boosters who paid the player NIL deals, the school, etc.
All so he can go to LSU for more money? And maybe a marginally better chance of winning the Natty?
Football Board
8 mo ago
Football Board
9 mo ago
No, I wasn't kidding...
Well, PSU just fired him, so I think it's worth questioning whether he's the best option.
Franklin did lose a LOT to ranked teams despite having top-10 and top-5 recruiting classes and much more talented players than he'll likely have at VT. And, he may be a great recruiter, but HS recruiting now seems much less critical, as wealthier Unis can just buy your players after a promising freshman or sophomore season...
So I'm not 'all-in' on Franklin, but maybe you're right in that he's the best we can get... although winning at 68% means going 8-4. I guess at this point maybe that's fine.
And FWIW, Kelly's at 73%, although is evidently a jerk - just wanted to argue with you on that one.
Football Board
9 mo ago
Football Board
9 mo ago
Why Franklin?
I don't share (or honestly understand) your enthusiasm... James had yearly top-10 and top-5 recruiting classes but lost most of the time to ranked teams, and almost never beat top-10 teams.
How is a change of scenery, to a place where he likely won't get top-10 teams, going to make him a successful coach? Do we really have that low of expectations??
Football Board
9 mo ago
Football Board
9 mo ago
Serious question - what about Franklin makes him so attractive?
I mean, despite having tons of 'advantages' (history, money, top-tier recruits, etc) at PSU he had an abysmal record vs ranked and especially top-10 teams... what are we missing here? Why do folks think he's going to do better at VT with fewer 'advantages'?
Football Board
9 mo ago
Football Board
9 mo ago
Well, he did get fired from PSU...
Curious why you think he'd do better at VT than PSU in terms of winning games against good teams? At PSU he was 15-28 vs ranked teams and 4-21 vs top-10 teams... At VT he'd be at a place with a less storied history, fewer resources, a smaller stadium, and ultimately have lower-ranked recruiting classes than PSU. He had consistent top-10 and even top-5 recruiting classes there, and I find it hard to imagine having that level of talent at VT. In fact, I'm not sure I recall us ever having a top-10 class... maybe a few top-15s back in Beamer's 'heyday'.
Are you saying he's a good candidate because if he goes 8-4 or 9-3 (with losses to FSU, Miami, Clemson, and occasionally Pitt, GT, UVA, etc) we'd be ultimately satisfied with being above average? How long before Hokie faithful are calling for his head too?
Football Board
9 mo ago
Football Board
9 mo ago
VT is a better job than LSU and others
I actually think our opening is more attractive because we have more reasonable expectations than LSU, UF, etc. I mean, LSU fired Kelley who was 34-14 after two 10-win and one 9-win season!
That's crazy to me...
Football Board
9 mo ago
Re:
Here at ECU we hired another super-successful former JMU coach (Mike Houston) and that was a disaster...
Football Board
2 y ago
Thoughts on signing day rankings...
I saw our rankings on Rivals, and we're #8 in ACC and #44 nationally. To me these rankings are misleading, as we signed a very small class compared to other schools. Our average star rating is 3.38, which puts us just behind UM in the ACC (and they finished #6 nationally)... so, we didn't sign quantity, but did get quality. By average star rating, we signed the #23 class nationally. Plus we signed a 4-star QB and 2 4-star D linemen, along with some OL with impressive offer lists, which we haven't had in recent years as best I can remember.
I get it that the more 4-5 star guys a team signs (and UGA got 23 vs our 6), they have a better chance of all-American and future NFL talent, but to me this is a great sign of progress by Pry & Co...
Football Board
2 y ago
Drones vs former VT QBs?
For those of you who've been following more closely... which former VT QB does Drones remind you most of?
I was thinking Jerod Evans, is that fair? With 2 more years of eligibility, where does he have room to improve, and can he become as good as Tyrod? Or is there another QB I'm missing?
Football Board
2 y ago
Should tell JMU fans Liberty is also 8-0 this year...
In terms of best team in the state, Liberty has a better case, IMO... their margin of victory, over largely similar teams, is quite a bit better. They do have a common opponent in ODU, but Liberty hasn't played them yet.
Football Board
2 y ago
Football Board
2 y ago
Football Board
3 y ago
Football Board
3 y ago
Football Board
3 y ago
Love your O&M-colored glasses, but...
please give us some examples of programs doing well right now in a power conference that's built on blue collar development-style players... I think that ship has sailed - while recruiting lots of 4-5* players does not guarantee success (e.g., ND, Miami, FSU, TAMU, USC-w, etc), it is a prerequisite for success (e.g., OSU, Clemson, Michigan lately, OU, Alabama).
Football Board
3 y ago
Football Board
3 y ago
Football Board
3 y ago
Football Board
3 y ago
See below...
Well, none of us know the exact particulars of what occurred between the two ADs in their negotiations - one said one thing, the other said another. Both pointed fingers, IIRC.
To extrapolate based on a disagreement between two ADs over a football game and say ECU is an "unprincipled program" is just plain ignorant. And to say they're a small regional college is just wrong - they're actually similarly sized to VT, and both universities serve their states based on their unique missions that are mandated by the state legislature. ECU also has a medical school, a dental school, and an allied health program.
BTW, we should be pretty happy as Hokies we don't have to play ECU this year. With a senior QB, they'd probably whoop our butts. They certainly beat our common opponent pretty handily.