gahokie

Both are 4 star in their ranking and have nearly identical size.

No offense to Franklin. He was hugely impressive, as I expected he would be. What hit me was the front row domination of a certain website's reporters in the front row. I started with Techsideline when it was a part time venture for a software engineer that he started a message board as a hobby. I never would have thought that Hokie Central would evolve into the juggernaut it has become within the General Hokie Community. Way to go Will!!! ** Edited by gahokie at 11/19/2025, 2:03:20 PM

Offensive coordinators are always everyone's favorite target but I agree, even with a bad foundation, you can get the job done with some misdirection and a lot of smoke and mirrors. Bowen may have been hurt by a subpar O-Line coach but based on his new gig, he should have been able to recognize the issues and inserted himself to help get that weak link fixed.

That would be a lot of seats and all of them would give a bigger bump than what GT gets by going to MB stadium. Also it’d be a similar vibe with both schools being regionally located. ** Edited by gahokie at 1/31/2025, 10:01:09 PM

Being the son of a football coach who bounced around a fair amount could’ve made it hard to put down roots in a place that’d always be home. I was born in Okla City, Okla and spent 6 months there before my family transferred out to a ne corporate assignment. We moved to Virginia when I was 5 and I didn’t leave till I graduated from Tech. Virginia will always be home to me.

The one they called Mr. 7-11 .... cause he was always open!!

to play for a program with some hype around it. I will say it now.... even if we don't make the field of 12 this year, Coach Pry has made it cool again to play for THE in-state school for these highly recruited Virginia HS players. The ship has righted its course and the sails are unfurling to catch that wind.

I think the O-Line has shown steady progress and is looking good for next year. The area that still concerns me is the soft center..... LBs. I am hopeful that the shuffling of positions and relative newness of the system to others is why they had a poor showing in the Spring Game. At a minimum, the level and depth of talent at DT should improve the LBs chances for success.

I was not there but my sister was. They occupied Williams Hall to protest the war... figures they took over the Humanities bldg.... State troopers brought in a Mayflower Moving Van, backed it up to the front doors, sent officers in through all the other doors and did a full sweep of the building. They herded all the protesters down to the van and took them all to the jail where they booked them on trespass charges and since they found rags, bottles, and kerosene in the basement janitor's closet also threw in possession of bomb making materials. All protests ended shortly thereafter.

His midrange ball placement is probably his biggest area for focus and if he improves his precision there it truly will be Katie bar the door. He may have a healthy Jennings to explode on the scene next year as the combo of all the other receivers (Lane, Felton, Gosnell, ...) who had to step up last year and those incoming 4 stars should keep the double teams to a minimum. Combine that with the return of Gallo who is a more complete TE option and the passing game should scare the daylights out of opposing DCs. Damn, September can't get here fast enough.

Everything else is hot garbage and only looked at final records and conference affiliations.....

They had to be favored. Right? They showed they were the better team.

Some here would yes, but not a majority. We Hokies made the same arguments for a title chance in 99 that the two undefeated teams should be the ones to decide the question of who's best. We were lucky that bigger name blue bloods also lost games at the end to open the door for us. We may be many things but most of us are not hypocrites. ** Edited by gahokie at 12/6/2023, 11:17:38 AM

agree with your logic and I've seen a lot of your posts in the past that demonstrate you are as thoughtful a poster as can be expected from a WVU fan... sorry.... couldn't help myself there. The truth is, unless they PLAY THE GAME, nobody can say that Alabama is a better team than FSU. That FSU defense is as dominant as any in the game. There is no guarantee that a Michigan team that could not run on Iowa would fare any better against FSU and that Line of theirs and the UM QB is not going to put the team on his back to win a playoff game. Conversely, the FSU third string QB was not as much the problem for them against UL as the FSU receiver corps who, to a man, dropped several catchable balls. It may be that his delivery differed a lot from the 2nd string QB and they had a hard time adjusting or that they all just had one of those days... like ALA said they had against AUB. Unfortunately, we will never know if FSU and that defense that will probably place 6-7 into the early rounds of the NFL draft could have been a truly incredible cinderella story. Remember, if the opposing team's offense cannot score points on you, your offense does not need to be that good; but, only good enough. As a parting shot let me add, you should admit that the only reason Texas is in the playoff is because they beat an ALA team that was not that good at the start of the year but was good enough to get by GA at the end. If GA had won that game like they were FAVORED TO, the committee would have gone with the 4 undefeated conference champions and the big 12 would have assumed their traditional position of last in the Power 5 lineup. ** Edited by gahokie at 12/6/2023, 11:14:29 AM

Not GT. Also, highly doubt that Pitt is a land grant college either.

They are keying on Felton on deep routes. Mr Lane could find paydirt

I’ll be surprised if he leaves his alma mater (especially with Papa John money available to match). At a minimum UL is going to try to lock him in long term if they are smart.

Yeah I know the transitive property is not always applicable but that vaunted Duke defense that was gashed in that game just gave up 3 TDs to a Wake Forest club that failed to score any on the Hokie D.

They were the measuring stick that he used to establish his program. The D lines were big and focused on quickness, the LBs were guided missiles and the DBs were FAST and always on the prowl. The offenses were run heavy with O lines that wanted to impose their wills and QBs and wideouts focused on hitting the deep balls once the safeties got tired of the RBs grinding out first downs and started to cheat up. In 95 when we started to make the turn, it was the win over Miami that started it. Back and forth for the most part ever since is what makes this such a great rivalry for both teams. Glad it's back. Hopefully it stays this way. ** Edited by gahokie at 10/31/2023, 12:31:47 PM

We beat toSU at the horseshoe in the year that they went on to be undefeated and Natty Champs. Yeah, at the time they were officially No. 7 in the polls but that was the same team that ended up with the cup. Things went up and down for us that year but you gotta give the team its due there, they showed up for that game.

I'm pretty sure he was also the one who magically missed the obvious offensive pass interference by Payne when he stiff armed Johnson 2 or 3 times in his route while the ball was in the air to "create" separation. That deep ball completion was what led to that first Marshall TD. There were plenty of examples of why the Hokies had more penalties than the Herd. Still it was those pre-snap miscues more than anything that killed us. ** Edited by gahokie at 9/26/2023, 2:02:35 PM

He needed a clock in his head to tell him when to bail and/or throw the ball away. It seemed to me that while the run blocking was atrocious at best, the pass blocking was less so. There were many times when I went hoarse during a game not from cheering, but screaming at him from the stands and at the tv to throw the ball away as he stood back in the pocket holding on for waaaay too long. I was never sure if he was just locked in on (the) one receiver to get open or constantly scanning the field looking for anybody but, 2nd and ten is always better than 2nd and twenty.... ** Edited by gahokie at 8/24/2023, 12:28:07 PM

But that last year when Fuente got dumped was possibly the worst tackling unit I've seen Tech put on the field which is saying a lot since I was there during the Charlie Coffee and Jimmy Sharpe years. I loved the heart that Dax showed and his love of Tech, but until last year, there were many times he looked completely lost on the field and really never lived up to that 4 star rank.

point. When Clemson brought in Tommy Bowden, they were a program in decline and made a big splash hire. That obviously did not work out and they promoted their wide receiver coach to interim HC and after the season named him head coach. They signed Dabo for less than Bowden and people thought that was due to the payout required to dump Bowden.... sound familiar? What Clemson did though, was pour a HUGE portion (as in almost all) of their athletic budget into the football program to get the staff and facilities to put them on par with all the SEC programs. All their other sports programs suffered until the football program had won some Natty's and the alumni funding kicked it into an even higher gear than the ITPAY numbers of previous years. It's only been in the last 4-5 years that Clemson baseball, basketball and soccer have been able to compete with most other ACC programs. Whit's gone the other direction and has built up all the VT sports programs hoping (I think) that the "Beamer Way" of building the football program back can still work. He has indeed bet the farm on it, because changing course at this time would be a catastrophic move for many in the VT athletic department.

Everyone loved the Fuente hire when Whit brought him in and after the first year, it looked even better. What killed Fuente was his inability to really develop talent and after Bud left, that began to show up most glaringly in the Defense. He brought in talented players that other big programs were after too, but in many cases it wasn't players who fit the culture. Those 4 stars who came, never really showed out and the 3 stars never grew beyond their entry level status. I believe that led to a lot of the higher stars transferring out to look for a place that could help them get to the SHOW. Pry has shown everywhere that he has gone that he has a positive impact on the players once he has time to work with them; and, he understands the culture of Tech and the importance of recruiting the Commonwealth. All the coaches who've worked with him give him high praise for developing players to their ceiling and his ability to connect with players and families. He's not really that much different than CFB in all those traits. Where he differs is that he came to Tech before learning first-hand the ropes of running a whole program. People don't get 5 years to turn around a program in trouble any more but Tech is in a much better position to rebound now than they were in the '87. When they brought CFB in, he was not a "splash" hire either but people who knew him, understood his potential to make Virginia Tech a great program. I feel like that is much the same sentiment that has been associated with CBP's hire. This year will mark an important point in his career. He's had a full year to get things put into place the way he wants them and while the talent pool is not where it needs to be for a 10+ win season, it is for him to start a show a better product on the field. Let's save this thread and see where we are at Thanksgiving before we make any rash judgements

Of course it's not exactly the same.... Dabo played at Alabama and Key is a homeboy. That's just an added bonus. The big question is who was the recruiter on the staff. Dabo was always a magnet for the talent too so losing Bowden didn't hurt Clemson there anyway. Was it Collins or Key that was the closer at Tech?

It can be that a "competent" QB who had good stats in one system is not a good fit with the system he comes into or takes the whole season to get a handle on things... Rattler was horrid in many of his games until the last two. He may also not be a good cultural fit with the existing team and not mesh well with the receiving unit. There are so many factors at play that can make things go South, you are at best a 50/50 shot with a portal pick. I do know that Devin Farrell has had a year working with Brad Glenn and may well be ready to take the next step. The kid is an athlete who has good speed, is shifty, and has a very nice deep ball. He played at the very highest level in Georgia HS football and took his team to the state championship game. The grass may look greener in your neighbor's yard but sometimes on closer inspection, that grass is just a bunch of weeds.

Comparing fan bases, doubt that UL and JMU combined exceed the number of Hokies who'd be tuning in. Yeah, that number doesn't move much at all if you add the GT viewers but you get my drift. ** Edited by gahokie at 10/24/2022, 6:46:05 PM

Never allow Roddy Jones to broadcast another Tech game?

Geez…. Even if its true… enjoy the f….ing moment!!!!

I said they were inconsistent. Major difference and that absolutely leads to confusion on what’s acceptable for a given game. When refs are consistent a lot of the types of penalties that were called on Thursday might have never happened. Defensive players and Olinemen as a rule play as agresdively as they think can get away with. Clear understanding of the officials given approach to calling a game make a huge difference. I thought I heard the announcers at the ODU game mention that Big12 officials were at that game. I might have been mistaken there but from my experience, they are inconsistent as a general rule. If you disagree with my premise… you can have your opinion but that’s all it is.

Try reading it again without your presupposition. If you thought those refs were absolutely even in how they called the game you could use an eye exam. There were several cases where penalties called on the Hokies are exact copies of plays that they let pass with WVU. I do not like the Big 12 refs in general. You are free to disagree but don't put words in my mouth... Good God some people love to argue on points that are not even being mentioned.....but then you have a history of that don't you. Guess your momma never taught you that if you don't have anything nice to say..... ** Edited by gahokie at 9/30/2022, 5:38:04 PM

I am very glad we have seen the last of the Big 12 officiating crews for this season. They were the ones who tore the Hokies up in ODU and WVU. Again, the penalties can be argued nitpicks on some but the big thing I saw with them was the lack of consistency. In those situations, I usually see the flag fests because the players are not sure what passes the bar and what doesn't.

ALL the BE football schools (including BC, SYR, and Pitt) made an ultimatum at the league meeting that if the conference didn't accept all the BE Football Teams, they would split away to form an independent all sports conference. The Basketball schools called their bluff and "compromised" by adding WVU, UM, and Rutsgers to the league but left Tech and Temple on the outside looking in with our noses pressed against the glass...... ** Edited by gahokie at 9/20/2022, 8:30:16 PM

And I did see him throw a couple nice long balls when they played Mill Creek in the state 7A Semi-Finals last year. I am excited to see how he develops with the new system. My son is a UT alum and he knows it gripes me every time I hear about Hendon's latest game for the Vols.... How he was so poorly handled here at Tech.....

It will always be a big game that I hope both teams get up for and play well in, but I will never tire of gigging WVU, UM, and uVa any chance I get. That's what makes rivalries so much fun. People talk about the Sugar Bowl win over Texas and the win over UM in lane as if that is when the Hokies under CFB announced themselves on the national stage, but I remember that win over Major Harris as being when ol Frank showed his Hokies could play with anybody.

The YAC this year is a night and day difference to the last few years. Its not the Defense schemes that are that radically different but the execution. This staff has really brought the focus back to the fundamentals and it shows.

It keeps all us optimists in check and God help us feeling optimistic…. Geez!!! One game won well does not mean this team would win rhe ACC. Similarly, one loss, while not dominated but embarrassed does not mean time to close up shop. It’s a long season. Watch how the team (and coaches) improve from week to week and remember that fans can only help the program by creating a freaking atmosphere that kids want to play in. Unless you have pockets deep enough to support an SEC level staff and program that is, your incessant critiques are not helpful.

He went 10-15 with a TD and an interception in the game as the starting QB for Buford. I think you are off by a year..... In 2021 he "worked behind Stanford signee Ashton Daniels and was inserted here and there for the Wolves as a change of pace option throughout the course of the season. Completed just over 63 percent of his passes for 648 yards with 7 TDs to go against 0 INT … Participated in GACA All-Star Junior Game where he threw a 69-yard touchdown pass and also scored on a 19-yard run." ** Edited by gahokie at 8/22/2022, 12:02:34 PM

They beat the 3 time 7A champion from Alabama convincingly. The game was a tight game through 3 quarters with Buford up 10-0 before the broke away. Interesting point. Thompson HS has two 5-Star players on defense but Witte was not deterred and had a solid if not great game himself. Here’s a link:

The way that the recruiting process has evolved yes with more and better scouting of the HS talent all over the country. But fundamentally it is much the same and the recipe for success is still there. The focus for the next couple to three years should be to build out form a core of high level 3 star talent that the HS coaches help us identify. One-two day camps do not tell the story of the kids as well as the HS coaches who work with them every day and it is those relationships that help CBP and staff target the talent the will win for Tech. He was recruiting for pSU but his relationship that he had with the coaches gave him early notice of the promising talent to work on and establish connections. The same approach at Tech will reap similar results. Tech has never been a recruiting juggernaut like the Bluebloods or even Clemson who nearly abandoned all their sports to focus more available cash on football in order to compete at that level of recruiting. We have always built from a core of solid 3 star talent and added the few 4/5 stars that we proved could be successful in Blacksburg. Pry seems to be following the same roadmap. How is that so dramatically different that he only has a clock of one year to turn everything around?

CFB was 5-6 yrs in before he started to get the talent to stay put. pSU was raiding Va. back then too and Tech was burdened by the NCAA sanctions as well. The path forward is to really get to know the Va HS coaches and identify the talent that we can develop up. It will be those kids who want to make Tech relevant again that get the younger 4 stars talent's attention and their success and our coaches efforts will begin to pay off as they want to see their names and video highlights being broadcast locally too. That won't happen if they are wearing those monochrome unis. If I am Franklin, I am wanting to get the talent while the getting is good as he has to know that Pry will be shutting that down sooner than later. Also, Pry's job may be an even easier effort Han Fancy Gap Frank's. CFB had to contest with the George Welsh show and they were keeping most of the talent that did want to stay in State initially. I don't think Elliott is that same caliber..... we'll see. ** Edited by gahokie at 8/11/2022, 1:40:09 PM

You wonder why people so all so upset with you?? You said a team that lost two pitchers to the majors and nobody expected to do anything but start rebuilding before the season started were doomed to fail because they were not up to handling the pressure. They were a team that did just the opposite and overachieved all season long. They gave their all and left nothing on the field and you **** on all that. I have nothing but respect for all they did this year and none for you. Oh by the way nice “I played and coached very successfully on the high school level” claim…. BS!