He certainly deserves it after seven straight NCAA bids. Background from Berman's story, "(D'Amour) was given a five-year deal when he was hired in June 2018. When that deal ended, he was given a six-year extension that was set to end after the 2029 season. Congratulations to Coach D'Amour.

to see how history remembers his legacy. He is probably on the list of great coaches in the game, so I hope future reporters and TV commentators continue to give him the props he rightfully desires. If softball was a more popular sport, then Hokie fans may even view D'Amour in the same light as they do with Beamer. Hokie fans should take pride in knowing that VT has been able to find multiple great coaches in multiple sports over the years. Also, it helps put into perspective just how difficult that final push to the summit (aka winning a natty in a sport) can be for a school like VT. With the right AD at the helm and the full support of the softball program, I am hopeful that the rest of country will learn what Hokie fans already know about D'Amour; just how special the coach really is and what he means to VT.

some year tenure at Tech. Coach Pete has built on top his work and I hope he's the one to set the capstone!!!

great HCs that most Hokie fans may have never heard of for various reasons.

. . . coaching in a different softball world than Thomas did. Through much of Thomas's tenure softball was a west coast sport. East coast ball was sort-of "D-league". That changed when the SEC decided to go all-in on the sport. Thomas' teams became less competitive as the SEC established its softball footprint. During this period Mickey Dean at JMU was out-recruiting Thomas taking his Dukes to within one inning of the WCWS in 2016. Pete came in, recognized the recruiting problems and fixed them.

sure how much of an impact the change made by the SEC really has on his legacy. After all he did coach for 20 years or so, racked up 700+ wins, and coached during a different era. Also, I was trying to make an underlying point during and prior the Beamer Era in football that VT may have had "great" coaches that Hokie fans may never have heard of simply because their sport never received the attention that basketball and football received over the years. Heck there are still sports today that don't receive the level of attention they probably deserve for various reasons. Also, the evolution of the media's role in college athletics has had a huge impact on the amount of exposure given to a non-revenue sport. Today Hokie fans have a better chance of hearing D'Amour's name if they decide to watch a VT softball game on the ACCN or ESPN Family of Networks. That wasn't possible when Thomas was at the helm.