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1) Hypothetical - If you could pick 1 person from VT past or present to interview and ask any questions you could and they would answer open and honestly, who would you pick and what questions would you want to ask? - HokieGreyhound
Chris Coleman: I’ve got three answers, two of which you perhaps wouldn’t have guessed.
Buzz Williams, if he was forced to answer openly and honestly, and in a language that a normal human being could understand, would be one of my picks. The culture he created was extremely strong, and it’s always interested me. I was somewhat close to it, being the guy who covered basketball games and interviewed players for TSL, but obviously I was never in the inner circle.
Some possible questions include…
1: What good players did you turn down because you didn’t feel like they were an OKG?
2: How do you determine who is a good culture fit?
3: Do you recruit culture, or do you develop culture? I think the answer is both of course, but which matters most?
4: What are some of the unique things you do to develop culture?
Another guy I’d be interested in talking to is the late Paul Torgersen, Virginia Tech’s former school president. Torgersen hadn't been president for about a year during the Beamer-to-UNC drama, but we’ve always heard that he played a big role in Beamer’s decision to stay.
Beamer himself didn’t mention that in his book Let Me Be Frank, at least not that I recall. He basically just painted a picture of having a handshake agreement with UNC, but then changing his mind at the last minute because he just couldn’t bring himself to leave Virginia Tech. That's how I would expect Beamer to tell the story, so as to not disrespect anyone else involved in the process.
We’ve always heard that it happened somewhat differently. We’ve always heard that Jim Weaver was hesitant to give Beamer what he wanted in terms of monetary support for his staff, and that Torgersen was the one guy who could bridge the gap between both parties. So that’s what I’d ask him. What role did you play in keeping Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech? Give me the whole story. Unfortunately, that’s not an interview that can ever happen. But we do know that Virginia Tech's coaching staff became the third highest-paid staff in the country shortly thereafter.
My final choice is also impossible. Frank Moseley is really the father of Virginia Tech athletics. He was head football coach and athletic director. It has always been my understanding that it was Moseley who decided to build Lane Stadium and Cassell Coliseum. Otherwise the Hokies would have kept right on playing football in Miles Stadium and basketball in War Memorial Gym.
When Division I split between 1-A and 1-AA in the 1970s, the Hokies would not have been 1-A had they still been playing in those two small venues. As far as I’m concerned, the main difference between what Virginia Tech became and what VMI is now is Frank Moseley. People ask all the time about my Mt. Rushmore of VT athletics, and Moseley would be my No. 1. Everything that has happened in the 1990s could not have happened without his long-term vision. Maybe Frank Beamer is never even VT’s football coach if not for Moseley’s vision.
So I’d ask him about his long-term vision for VT athletics back then. Did he foresee a split between 1-A and 1-AA? If so, is that why he built Lane Stadium and Cassell Coliseum, to make sure the Hokies got into the 1-A side of things?
2) What are your Top 5 favorite moments in VT athletics to cover as a reporter? Are there any moments in VT athletics you wish you could have covered as a reporter? If so, then which ones? VTHokie2000
CC: Honestly…none when it comes to football. I’ve only covered two football games as a reporter: 2013 Alabama and 2013 Maryland. The Hokies lost both, and I didn’t have a good time at either game. I enjoy the full gameday experience, so when I see other people tailgating and having a good time while I’ve got to work the game in the pressbox, I get in a bad mood. Fortunately that has only happened twice, and both games came in the same season. I hope it never happens again.
I do enjoy covering basketball most of the time, though I do regret that I spent the entire Buzz Williams era working from press row rather than sitting back as a fan and watching the games. Buzz gave me everything I always wanted as a VT basketball fan, and I was stupid enough to spend those five years in press row rather than actually being a fan.
My favorite moment of the Buzz Williams era was a forgettable win over Notre Dame on January 1, 2019. It’s my favorite moment because I actually went to the game as a fan and sat in the front row at midcourt. Other than that – and I’ll sound like a player or coach here – I don’t really have a favorite moment. My favorite “moment” was being around the players and such a unique individual as Buzz Williams. I’ll always remember that a lot more than I’ll remember what it was like to cover games when the Hokies were beating teams like Duke.
Those were the pluses to covering basketball. It’s a more intimate sport. For some of the non-conference games, there aren’t any more than three or four media guys present, so it really gives you a chance to get to know the players on a more one-on-one basis. I always enjoyed talking to guys like Justin Robinson, Justin Bibbs, Ahmed Hill and Nickiel Alexander-Walker after games, and I really liked sitting down and interviewing Tyrece Radford this past season.
By covering the team, I feel like I was able to give a greater perspective on Buzz Williams for our subscribers. Still…I wish I had gone to a few more games as a fan. That’s something I’ll always regret. I also regret covering the baseball games when Virginia Tech hosted the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That’s something I should have gone to as a fan, so I could have appreciated it more.
3) Is everything happening as planned with players returning to campus for practice? – Calabash Hokie
CC: As far as I know everything is going as planned, but don’t expect regular reports. However, what Americans will have to get used to is semi-regular reports from media of players on a team testing positive for the Coronavirus. It might come as a surprise to the average person how many people have had the Cornavirus and did not show symptoms.
So far, we already know that five Alabama players, two Marshall players (and one staff member) and three Oklahoma State players have tested positive upon their return to campus and workouts. And not everybody at every school has been tested yet. In fact, I’d guess that well under half of college football players at all schools have been tested…probably more like 20-25%. At Tech, only about 20-25 players are back on campus as far as I know. My guess is that just about every player who tests positive will be asystematic and will be surprised to learn that he tested positive.
I personally am not surprised by the positive tests because I watch European Soccer. Those teams have been practicing or playing for a couple of weeks now. Players are getting tested daily, and if anybody tests positive they self-isolate for a week or so while the rest of the team goes about their business. I’m a Tottenham Hotspur fan, and the rumor is one of the team’s top players tested positive yesterday, but I know the team still scrimmaged today without that player. But for most Americans, they have no idea that’s happening, so they’ll be surprised by some of the testing results they see in college football. But for me, I’ve been following stories like that for several weeks now.
If you want there to be a college football season, the key is to just keep pushing on. If somebody tests positive, send them home, and keep on practicing. If things get shut down for every little outbreak, then there won’t be a season, and athletic departments as we know then will cease to exist.
The big unknown for me right now is incoming freshmen. I highly doubt that the dorms will be open at full capacity for the fall semester. In fact, I’m guessing most freshmen at Virginia Tech this year will be doing their semester remotely, though I could be wrong. So what about freshmen football players? I assume an exception will be made, but I’m not sure that exception will be made for them to enroll as early as the July 4 holiday, which is usually when most incoming freshmen arrive. I'm not sure how that's going to work out.
Fans at some schools are going to have to adjust their expectations on the fly. If Hendon Hooker, Caleb Farley and Tre Turner test positive the week of the Penn State game and can’t play, should we fire Justin Fuente because we lost? Or, what if Fuente himself tests positive and has to miss a couple of games, or two weeks of training camp? What if Justin Hamilton and James Mitchell miss the UNC game? Oh, and you just know that since testing is handled by the schools and not an independent party that some schools are going to “accidentally” misread some testing results to make sure their start defensive end doesn’t miss the Alabama-Auburn game. As we all know, asking schools to police themselves doesn't exactly make for a fair environment.
It is what it is. At this point I’d be extremely surprised if there wasn’t a season of some sort, and I think that season will start on time. But there’s still a lot of unknown about what will happen once the season starts.