Hokies Mailbag: The Offseason Ahead, ACC Sponsor Patches And The State Of Journalism

29 Comments

1. 

   vt78hokiehi February 1, 2026 at 9:43 AM

   Thanks Andy. I live in 757 and use to love to read David Teel, when Daily Press torpedoed the sports section I dropped the paper. I love having these options and always look forward to the podcasts and articles. I am glad you are part of the Hokie Faculty and hope you and family continue to enjoy Blacksburg, as we enjoy your contributions.
2. 

   Ibclay69 January 31, 2026 at 5:35 PM

   We are exhausted with politics in sports. We watch games to escape, in particular escape politics. The last thing wish hear or read are a sports journalist opinions on politics.
   1. 

      Andy Bitter January 31, 2026 at 6:16 PM

      What exactly was political about any of this?
3. 

   HokieYankee January 31, 2026 at 9:36 AM

   Where are all the other Olympic coaches? I think softball offices are in their practice center. MBB/WBB are in Hahn-Hurst…. Sadly I remember in 1995 ALL coaches for all sports were in Jamerson. No Merryman back then. My how times have changed.
4. 

   Aero81Hokie January 30, 2026 at 10:20 PM

   I too loved the journalism question. So many changes. I was fortunate to live in the 757 from 1981 to 2014 and got to read great articles by some guy named David Teel! I learned a lot and really enjoyed his articles. I feel like we grew older together. In the mid 90’s a friend told me about Hokie Central and my insights into Tech athletics improved dramatically. Then sometime in the 2000’s I started getting the Roanoke Times online and there was an exceptional sportswriter putting out great content. Then the Daily Press and the Roanoke times made some questionable decisions (I know, driven by money). Forced me to subscribe to the Athletic for a while and I had trouble getting good Teel content. My info felt fractured. Thankfully after all that churn, I only need to subscribe to TechSideLine now to get what I want/need. So things change but for me it all worked out great. Thanks guys!
5. 

   csw94 January 30, 2026 at 12:52 PM

   Thanks for the response, Andy. I've been blown away with TSL over the last few years. It seems to hit the sweet spot of covering my favorite team and is rooted in top tier journalism, not complete Hokie bias. In other words, y'all tell it like it is, and don't simply wax poetic about VT because your readers are all fans. That's appreciate and not always found on fan sites. Adding Teel in the mix on the weekly pod is icing on the cake.
   1. 

      HokieTC January 30, 2026 at 1:46 PM

      +1
6. 

   RustyHokie94 January 30, 2026 at 12:28 PM

   CC has reviewed where our previous players landed via the portal. What about the coaches? Where did JC Price and the other VT alumni end up? Do they have any thoughts on being let go?
   1. 

      Andy Bitter January 30, 2026 at 12:52 PM

      The ones we know: Pry, Mines, Moore all re-hired/retained Siefkes: Green Bay Packers LB coach Elijah Brooks: South Florida RB coach Davis: Pitt TE coach Quinn: Liberty DC Haven't heard or seen anything on Montgomery, Price, Adibi, Prioleau, Jones, Holt.
7. 

   delmarva hokie January 30, 2026 at 11:57 AM

   I loved the comments on journalism and I've lived through much the same thing in my former radio career. After I got laid off at my last radio job, I attempted to do a local news blog, especially covering local government such as municipal mayor and council as well as planning and zoning meetings. The main reason was because my local newspaper was no longer doing this. The project ended during COVID along with the realization that I didn't have the motivation or talent to try to monetize this blog (and that there wasn't enough of an audience to monetize it) so I looked at other career options. The best compliment I got was from a municipal town manager who made it point to tell me and to tell the elected officials that I was officially media and had the power with one viral post to make the town look bad if they screwed up. I did have a positive relationship with the municipalities I covered and enough so that after I ended the blog, I now actually serve on my town's Planning and Zoning Commission after covering it in the media a few years before. One other thing for the readers, Tech Sideline is the press. It's highly specialized with a highly specialized audience they can sell to advertisers, but it's the press and the go to source for Virginia Tech sports coverage. In my opinion, the hiring of Andy Bitter made TSL the big boy on the block in VT sports coverage and elevated the rest of the journalism staff like Chris and David to now being the big time. The local newspapers can't keep up. TSL has come a long way and Will's vision for what it could be has to be appreciated.
8. 

   HokieRaven7 January 29, 2026 at 10:24 PM

   Andy, I have said this before and will gladly say it again... we here in the TechSideline community are so very fortunate to have you. Thank you for your thoughtful response on the state of journalism. From age 11 on (late 70s) the high-pount of my week was Sports Illustrated showing up in my mailbox. Frank Deford. John Zimmerman. E.M. Swift. And in Baltimore I was privileged to read and hear John Steadman. You are right - things evolve and change. But part of me misses those times.
   1. 

      Andy Bitter January 29, 2026 at 11:22 PM

      Deford was one of my favorites.
9. 

   AlrightGuy January 29, 2026 at 8:27 PM

   Advertising is an inherently capitalistic endeavor, thus antithetical to the American Communist Party. Also, a little harsh in Berkeley, huh? Great discussion on the current and future status of journalism. I’m OK with the fragmentation of traditional journalism when it comes to sports. It’s entertainment, after all. But the lack of true journalistic integrity that comes from the breakdown of traditional news sources is hurting us all.
   1. 

      Andy Bitter January 29, 2026 at 8:43 PM

      It was more a nod to the Calgorithm than anything.
10. 

    Novahokie`99 January 29, 2026 at 7:29 PM

    Chico’s Bail Bonds - Let Freedom Ring!
11. 

    N2VT2 January 29, 2026 at 7:02 PM

    Andy, what you and David Teel are doing with David Cunningham is worthy of praise. You are providing a PhD in sports journalism for free. There will always be room for the written word in sports journalism. Sitting in a ice cold press box and developing a game story in an hour is an art form. I get upset when people criticize David for an incorrect stat. Try writing to a deadline! When you go back in time, doing research or walking down memory lane, do you go back to the written word, or do you go back to a video clip on TSL? I've trained hundreds of engineers, reminding them that what sets them apart from their foreign counterparts is the ability to communicate orally or in writing.
    1. 

       Andy Bitter January 29, 2026 at 7:16 PM

       That’s sort of my opening riff when I start my class each semester. Not everyone in there will pursue sports journalism (none might), but being able to write, organize and clearly communicate your thoughts are skills that translate to any field.
12. 

    MKD January 29, 2026 at 5:55 PM

    Andy, TSL needs to way more podcast in order to retain and gain new subscribers. I bet the numbers would back that up when comparing articles read vs podcast watched. Video is the #1 way to grow an audience in today's world. It allows people to watch or listen while their multitasking, working, etc.
13. 

    DesertHokie January 29, 2026 at 4:26 PM

    How about an ACC network sponsor patch for the Spurtle? IYKYK
14. 

    Spartacusjones January 29, 2026 at 4:17 PM

    Any word on Ferg?
    1. 

       Andy Bitter January 29, 2026 at 4:33 PM

       Franklin wished him a happy birthday on Twitter the other day, so I think he’s staying on staff.
15. 

    VAHokie89 January 29, 2026 at 3:26 PM

    Regarding the last topic: when I covered WBB game at JMU, I talked to a writer/journalist for a paper in Harrisonburg. I asked him essentially about his thoughts on journalism, in a modern world where you dont have to have a degree in journalism or communication to involved in the industry. It was kind of weird to see him, Mark Berman, and some others sitting next to people who would come as "kids" perhaps to them. I also wondered what goes through the head of a coach in a press concerence when they look out to see people slumped down, with jeans and a t-shirt, a truck driver hat..who the coach knows he should give respect to. The writer talked a bit, but one thing he said was when his newspaper hires, the essential requirement is can someone write. Really write. It is an interesting topic given the explosion of podcasts, twitter, social media platforms, etc. I would think that there is a level of professionalism, attempt to be analytical if that is part of the requirement (versus just recapping an event), go beyond cliches, etc, but at the end of the day, it will still be about reaching consumers and their reactions.
16. 

    hokiepro January 29, 2026 at 3:23 PM

    First thing I’d do is bring in small mobile desk/work units into the position meeting rooms and make those “offices” or collaborative work space for the newer (larger) staff assigned to those position groups. If you have 3 DL coaches (GA, staff etc) they all should have a small dedicated corner (mobile desk where they can plug in laptops and work) and they can collaborate and set up meeting space for he players without really even leaving their office space.
17. 

    lax cpa January 29, 2026 at 3:10 PM

    Definitely need to have Crumble Cookies patch for Penn State!!
    1. 

       HokieTC January 30, 2026 at 2:02 PM

       Andy, It does seem like you have brought TSL up a notch for journalism and enjoyment. TSL is definitely the best way to follow Hokie sports. I feel lucky that it is such an excellent website which makes it enjoyable and entertaining. I prefer reading over podcasts as I can cover a lot more ground reading than I can with podcast. I like recap and analysis. Often times I’m not able to watch a particular game, and I appreciate a good recap. Thanks again for all your interesting articles and also for answering our questions when we post.
18. 

    `lag January 29, 2026 at 3:02 PM

    Good stuff, Andy's seen the history, from newspaper to The Athletic and now TSL so I've been waiting on this comment for a while now. TSL does good journalism, agree whole-heartedly and by swimming upstream on the internet: real people doing real articles. Part of the math of most internet everything is getting a computer to leverage not having to hire those expensive people, how that whole thing with SI creating fictional AI writers happened and/or just stealing stuff. I really admire what Will's done here, it really is a unicorn in the sports world...and kind harkins back to those newspaper days. Love the comic bit about branding on uniforms, wonder if Louisville will backtrack and allow Papa Johns on their unis again.
19. 

    TomTurkey January 29, 2026 at 2:33 PM

    The great plus of the podcast is to see and hear your comments; facial expression and voice inflection. But it's kind of quick and fleeting. Then, we have, or will, seen it in text that we can savor and reread for content.
20. 

    vtce2000 January 29, 2026 at 2:25 PM

    loved the jersey patch ideas....great work
21. 

    VTHokieTBone7 January 29, 2026 at 2:24 PM

    Love the response to csw94's GREAT question. Thank you, Andy.