vthokies4life

Lawyered*. *HIMYM

Repeat after me: Not. Greenberg's. Fault.

Bah! Humbug!

But we haven't made it to the title game in a while. It looks like we've hit a wall at only winning 10 games a season and possibly playing in the Orange Bowl. Out with the old, in with the new! We can't go any further!! Your arguments are illogical and speculative. Again, I don't always think the basketball program is heading in the right direction and have been frustrated by lack of motivation and inconsistency, but I blame the players. Read pretty much any of my previous posts. It's hard to deny that Greenberg has us heading in the right direction based on where we have been to where we are now.

You seem so sure...

Is that the only criteria for success? NCAA vs. NIT bids? Look, Greenberg took us from being a bottom dwelling Big East team and turned us into a competitive ACC team. He did so without the most talented players in the conference. His enthusiasm and energy is infectious, and the players, coaches and most of all, fans buy into what he is trying to accomplish in Blacksburg. As long as he is able to keep moving forward or at the very least sustain this level of results, then Greenberg will be (and should be) the coach at Virginia Tech. What he has accomplished in his tenure at Tech is nothing to scoff at. Where we were 8 years ago versus where we are today is drastically different for the better, despite the tournament we end up in at the end of a season. And for what had been a bottom dwelling team, that is a pretty successful 8 years.

The big picture that shows us, at the very least, that Tech is competitive in the ACC year in and year out under Greenberg? In the 7 years we've been in the ACC, we have finished 5th, 10th, 4th, 4th, 9th, 3rd and 4th. Thinking back on the teams we faced over that stretch, I am impressed that Greenberg has built the program up as much as he has, and put us in a position to be as competitive as we have been. I have definitely had my questions about the direction of the program, but at the end of the day, those 7 numbers are quite telling of the relative success we have had in the ACC so far. In fact, I would say the majority of the other ACC teams would love to have the success we have had over that stretch. Do I think the team is as prepared and as motivated every game as they need to be? No. But that doesn't fall solely on Greenberg. It is also the players' responsibility to execute his game plan, not make stupid mistakes, make free throws, etc. Because the players don't take care of their responsibilities, that provides the means for us to throw out words like "inconsistent" and "flat". Jeff Allen, after 4 years, is finally putting together a string of solid games. Is Greenberg doing something differently now than he did in previous years to get Jeff to start playing more consistently? I doubt it. I would argue that it is Jeff's personal preparation, maturation, and trust in Greenberg's game plan that has led him to play the way he has these past couple of games. Finally, Steph and Seth ended up going to powerhouse basketball schools (sarcasm) Davidson and Liberty respectively. If Duke, Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, etc., etc. didn't have the foresight to see that these two guys were going to be great players, why would Virginia Tech have had that foresight?

I'm still kind of shocked someone would consider Observer ignorant...

That sounds painful.

A couple of things: 1.) This article was written from a non-partisan standpoint, so I put it in the General Discussion section and not the Political Forum. 2.) It's a long article, but there are good thoughts. If you get the chance to look through it, do so. It would make for good discussion I think. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_10/b4218000828880_page_5.htm

I think the way most of this year will play out will be Prado at 3rd, Hinske/Mather in LF. I don't see Chip sustaining a whole season (as much as that pains me to say).

Hahaha, no no. It's pronounced "Bay-ner". Even though I always forget that every time I see it and pronounce it phonetically to myself...

...Even though with a last name like "Boehner" it couldn't be too hard to pick up women.

I'm right there with ya, Lance... It's a tough 6 months until football fires back up. At least I'm distracted by nice weather...

Great post by Kyle Tucker about the recent direction change in Tech's staff: Below, you’ll find the early edition of a story I’ve filed for tomorrow’s print version of The Virginian-Pilot on the Hokies hiring former star Cornell Brown as assistant coach and moving Jim Cavanaugh into an office gig. But first, a quick thinking-out-loud moment: The moves Virginia Tech made in the last three days – shifting two veteran assistant coaches, with 70 years of experience combined, into “administrative” roles and hiring a couple of young guns who should bring energy to the field and the recruiting trail – say something significant, I think, about the program. Combine the stadium upgrade six years ago and the absurdly fancy/expensive new locker room this past fall with these two maneuvers ... and I think it looks like the Hokies are ready to act like one of the “big boys” in college football. Consider that Tech has coughed up some cash to make these two coaching moves. The Hokies are still paying Cavanaugh and Billy Hite (although it’s not clear yet if they’ll still be making their previous salaries in the $200,000 neighborhood) AND they’re now paying two new assistant coaches. This staff tinkering might be costing the Hokies around a third of a million bucks a year. I don’t know if maybe Shane Beamer schooled his dad on how the SEC does things, but this seems distinctly SEC-like: loading up your staff with hyper-qualified guys in “unofficial” titles that allow their immense knowledge to stay at the program’s disposal without going over the NCAA limit on “official” assistant coaches. That costs money, but the big boys do it. And Virginia Tech is looking more like a big boy today than it did three days ago. Now here’s the story for tomorrow’s paper, in case you’ve missed any of these details (most have been out there for a while now) ... BLACKSBURG Virginia Tech’s football coaching staff has gotten significantly younger in the last three days. The Hokies announced their second shakeup of the week on Wednesday with longtime assistant Jim Cavanaugh moving into an administrative role and former Tech All-American Cornell Brown taking his position as a defensive assistant coach. Cavanaugh, 62, has been with the Hokies for 15 seasons and owns 37 years as a full-time college assistant coach. His new title is “director of recruiting and high school relations,” a position that will not involve on-field coaching or off-campus recruiting. Brown, a 35-year-old Lynchburg native, will work with outside linebackers and defensive linemen at Tech. He was one of the first high-profile in-state recruits the Hokies landed under head coach Frank Beamer in 1993. He went on to become a two-time All-American and was named national defensive player of the year by Football News in 1995. "I've had a lot of great days and great experiences at Virginia Tech, but this is the biggest day and biggest accomplishment to date for me," he said in a school-issued news release. Brown spent seven seasons with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, starting 14 games in 2002, and collected a Super Bowl ring in 2001. He began coaching as an intern in NFL Europe in 2005 and became a full-time defensive line coach for that league’s Frankfurt Galaxy the next season. He helped the Galaxy reach consecutive World Bowls in the spring of 2006 and 2007. Brown worked as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech in the fall of each of those years. He has been the defensive line coach of the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League each of the past three seasons. In 2008, the Stampeders led the CFL in rushing and scoring defense and won the Grey Cup. “I’ve always said that Cornell was the recruit who got us going,” Beamer said in the release. “He chose Virginia Tech at a time when our record wasn’t very successful. I think we are fortunate to bring back a great player that meant so much to Virginia Tech.” This latest move comes two days after Beamer shifted running backs coach Billy Hite, who is 59, into a similar administrative role and hired his son, 33-year-old Shane Beamer, to coach the running backs. The moves infuse the Hokies with some youth and energy, but by keeping Hite and Cavanaugh close by, Tech retains the knowledge of a pair that has a combined 70 years as full-time college assistants – 38 in Blacksburg. Cavanaugh had been the Hokies’ strong safeties and outside linebackers coach since 1996 and Tech’s recruiting coordinator the past nine years. “Jim Cavanaugh is the most capable, hard-working recruiter that I know," Beamer said in the release. “I think sharing his expertise and knowledge can help us be the very best that we can be.” Cavanaugh has a reputation as a top recruiter and has deep ties to Hampton Roads. He helped land Hokies stars Michael Vick, Victor Harris, Bryan Randall, Xavier Adibi and Dyrell Roberts among many others. He was rated the No. 2 recruiter in the country by Sporting News and No. 4 by ESPN The Magazine earlier this year. "Coach Beamer has asked me to come off the field and the road to become director of recruiting and high school relations,” Cavanaugh said in the release. “Having coached for 41 years, I do believe I have experience in these areas. I look forward to overseeing the entire recruiting process at Virginia Tech, and to mentoring our new coaches. Follow Tucker's blog here: http://hamptonroads.com/blogs/kyle-tucker

I think there's something to be said about his prudence and the consistency that has come from it. Yes, it is frustrating that we haven't taken another step forward, but at the end of the day, there are many programs much worse off than we are. We are where we are because of Frank Beamer.

Schedule is posted here: http://www.hokiesports.com/ What game(s) do we lose? @ GT Thursday night? UNC at home the next Thursday? Miami in October? As usual, it will be 1 or 2 out of those 3.

I wonder what that does for our strength of schedule...

I'm waiting to hear what Southbound and Falconman have to say about this. Also, can we just refer to them as a single entity? Possibly Falconbound? Or Southman?

I thought exactly the same thing. The phrase "war of attrition" is used way too often, but in this case, the Packers were best prepared to win that war. Great game, though. I honestly thought Roethlisberger was going to drive down the field. Finally, I'm officially and shamelessly on the Aaron Rodgers bandwagon. He is just a class act that plays the game the right way. He's a pure joy to watch.

Pittsburgh vs. Green Bay. Who ya got?

Here's the video: http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/play/collegefootball/JG_lCy4f47ZnIvTxQERFoT88nh6WEacA

Kind of both. Sarcastic in the sense that the SEC is so deep that you can have the 13th best class in the nation and still have 5 teams in you conference with better classes than you. Serious in the sense that I would love for Tech to put together a class even close to that. Crazy how this whole recruiting game works.

Sixth best class in the SEC. Congrats.

Virginia Tech has gained a reputation of being good talent evaluators, especially of players that fit our system well. Also, this staff has an uncanny ability to bring out the best in the players who are unheralded (Adibi, Hall, Grimm, etc.). But all that accomplishes is consistently solid play year in and year out. I bet this class, just like classes before them, will see seasons with right around 10 wins, ACC Championship(s), etc. I've said it before. Has this staff become comfortable with that as our ceiling? Are we even thinking about being relevant nationally? Because recruiting classes like this is not what gets you national attention. It takes that next level of athlete to get national recognition, and Virginia Tech for some reason is rarely attractive to those athletes. And I'm terrified of UVA in these next couple of years. Mike London is building an incredibly threatening program, especially if he keeps winning the recruiting battle in the state of Virginia.* (*I say that assuming UVA can turn around their performances on the field. If London proves to be as good of a coach as he is recruiter, the Hokies are looking at many disappointments in years to come.)