From the sidelines
By Marty Gordon
Hokie football fans are sometimes hard to decipher, but after this weekend, they’re true colors are starting to come out. They are frustrated. They are upset, and they are demanding changes.
Preseason was filled with lots of hope, and a lot of people started to drink the “kool-aid.” The Hokies were supposed to be really, really good, even playing for an ACC championship. But many things have led to the opposite. Now, there is even concerns the Hokies might not even make a bowl game.
At the root of the problem or the program is the simple fact the coaching staff is young and inexperienced. Yes, inexperienced. Somewhere along the line, the coaching staff needed some experience from the coordinator side of things from a major football conference and program. It did not happen.
Changes will have to be made, and the question is how deep will it have to be made at this juncture.
With a few games left in the 2024 season, that change might have to take place before the New Year. Then in 2025, the staff should expect some major shuffling.
Brent Pry has some tough decisions to make, and it will take some heart-to-heart with his assistants. He was given the keys to the program at a critical time.
While most will not admit it, the program is still trying to pull itself out of the Frank Beamer era. No one can expect that same success in this day-in-age of NIL and bidding wars for student-athletes. In so many ways, the word “student” has gone by the wayside. It is now a business.
Those changes mean coaching staffs and major programs like Virginia Tech must become more of a business instead of an athletic program.
Around the country, collegiate athletics now include someone as a “general manager” and others as a “negotiator” in the recruiting world. This also includes special consultants being brought into coaching realm. Those might be the next step in Blacksburg.
This also includes an influx of capital to build that “special” recruitment.
Virginia Tech needs all of the above and maybe more. Again, it will not be cured overnight. But Hokies fans were hoping it would change in three years. It has not.
How long with those same fans wait? They continue to sellout games at both Lane Stadium and the Cassell and expect more from this program.
A serious chat needs to take place on the future of Virginia Tech football.