Each sub-topic merits its own thread, and in time may receive it, but for now there are some high level takeaways that, when synced together, spell out where the Hokies are as they prepare for the 2024 football season.

The Spring Game

Virginia Tech played a football game last Saturday and, while there was a lot to like about what transpired on the field, there was one issue that has not received the sort of press it deserves.

Too. Many. Big. Plays.

For those who may have missed it, that was the spring game in a nutshell. Long-term, what matters is who made those big plays, and how.

Here is the break down by yardage:

• 19 plays of 10+ yards

• 5 plays of 20+ yards

• 4 plays of 30+ yards

• 1 play of 50+ yards

What’s worse is that the quarterbacks were not live, which minimized their scrambling options, and missed tackles were not a big issue. Translation: it could have been much worse.

Two of the four 30+ yard plays were runs, and the longest play was a 66-yard pass to Malachi Thomas out of the backfield.

Keep in mind that offensive and defensive starters were mostly limited to the first quarter, when the majority of the big plays were generated. The graph above is a bit skewed because the clock rules translated into significantly more plays being run in the first than any other quarter, but the point stands.

The defensive coaches could not have liked what they saw. Nineteen plays of 10+ yards is borderline ridiculous, as is a 4th string RB scampering 33 yards untouched for a score on a simple counter play.

In Episode 28 of the podcast, I posed six questions that I felt the spring game would answer. Here are the results:

Safeties

No one stood out in a positive way, and both defenses allowed a lot of chunk yardage. Pry & Co. are likely mining the portal for help as I type.

Cornerbacks

Their play met expectations. While by no means perfect, the young depth is far enough along in their development to feel good about this group as a whole.

Running backs vs. inside linebackers

Once again, the third and fourth string running backs put up big numbers. The linebacker issues from last season have not been resolved.

Quarterback play calls

Wittke’s plays were similar to Pop’s, but Pop ran them better on his way to winning the Class of 2023 QB competition (Wittke hit the portal).

Offensive line depth

A lot of the “sacks” were ticky-tack touch plays. Yes, the defensive lines generated pressure, but the offensive lines did not look incompetent (they knew who to block) nor did they resemble a wet paper bag (they were physically able to block). Progress here appears to be on track.

Fourth quarter competition

As Whit Babcock would say, “A+ for everyone!” The game went right down to the wire. Energy, hustle, hitting, and pace were all great. Entering Year 3 of the Pry era, the Tech roster is filled with really competitive guys.

While the defense had its struggles reminiscent of last year, there is a takeaway that should be noted about the offense.

In 2023, bad teams could not stop the Tech offense and good teams just out-talented Virginia Tech in the trenches. What was never entirely clear was the degree of difficulty presented by the Hokie offense, schematically.

The 2024 Virginia Tech defense is a work in progress, but no stop unit in the country knows the Hokie offense as well as Chris Marve’s players do.

And yet, I lost count of how many times I saw defenders get caught up in misdirection, their body’s momentum taking them out of the gap that an offensive player was cutting into.

Hokie defenders looked genuinely uncomfortable at times, which, theoretically anyway, should never happen in a spring game. Malachi Thomas’s attempted pass aside (how badly did Tyler Bowen want to get that play on film?), the play calling was as vanilla as expected.

The conclusion I draw is that the offensive scheme, even in base form, is a genuine competitive advantage. If Tech is at least in the ballpark with its opposition from a talent perspective, the scheme is good enough to provide a home-field level advantage.

Can that be quantified? Perhaps. It’s something I’ll be pondering as we move into the quietest period of the football calendar.

Portal departures

Speaking of talent, the portal re-opened this week. Five redshirt-freshmen entered. Here is the list, along with their 2023 snap counts:

• Gabriel Arena (OL) - 0

• Tralon Mitchell (RB) - 0

• Dylan Wittke (QB) - 0

• Antonio Cotman (DB) - 0

• Tavorian Copeland (LB) - 0

Remember, these days there are three groups of freshman:

1. Play and do not redshirt

2. Play four games or less, redshirt

3. Do not play, redshirt

All five of these players fit into group three, meaning that they were not ready physically and/or did not have a solid enough grasp of the playbook to get on the field.

Some or all of them may develop in time into quality P4 players, but, judging by their lack of snaps last year and status on the depth chart this spring, the odds of that happening at Virginia Tech in the next few years were low.

Unless there is an unexpected portal entry this coming week, Tech will have retained all its key players while freeing up a few roster spots with which to pursue some additional help at QB, safety, and a few other spots.

Virginia’s NIL law

I’m going to reserve judgement about the new law until I read the actual text in its entirety. However, based on multiple media summations of the law, there are two big picture questions that Tech fans will have to wrestle with:

1. Will this law aid the cause of direct student employment by the university? By paying players for their NIL rights, would the university not be admitting outright that the players generate immense value in their roles as, what, volunteer football players? It strains credulity. I doubt the provision in the law about players not being university employees would stand up in court.

2. This new law presents an extreme risk that I’m not sure the powers that be have fully thought through. Whether under the auspices of a union or not, what is to stop the players from banning together and collectively bargaining for NIL money or other benefits? When the NIL collectives were separate from the athletic department, the players had little leverage as a group. Now that everything will be done in-house, the connection between value generation and value realization tilts a significant chunk of leverage back in favor of the players. Demands will no longer go through the outside NIL collective, which legally insulated the university. If, as a group, the entire team decides to demand X or they’re all hitting the portal, that demand is going directly to Whit Babcock and Timothy Sands. And, if the players are smart, the media.

Many have portrayed the week that was as positive for Virginia Tech. I would posit that uncertain is a more accurate descriptor.

Just as consensus was forming around soon and yes as the obvious answers, everything went “out of whack”, as Frank Beamer would say.

Retiring Kitley’s jersey is still a no brainer, but it’s not so simple with Amoore. As one of the most popular and well liked players in school history, her departure is going to sting for a while.

And if you think this is a just a women’s basketball issue, you haven’t been paying attention.

Wanna know my biggest fear (outside of an untimely Lisfranc injury in August)?

Imagine Kyron Drones leading the Hokies to a playoff berth and winning ACC Player of the Year in 2024, then receiving a mid-round NFL Draft grade and watching his top five receivers (including tight end Nick Gallo) graduate. And then all the SEC NIL offers start rolling in.

Suddenly, this wouldn’t be home anymore.

A proposed amendment to the current rule

Virginia Tech’s rule on jersey retirements was written in the pre-portal era and is sorely in need of an update.

I would propose adding the following stipulations to the current policy:

To qualify, individuals must have either earned a degree from, or completed their playing career at, Virginia Tech.

The amended language would clearly qualify Amoore and likely Drones, as well, regardless of whether or not he ultimately transfers out. The second part of the amended text would make way for players who depart early to play professionally. While many of these players ultimately return to Blacksburg to complete their degrees, that should not delay the university from honoring them for their athletic exploits.

Looking to the past, and the future

At present, Virginia Tech has retired four football numbers and six jerseys. One of the six men to have their jersey retired never actually played in a Virginia Tech uniform. That person…Bud Foster. So, clearly there is some degree of flexibility in the stated rule.

That wiggle room could lead to hurt feelings if the athletic department does not get out in front of this issue. Clarifying who the university honors will also make clear why we honor them.

And there is precedence for honoring great players who finished their college careers at another school. A relevant example is Russell Wilson, who was back on campus in Raleigh in the spring of 2014 to have his jersey retired.

Yes, Wilson entered the NFL straight-outta-Madison-Wisconsin, but he had three amazing years at NC State prior to that, and the sporting public never forgot that fact.

Is it irksome that on WNBA Draft day, Georgia Amoore will be called up with a blue Kentucky chyron on the bottom of the screen? Sure, but that will not change her status as an all-time great Hokie and, most importantly, an alum.

And if my Kyron Drones nightmare plays out in real life, it won’t change what he would have accomplished at Virginia Tech.

That would be worth remembering. And honoring.