GodsendJen

Its that time of year when you can sense football season up ahead.  That sensation is much scarier this year than usual.  My team lost 12 starters from last year.  14 players from last years team are on NFL rosters.  That adds up to a heaping lot of talent that we need to  replace.  What could make it more challenging?  Try losing 4 members of the coaching staff--the most coaching turnover the Hokies have had since 1992.  Our new coaches are reponsible for the Quarterback, Defensive Backs, Offensive line and Deffensive Line. We haven't hired lightweights in those positions (the new QB coach is a former D1 head coach at NC State, the new DB coach came to us from the Chicago Bears) but wow.

The annual pre-season annalysis is starting to flow and there is pleanty of hope in what I'm reading.  There is even a sense that we will put a large emphasis on character this year after the last few seasons that were filled with the soap opera that was Marcus Vick and enough personal fouls in games to shame a sailor.  (I can't help but wonder if this change is spurred on by the fact that the evil Wahoos had a better recruiting class than us for the first time in years?) 

My favorite quote of the preson this far is from ESPN's Blue Ribbon Year Book.

The Hokies still view themselves as underappreciated underdogs in the blue-blood ACC. The truth is that Virginia Tech is a legitimate powerhouse, a program that reloads, not rebuilds.

If they get good quarterback play -- particularly avoiding mistakes -- the Hokies have the defense and special teams to hang with anyone in the country. Again.

How healthy is Beamerball? Of the 101 players on the spring roster -- and that's a pretty healthy number to start with -- 66 have had a redshirt year to get bigger, stronger and more mature.

Who knows.  Put togather all those redshirt players and our patty cake schedule for September and maybe we'll be back in the mix again.

Go Hokies :)