Column: The more things change…
BLACKSBURG – If you liked where Virginia Tech basketball was heading before this month, you’re in luck.
Very little will change under new coach James Johnson. Not the players, not the style of play, not the recruiting base or philosophy.
Oh, there will be tweaks. Though he didn’t get into specifics, Johnson did say there are some little things he will do differently than Seth Greenberg did. But the basic on-court tenets of Tech basketball for the past nine years – play hard defense, try to find easy baskets, run when you can – remain.
How many times have we seen that? Ever? Think about it: A guy gets fired, and the man replacing him wants, essentially, to continue on the same path the program was on before. No radical speeches about a “new era.” No grandiose predictions of future glory.
“We’re just going to keep grinding away,” Johnson said, when asked about trying to take the team to the next level.
That’s even a Greenberg word – “grinding.”
Guys who replace their former bosses typically don’t borrow their idioms. Think back to a few years ago in Charlottesville, when ex-Al Groh assistant Mike London took over the football program at UVa. Do you remember that press conference? Do you recall how many times London said he appreciated Groh’s tutelage but wants to be his own man, carve out his own legacy, do things his own way?
Johnson made no major attempt to draw that line of demarcation. There are classy ways to say “I want to be nothing like that other guy,” and he never uttered them.
And the difference is that there isn’t as much broken with Tech basketball as there was for UVa football at the time London took over.
People can see the recruiting classes improving – something Johnson played a key role in. They watched the Hokies take Duke to overtime in Cameron Indoor Stadium last season, even in a rebuilding year. They know this team isn’t that far from being an NCAA tournament participant.
“I think this team’s got a chance to be pretty good,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a veteran guard in Erick Green coming back – an all-league player. We’ve got a post player in Cadarian Raines, who came on strong at the end of the season. And we’ve got a good group of young kids that grew up a little bit last year.”
And all of them were advocates for Johnson, which held more clout than anything.
If we needed any confirmation that Greenberg’s firing wasn’t about on-court performance, it came in the form of Johnson’s press conference Tuesday. Tech sacrificed experience for the sake of a different personality, but not a different kind of strategist.
“It had nothing to do with wins and losses,” Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said after the presser, repeating a statement he made last week.
For all parties involved, though, the winning needs to start now. What would have been Greenberg’s make-or-break year now becomes Johnson’s opportunity — and his burden.
The players who heavily influenced the hire have an obligation to give Johnson every ounce of sweat to make it look good. Johnson has to show he’s equipped to handle the bigger responsibility. Weaver needs his see his hunch – that the team was
heading in the right direction, so retention of players was paramount – confirmed.
“I would hope that the transition would be a little less than normal, but to define that in terms of games or wins is very difficult,” Weaver said. “But I think hitting the road running – because coach knows players and players know coach, and understands expectations – will help.”
While Tech lost some positives when it fired Greenberg – a nationally recognized and vocal advocate for the program foremost among them — there are things Greenberg did that can be done better.
The plays he drew up late in late-game huddles rarely seemed to work, leading to a slew of close losses. We’ll see what Johnson’s got with the pen and whiteboard.
The Greenberg-led Hokies had a tendency to play to their competition level, leading to magnificent upsets and debilitating defeats at bad times. We’ll see if Johnson can foster more game-to-game, week-to-week consistency.
But most of all, we’ll see if Tech really was one year away. It’s the same bunch, really – right down to the way they’ll be led.
May 1, 2012 - 8:11 PM
The two most pressing needs were what you addressed – consistent play and finding an offensive philosophy. I can’t list the number of games I’ve seen in Cassell in the past few years where you knew five minutes into the game that VT would lose, because they were all sleepwalking. I never could understand that, because if any coach gave off the vibe that his practices and pregame prep would ensure the team was ready to play, it was Greenberg.
The one thing that I hope Johnson does is to play to “win the game” rather than playing not to lose. I have seen Tech unsuccessfully play not to lose way too often.
They will lose whether they try to avoid it or not. This coach selection was a horrible decision, just more of the same and regression.
If all the players stay and Tech keeps their recruits, they will be a tough, competitive team right out of the Johnson gate. Only time will tell if Johnson has the head coaching ability to put these players in the position to win those close games that will surely come this upcoming season. It is what it is…..
It appears as though the current players had a major role in influencing Weaver’s selection of the coach. This is a terrible strategy. Players are always going to choose a coach they like over the best candidate for the job. Weaver got two things out of this hire: 1)A coach he can control and 2)a cheap contract. It’s amazing that VT cares so little about their basketball program that they would allow Weaver to fire Greenberg for clearly personal reasons and then turn around and hire Johnson who has no head coaching experience.
At least Johnson isn’t taking over with his eyes wide shut. The pressure is now to win – winning games and winning over fans.
Best of luck, coach.
To “Genius” (or he that thinks he is). It must be nice to be a soothsayer with the ability to read the future. You less than stellar words are just your opinion and as such reek of how just opinionated you are. No one knows at this stage of the game what kind of hire JJ will turn out to be. In the meantime, live with the great minority and keep up the positive posture!
To some extent, I agree with Jeremy in general that letting players pick a coach is dangerous. In this case, though, the players seem hungry for a tournament birth and Green cited the toughness of practice under Johnson. I think the selection of Johnson may be a good one for immediate benefit of player morale and retention. Only time will tell if he is a good coach. VCU was questioned about picking Smart when Grant left – now Teague looks like a genius. Give Johnson a chance. I suspect there is more to Greenbergs dismissal than we’ve been told.
More of the same, huh? And that is supposed to be a good thing? The “same” is what got Greenberg fired and Tech a losing season. This hire reeks of mediocrity, with a tinge of low expectations.
To be fair (and critical of Weaver at the same time), it’s not exactly easy to find a top-tier coach at this time of year. Most head coaching vacancies came and were closed 6-8 weeks ago. Weaver waited too long to fire Greenberg and was stuck in a tough position as a result.
As an aside, I think it was Berman who asked Weaver to name the other candidates that he considered for this position at the press conference. Naturally, Weaver declined to name the other candidates, citing fear that doing so would hurt them. HOWEVER, I really wish that one of the reporters had simply asked Weaver to cite the number of different people who were interviewed for the position. (Hmmm..I wonder if this information is available through a Freedom of Information Act request, since Tech’s a public school…) This information would either (a) silence the critics who think Weaver had cooked up this hire long before he fired Seth, by showing that he conducted a complete and thorough coaching search, or (b) prove them right.
This is a poor hire in my opinion, for many of the reasons pointed out by Aaron. If things do not change and evolve, hokie basketball will remain irrelevant, as it has been forever. I laugh anytime i go to Cassel and I see banners hanging from the rafters for MAKING the NIT or MAKING it to the big dance. That’s laughable at best. And who cares if you take Duke to overtime and lose. Duke was in a rebuilding year, as it may be for some time. But to be excited about losing a basketball game, that’s where the problem lies with hokie basketball. WEAK non-conference schedules, playing great against Duke or UNC, and losing to all sorts of teams they shouldn’t, is what keeps you guys mediocre at best. In my opinion it would help recruiting as well if the stands were full for more games than just when a top 10 team is in the house. I’ve seen some dreadful attendance over the years by you guys, and got the privilege to hear the PA announcer invite people to come out to the next game at 9:00pm and hear a “fan” say, “they play basketball games that late?”. The whole culture on the basketball court needs a shift and I thought yall may get that when Goonberg got the boot, but it seems in true tech bball fashion, you shot yourselves in the foot again.
RP — We did ask that question after the presser. Weaver wouldn’t give us a number. Said he sat down with all the candidates he was interested in. If I had to guess, that’d be three or fewer. Johnson was his man.
For anybody who buys that “this wasn’t about wins and losses” garbage that Weaver is trying to palm off on everybody, I have some swell swamp land to show you.
If SG had been a perennial NCAA qualifier and had taken this team to a couple final fours, there is no way JW cans him. Just as there is no way that JW EVER cans Beamer. Beamer is the AD for VT football, which leaves JW to handle all of the other AD duties. You would think he could do that without botching it up.
If we get more of SG from Johnson does that mean 1 dance for the next 9 years? I am underwhelemed.
I’ve stated before I did not like the timing of Seth’s firing forcing Weaver to select from a more limited pool. But I do not know if the dismissal had come earlier there were any other available coaches who would have been a good fit at VT? And I truly wonder if that would have altered Weaver’s decision. Water under the bridge so I’m going to support the new guy and hope he’s good. I will say this about the “interview”. If I’m the AD, most of what I need to know about a prospect should already be known. That is, won-loss percentage, experience, general reputation, recruiting experience etc. Let’s face it, the college basketball world is probably a pretty small place; coaches and especially assistants change jobs often and people know people and if they don’t, their reputation probably precedes them. Thus the winnowing process is likely a bit easier than in other professions. Why bother interviewing a guy who has a 50% won loss record or an assistant from a good program but who is renowned for being a jerk? Why interview ten people when you have 3 solid candidates in front of you? In this case I think quality trumps quantity. Just my opinion….
Daily Press said several established coaches and assistants expressed an interest in the job. However, I think some arrangements were discussed when Johnson left. I believe Johnson was the choice before Greenberg was fired and his leaving just accelerated what was already in the works. If Johnson had not forced Weavers hand by leaving, Greenberg would still be the coach. Johnson was the coach in waiting so to speak. Just an ole mans opinion.
Blue in the face… from struggling to get through your post, I’m guessing you’re not a VT fan. But it sure sounds like you’re claiming to have attended a lot of games in Cassell. Sounds like you’ve got all the answers! It sure is a good thing that you searched out a predominantly Hokie message board so that you could spew your gibberish… I mean sage advice.
It’s a sad state of affairs when an AD hires an ACC basketball coach by zeroing in on a departing assistant who was not even a candidate for any other head coaching job among the other 300+ D-1 programs and gives him a low-ball “lucky to be here” salary.
Again, I have nothing against Johnson and wish him well, but the AD being so eager to fire Greenburg (and worried about him going the the NCAA’s next year so as to become unfireable) that you do it in a way that the best you can do is hire someone you like and who will retain current players and recruits is just sorry. If Greenburg was that big of jerk, then he’s been one all along and the AD should fired him at the end of the season and then busted tail to have found a top coaching prospect, who he then could have asked to keep Johnson. It would have cost real money, but then a winning basketball program with an exciting hire can make real money.
I almost think had there been a second NCAA bid in there, that SG would have been ok…or had they had a better NIT showing just once. But when you have that many NIT bids and fail to make the trip to MSG in any of them, and don’t have but a lone NCAA trip, and have had trouble retaining assistants, and have become known as a whiner…well, the odds are stacked against you having long-term job security.
Weaver definitely botched his way through this whole mess. Had they let SG go right after the season for VT ended in March, the fallout would have been minimal and the timing would have made sense. The wait, and the bizarre handling of the firing of SG and hiring of JJ makes it much more messy, especially with it being recruiting time.
I wish SG the best in his future endeavors, and I sincerely hope James Johnson finds success as VT’s new coach. He’s got a lot of roster holes to fill, and some fundamental issues to work on regarding how the team plays as a unit. Despite the return of most of the players, I suspect if they are not able to add substantial talent to the bench depth, it’s going to be a rough first year…especially given the injury plague that always seems to hover over this team.
I think a successful level of play for VT in men’s hoops (at least if they aren’t ever going to become a hoops powerhouse, which I don’t see right now…but I’d love for it to happen) would be an NCAA bid every 3-4 years on average, and getting past the first weekend of play for a change. And, for when they don’t make the dance, to have a solid MSG-level showing in the NIT…maybe even winning an NIT crown again. It would also be nice to see them have a shot at an ACC title, but to do that would require not only a highly talented squad of players to be recruited and perform, but also some slips by the ACC elite (meaning Duke and UNC). It’s certainly possible.
I think the biggest thing I’m hoping to see in the next 1-2 years is some consistency on offense, and solid defensive play. Having those long stretches of no field goals and no points that VT had so many times this year demonstrated that either the offensive talent was sorely lacking, or the offensive gameplan should have been trashed…or both. There were at least 5 different games where had VT scored on a couple lay-ups or jumpers in the midst of those 5-10 minute scoring droughts, they would have won the game, instead of suffering a close loss. I think what ultimately doomed SG was that as this season went on, those problems continued and even got worse. Usually, things like that improve as the season progresses. But, they didn’t.
AMcF,
Did Weaver say how many candidated he formally interviewed?
Bob — No, he wouldn’t say. We asked him for a number after the press conference.
Also, I’d encourage anyone interested to listen to The Clubhouse with Kyle Bailey at 5:03 today. He says he’s scheduled to have Tim Brando on to debate the Greenberg firing — and those two have antipodal views. You can listen online at this link.
I’d be surprised if ANY were ‘formally’ interviewed.
H24 — I would be too.
Can anyone believe this absolute crap of a way to run the athletic department at VT doesn’t even get questioned??? Almost every business I have ever been at REQUIRED a minimum of 3 candidates to be interviewed. It is just a good sensical business practice.
Where was Tom Gabbard yesterday? Was he there? I didn’t see him in the portion I watched or on the newsbites.
I think everyone is questioning it after seeing how the SG thing has been handled. I’m not sure about any laws that require a minimum number of interviewed candidates though. Maybe businesses have their own policies on that, but if a business chooses to not follow their own policy, then who’s gonna enforce it? I don’t know enough about HR laws to know if there’s actually a law or not stating that a minimum number of candidates must be interviewed for any particular job.
At this point, the best thing to do as VT fans is probably to support Johnson and hope that he does well. Bashing on him just because JW hired him isn’t a legitimate gripe, not when we have no idea how successful (or not) that he will be. He could turn out to be a great coach. I’m just not sure that on-the-job training in the ACC is the smartest way to find that out.
I agree the “interview” is just a formality. If I’m the boss and I know who I want, I hire the guy. I worked for the state and went through the interview process on both sides of the table. Much of it was a waste of time and money.
And the venting continues. Grades distributed before the class is over and the tests taken.
S.G. is not going to be rehired at VT. Get over it. Time to move on.
Considering the “controversy” over S.G. what, exactly, did you want the new guy to say? I thought his comments about being the guy to run the program and so on were pretty “out there” as it was. Yes, I know any number of you all still need convincing the S.G. had to go despite all the criticism heaped on him the last few years.
All I can say is “The Coach is gone, long live the Coach”.
Just saw a breaking news that Junior Seau is dead.
Wow.
Wow. Seau story here — self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. (Thanks for the heads up, Trevor.)
For all you Weaver haters I would like to introduce you to the problems he has overcome. I will use the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) as my example. It was announced yesterday that UTSA will play in the WAC this coming season and then move all sports to Conference USA.
This sounds like a nothing, right?
Larry Coker was hired as football coach two years before they played their first game. The entire Athletic Department had a budget of $1.2 million/year.
UTSA plays basketball in a multi-purpose facility. It has the most modern conveniences: folding bleachers and an indoor track above the court you can use during games. I have participated in “College Night” sessions held on the playing floor, which BTW, is used for phys ed and intermural sports. There are too many scheduling problems for them to use the AT&T Center.
They hold football practice in a nearby high school stadium. It’s pretty nice for a high school stadium but Ferris Stadium is a high school facility all the same. They do play their games at the Alamo Dome (one season in the books at Div I-AA). They set an NCAA record for attendance at their level – but this was the first year and who knows if the novelty will wear off or if they will keep drawing well. The first two years before they started playing, they practiced on a dirt lot on campus.
Their annual budget has grown in just a couple years to $20 million for the Athletic Department. Even at this budget, they will rank almost at the very bottom of schools in Conference USA. This will make their competitive road all the harder.
They would like to build a true University level football stadium of their own as well as basketball, practice facilities, etc. The financial burdens are so huge that they can’t be surmounted yet. They have even considered a joint-venture with one of the local school districts (our school districts have overall more complete athletic facilities than UTSA.
The AD is heavily wired in our local political community and the powers that be are doing everything they can (which is considerable) in helping pull UTSA along.
When I was at Tech, we were thrilled with the just completed Field House and Cassell Coliseum was fairly new. Lane Stadium held about 35,000 if I remember right and you could sit on the hill beyond the outfield to watch baseball. There was a ton of open ground around the Cassell that was used as intramural fields.
All of that has changed dramatically for us and about 90% of it under Weaver’s stewardship.
How respected is UTSA? Their AD has served on the Dance selection committee and their team has made the dance a couple times since I moved here. VT = 0 in the same time frame.
Total bill to create the facilities UTSA needs to compete in Conference USA? Estimated in the $60-80 million range if they leave the Alamo Dome.
How will this get paid for? An inch at a time and probably only by football if the program can generate enough money.
Texas is a huge football state and there are more scholorship athletes in the state than there are scholorships. The best go to UT, Texas Tech and A&M. The best of the rest go to Houston and TCU and Baylor. A few will go out of state. UTSA has to compete for the leftovers, although the talent pool is deep.
Think about what Weaver has accomplished based on where we were. He deserves high praise despite the fact that he isn’t perfect.
Give the man his due and get over it.
Just read the Seau story. What a sad thing on a day when Schiano gave us an upper.
Junior Seau is a perfect example of “there is more to life than football.”
I hear you Zman, I really do. Mr Weaver has done a lot for Tech. Maybe a couple of slip ups here and there but overall he`s probably what 23-3 at Tech. I mean everybody is allowed a slip up now and then-well, maybe not. Seth was fired because he rubbed Mr. Weaver the wrong way and that rubbed a lot of other people the wrong way. Seth did a lot of good things too and did not deserve to go out in like he did. That`s what the conversation is about. Maybe a really good administrator would have given the man his due and gotten over it. Go Coach Johnson. “Earn It”
Phillip Sims transfers to Virginia. Here’s the release from UVa:
Quarterback Phillip Sims (Chesapeake, Va.), a member of Alabama’s 2011 BCS title team, has announced he is transferring to Virginia.
“Virginia football welcomes Phillip Sims to our family,” said Virginia football head coach Mike London. “Hopefully he will have a productive career her at UVa as his previous accolades have shown.”
Sims (6-2, 211) appeared in eight games as a redshirt freshman in 2011, completing 64 percent of his passes for 163 yards. He threw for a season-best 73 yards on 7-of-14 passing in his collegiate debut against Kent State.
A 2010 graduate of Oscar Smith High School, Sims will team up with former high school teammates and current Cavaliers, Perry Jones and Tim Smith. The trio won the 2008 Virginia Group AAA Division 6 State Championship the last season all three were teammates. While at Oscar Smith, Sims was a Parade magazine and EA Sports All-American, posting a 48-4 record as a four-year starter.
I’m glad to see Sims come back home, even if it is to UVA.
Yeah, yeah, I know, there are family issues involved, but I doubt seriously if he was the starting QB for the defending national champions if something like this would come into play.
This guy might just serve as a nice example to kids in the 757, 540, 804 and 703.
If, as a 17 year old hot shot, as determined by worthless internet hacks that call themselves recruiting gurus, you think you are all that and a bag of chips when Nick Saban, Urban Meyer or ______ (insert latest fad coach here) come calling on you, just remember, you had damn well better be a lot better than that kid you are competing against, who comes from a school that sends that coach a half dozen players every couple of years, because you can’t be just AS GOOD, you have to be WAY BETTER, to pass on class guys like Mike London or Frank Beamer when they come calling.
The upside for Phillip? He can only go 0-2 against Tech (or 0-3 if he does get the waiver), as opposed to 0-4! Seriously, this is a good thing for UVA, and for Tech. Just maybe it will help kids understand they should stick close to home, no matter what, because the only way he was going to see the field at ‘Bama was to look down.
Ralph. S.G. clearly was popular among a segment of the fan base, no doubt. And there is no doubt that his firing seems, well, really clumsy and spur of the moment.
I hardly sympathize with S.G. because he didn’t win me over and because I think his behavior on national TV is self-centered and team destructive. I can’t imagine what he was like behind the scenes. I think 9 years was plenty to see what he could really achieve and I don’t think he waranted the kind out emotional support he draws from some here. Therefore, I go for Weaver.
But even if Weaver is 100% wrong, he is hardly the fool that some of our co-contributors make him out to be.
I know blgs are places where people pour venom and so on but really, a little perspective….
VT football is in trouble, all UVA needed was a QB. With Sims they have a chance to take the ACC Coastal. It will be between GT and UVA this year. The Chokies will finish 6 and 6. Don’t you just love it madly.
Zman, I was a SG fan and the way that happened bothered me. Actually thought it made Tech as a whole look bed But, time to move on. I will become a big JJ fan too. Hope he gets those two commitments back in the fold.
If Sims was so great he would still be a t Alabama and not a WHA WHO?
Marshall Wood of Rustburg High School has been granted his release and Coach Johnson needs to camp out on his door step as he is one Great Basketball player!
Sorry to rain on your parade genius, but as a transfer Sims will have to sit out a year.
#36 Thanks, after all this serious stuff, finally some humor! 38-0 and all you needed was a QB? That’s hilarious! The 2011 ACC stat page shows UVa trailed VT in scoring Offense, scoring Defense, total offense,total defense, rushing O, rushing D, pass D, passing efficiency, passing D eff., Ints., field goals, sacks by, first downs etc. etc. etc. Wow, one player is going to overcome all that, a guy who sat on the bench last year and threw for a total of 163 yards. A guy who has “potential” written all over him but may not even play this year! Obviously those folks down at Bama have no idea what they’re doing…
Good news. In the N/A this morning there is am article saying Wood decides to re-commit to Tech. JJ`s first recruit. Hopefully, no press conference needed.
Hey (not)genius,
The last time VT played UVA in football the score was 38-0 and that game was in Charlottesville (although you couldn’t really tell based on the number of UVA fans that were in the stands at the end of the game). While a better offense might have scored against Foster’s defense, it would not have scored 38 points.
Does Philip Sims play defense or something?
It is so true that there is a very thin line between genius and insanity….#36 certainly supports that theory…..
Why aren’t more people irate at the blatant laziness of Jim Weaver? Like other ADs, he’s had his fair share of turnover during his career. But yet, the last two years, in marquee positions such as the women’s and men’s basketball head coaching jobs, he has made quick hires in both instances so that he didn’t have to deal with the national search that he says he’s going to carry out.
It’s a Committee of One with Jim. Tech fans need to realize that. However, they are too blinded by controlled message that Tech and its athletic department sends out that they will believe almost anything.
Hence, most of the checkbooks continue to stay open.
Maybe one of the writers on the Tech Beat can ask Jim his thoughts on laziness when it comes to hiring and ask him about the perception some may have.
hokie24….clearly I am not a hokie fan. However I do live in southwest Virginia, so I have been to see my team, the Blue Devils (men’s and women’s), play quite a few times in Cassel. And this is Roanoke.com and the only thing they ever report on here is Tech, and since they are in the ACC I don’t see why it is such a big deal for me to weigh in. And what you call gibberish I call reasonable thinking, but I doubt we will ever agree on that. I get hokie gibberish crammed down my throat 24/7 365 days a year, which is amazing considering that VT has never won a national championship in any team sport since it was founded in 1872 (bass fishing in 2007 aside)
Genius is clearly a UVA fan and good luck to him. He is a geeee-knee-us.
I saw the picture yesterday of Coach Johnson shaking hands with Dennis Wolff. I thought Coach Wolff was a senior citizen Coach Johnson was visiting until I read the caption.
Genius – Guess you know a football is brown, and almost round.
“…And this is Roanoke.com and the only thing they ever report on here is Tech…”
Yes, and Roanoke.com is based ~30 minutes from Blacksburg. Who do you think that they should cover?
And what does a lack of a national team title have to do with how much VT coverage that you ‘have’ to see? Those two things aren’t related.
Do you cheer just as hard for ‘your’ blue devils in other sports? Just wondering. VT definitely has their share of football-only fans, just like Duke has plenty of basketball-only fans.
Stating the Obvious,
Why do you pretend that Tech fans don’t realize Weaver’s issues? Where are these people that you’re referring to? I don’t see anyone here blindly praising Weaver for the way that he handled the basketball coaching situation. I think we all agree that it could have and should have been handled better, even if the end result ultimately didn’t change.
Now what is this that we hear from Mel Kiper? That Logan Thomas will go as the #2 draft pick behind Matt Barkely in 2013? What has Mel been smoking? Logan Thomas was never impressive against good teams (Remember Clemson twice and hapless Michigan in the Bowl Game?) This is wishful thinking for Mel and the Chokie fans. You will see what I mean in not too many months. Oh those funny VT fans!!!LOL But what I want to know, is how about those HOOS and Phillip Sims? That is the real story for 2012.
Kentucky Derby winner: “A horse I can relate to”.
Genius, your football accumen is roughly equal to my ability to spell and Eli Manning’s ability to Host SNL.
Trying isn’t the same as performing.
I know you are a UVA fan but anyone can see that Thomas is headed for the big time, in a big way, if he stays healthy.
As for Simms, I am sure he has talent but he has to sit out a year. This means he will be the story for 2013 – if he is good enough to play. What makes you think that he can start for your team and lead them to greatness if he can’t take a snap for the National Champ?
Personally, I think Bucky Hodges will be the story in 2013 UNLESS Thomas surprises us all and stays for a final year. Then his Heisman Campaign will be the story.
As for Eli, he was engaging and a good sport about the things they asked him to do. He is no actor. But then, did anyone expect him to be?
Aaron – we need a new blog topic BADLY. GET TO WORK. Please……
Zman – don’t bet on Thomas having a super year, the jury is still out on him. I know about these things, that is why I am a genius.