The folks at Virginia Tech weren’t kidding when they said the Lane Stadium video board replacement project would begin just as soon as graduation was finished.

I drove by the stadium yesterday to see if anything had started. It certainly had. The process of stripping the old scoreboard had begun in the morning (left) and looked like it was practically finished by the evening (right). Click on the photo to make it bigger.

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I wrote about what the specs of the new video board will be back in February.

A quick refresher: it’ll be 48.2 feet tall by 108.2 feet wide, which would make it roughly the eighth-biggest nationally. It’s supposed to be finished by Aug. 1, just before the Hokies report back for camp.

I caught up with former Hokies receiver  Danny Coale last week as he prepared himself for the start of organized team activities this week. Coale suffered every injury you could imagine during a frustrating rookie year, but he’s hoping to make the roster and make an impact in his second season.

Here’s how today’s story starts:

In the four years after he took a redshirt at Virginia Tech, wide receiver Danny Coale never missed a game, playing in 55 straight contests to conclude his college career.

So an injury-riddled debut season in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t have been any stranger.

Coale suffered a stress fracture in his foot during Dallas’ first organized team activity last spring, endured quad and hamstring problems as he tried to make the roster and finally saw his star-crossed rookie season come to an end when he tore an anterior cruciate ligament while on the practice squad in November.

“It was just a mess of a year,” he said.

Now, motivated by last season’s frustrations and heartened by what he thinks has been an ahead-of-schedule rehab program, Coale is back with the Cowboys as they begin OTAs Tuesday, eager to prove to the club that he’s not someone who will spend all of his time in the training room.

“I just want to show them I am a player that can play healthy and stay healthy,” Coale said.

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Virginia Tech wrapped up spring practice on April 20, although questions remain heading into the summer that won’t have more definitive answers until fall camp. Nevertheless, the spring cleared up some things. Over the next two weeks, I’ll be taking a look back at what the Hokies figured out and what remains a work in progress.

Today, we’ll cover the specialists. If you missed a previous installment, you can get to it here: quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and tight ends, offensive line, defensive line, linebackers and defensive backs.

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THE TWO-DEEP

– PK: Cody Journell, Sr. (starter), Brooks Abbott, So.

– P: A.J. Hughes, So. (starter), Michael Branthover, Jr.

– LS: Joe St. Germain, Jr. (starter), Eddie D’Antuono, r-Fr.

– H: Trey Gresh, Jr. (starter), Mark Leal, Jr.

– KR: Demitri  Knowles, So. or J.C. Coleman, So.

– PR: Kyshoen Jarrett, Jr. (starter), Michael Holmes, So.

THE GOOD

The Hokies have to feel good about their kicking game coming out of the spring. Journell showed a little bit more power, connecting on a 55-yarder in one scrimmage (his career long in college remains 42 yards). Abbott made plenty of kicks too, hitting from 41 and 45 in one scrimmage and suggesting Tech should be in good shape once Journell’s eligibility is up. After a strong freshman season, Hughes picked up where he left off. He had a 47.8-yard average during one scrimmage. Returns were limited in scrimmages, but Jarrett and Knowles continued to show explosiveness back there. The hope is that Josh Trimble can take over Alonzo Tweedy‘s role as a gunner on punts.

THE BAD

Individual performances of kickers, punters and returners haven’t been the downfall of the Hokies’ special teams lately. It’s been consistency and all-too-frequent gaffes (like roughing the kicker, muffing an errant punt, dropping the snap, etc.). Without seeing the special teams units in action for an extended period of time this spring, it’s tough to tell if Tech has started moving in the right direction to fix what’s been ailing this group. But something clearly has been off in recent years.

HELP ON THE WAY

With most of the starting spots pretty much decided on special teams, the biggest help might be from last year’s redshirt freshman class, which should step into roles on kick and punt coverage teams. That’s where young players first start making an impact. There are plenty of return candidates in the 2013 class — Kendall Fuller, Charles Clark and Anthony Shegog, among others — but they’d have to be something really special to supplant Knowles, Coleman or Jarrett in the return game. That’d be surprising.

POTENTIAL BREAKOUT

Hughes had a strong freshman season, but he still ranked sixth in the ACC and 66th nationally in net punting (40.56 avg.). With a year under his belt, this could be the time when he really takes a step forward. His season peaked in the Russell Athletic Bowl, where he punted 11 times and had a 42.2-yard average with a long of 57, numbers that earned him national all-bowl team recognition. If he can pick up where he left off, Tech could be set at punter for quite a while.

BATTLE TO WATCH

The Hokies never settled on a kickoff specialist last year. Branthover did it to start the season, giving way to Abbott. Neither thrived in the role. By the end of the year, Journell was handling kickoff duties. Those three will be in competition for the job again this year. Tech wants to do directional kicking on kickoffs at times, so it’s more than simply finding the player with the strongest leg. The competition lasted all of last season and didn’t provide a clear-cut answer. It wouldn’t be surprising if it went right up to the start of the 2013 season.

THEY SAID IT

“Trimble played backer for me last fall, but was primarily a special teams guy and really performed well. He was one of our leaders on special teams. The guy could come down. Not that he’s going to be Tweedy, but if it wasn’t Tweedy, it was Trimble making the play.” — defensive coordinator Bud Foster

LAST WORD

On the face of things, Tech’s special teams appear to be solid. The personnel in the kicking game is all the same and Jarrett and Knowles were among the more dangerous punt and kick returners, respectively, in the nation last year. But something has been off in recent years with special teams. Football Outsiders ranks efficiency of special teams units. The Hokies last year ranked 62nd out of 124 teams, squarely in the middle. (And a moderate improvement from 68th in 2011.) That speaks to the inconsistency of the group. Sure, one part might stand out in a game, but there were rare moments last year when every facet was clicking at the same time. Tech finished first nationally in those efficiency ratings as recently as 2010, so it’s not like it is so far removed from overall success that it can’t get back there, and perhaps having everyone back will help it accomplish that. But the Hokies will need to shore up some things across the board to get back to having the special teams that everybody in the league and country envies.

Virginia Tech wrapped up spring practice on April 20, although questions remain heading into the summer that won’t have more definitive answers until fall camp. Nevertheless, the spring cleared up some things. Over the next two weeks, I’ll be taking a look back at what the Hokies figured out and what remains a work in progress.

Today, we’ll cover the defensive backs. If you missed a previous installment, you can get to it here: quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and tight ends, offensive line, defensive line and linebackers.

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THE TWO-DEEP

– CB: Kyle Fuller, Sr. (starter), Brandon Facyson (Fr.)

– CB: Antone Exum, Sr. (injured), Donaldven Manning, So. or Donovan Riley, So. or Davion Tookes, r-Fr.

– FS: Detrick Bonner, Jr. (starter), Der’Woun Greene, r-Fr.

– ROV: Kyshoen Jarrett, Jr. (starter), Desmond Frye (So.)

THE GOOD

The older players showed improvement after a full year at their current positions and the younger players started to come along. Fuller, Bonner and Jarrett all took steps forward this spring, being leaders and becoming more consistent on the back end. You could sense a greater comfort back there from all three. Manning and Riley got a good number of first-team reps with Exum out with a torn ACL, an important step for them to be trusted by defensive backs coach Torrian Gray. Manning was more consistent, but Riley made more big plays. Tookes began to come on late and could be a contender for the spot too. Facyson, an early enrollee, probably impressed the most of the young guys, not taking any hesitancy when thrust into the action for the first time. And Greene, who  bounced around positions last year, had a good showing at the spring game, returning a Logan Thomas interception the length of the field for a touchdown.

THE BAD

The Hokies didn’t have Exum out there because of the injury, and while he’s a veteran who has a solid knowledge of the system, it’s never good to miss reps like that. His return date remains up in the air. August is the earliest he could come back, although that might be wishful thinking. The backups are still very inexperienced. Riley, Manning and Tookes showed flashes, although maybe still not enough for Gray to complete trust them out there (at this point, though, he doesn’t have a choice). Frye and Greene are in the same boat. The reserves still need some seasoning.

HELP ON THE WAY

The signing class was flush with defensive backs. And while Tech is still waiting to see if guys like Holland Fisher and Cequan Jefferson qualify for next year, there will be a talent influx nonetheless. Kendall Fuller, the youngest brother of the Fuller clan, could be someone who can compete for immediate playing time. Coaches raved about the five-star corner on signing day. It’s probably not a matter of if he can play as a true freshman, but when. He won’t supplant his brother on the depth chart, but he might get his shot at the other corner spot or as a nickelback. Coaches liked what they saw out of other signees like Anthony Shegog and Charles Clark, although things start to get crowded in the backfield at that point.

POTENTIAL BREAKOUT

Based on how he picked things up in the spring, it’s got to be Facyson. He’s tall (6-2), rangy and seems to have a knack for breaking on the ball (it doesn’t hurt that the hopeful heart surgeon seems to have the academic side of things handled). He didn’t make too many glaring mistakes in scrimmages and I can rattle off several times where I remember him making an aggressive play on the ball. He doesn’t put a toe in to test the waters, not showing the usual hesitancy you see out of most freshman. Facyson worked as a boundary corner, but defensive coordinator Bud Foster was so impressed by Facyson that he thinks the Hokies might give him a shot at the vacant field corner spot come August.

BATTLE TO WATCH

With three returning starters, it’s clearly the corner spot left open by Exum. Who knows when he’ll be back and close to full strength? Everyone recovers differently from injuries like that. He might be ready for the opener against Alabama, but Tech has to prepare as though he won’t be healed by then. That leaves a glut of young players like Manning, Riley, Facyson and probably Kendall Fuller to compete for the starting spot at corner. It’s a place-holder thing. When Exum is ready, he’ll start. But finding a potential starter out of those four for the Crimson Tide will be a priority for the defense when camp begins.

THEY SAID IT

“Those guys were freshmen last year and sometimes it’s tough if you don’t get it. Athletically we might not be good enough. Fundamentally we might not be good enough. But now that they’ve been through it, I expect those guys to be a lot better this year.” — Gray

LAST WORD

This had the potential to be the strongest group on the defense this year. Then Exum tore his ACL, throwing a wrench in the Hokies’ plans to return all four starters in the secondary at their same positions. That’s not to say Exum is a lost cause. By all accounts, he’s rehabbing like mad to get back in time for the season, but like I wrote before, everybody reacts differently to injuries. The trio of Kyle Fuller, Jarrett and Bonner should be much better now that they’ve got a year under their belts at their current spots. You could see them grow into their roles last year, coming a long way from the Pittsburgh debacle in September to the way they played down the stretch. If Tech can find a serviceable starter for however long Exum is out — and that’s a big if — and can create some depth behind those starters, this could be one of the strengths of the defense.

It’s graduation day at Virginia Tech, where school president Charles Steger will give a farewell commencement speech and the Lane Stadium scoreboard will function one more time before being replaced.

Several Hokies football players will graduate today (or are close enough that they may walk). Last year, Tech had 15 graduates on the roster, most in the nation. It’ll be in double digits again 2013.

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Here is a list of Virginia Tech football players who were on track to graduate this semester. Some have already walked in the fall ceremony, so it’s unclear if they’ll do so today. Their majors are from what was on their athletic department bios:

• WR Corey Fuller (Sociology)
• FB Joey Phillips (Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction, previously earned Human Development undergraduate degree)
• WR D.J. Coles (Sociology)
• DE J.R. Collins (Human Development)
• LB Tariq Edwards (Psychology)
• RB Tony Gregory (Human Development)
• PK Cody Journell (Marketing Management)
• C Andrew Miller (Agribusiness)
• DE Tyrel Wilson (Sociology)

These three are former players who will graduate this semester too:

• OL Tyler Barfield (Finance)
• P Scott Demler (Finance)
• OL Darian Fisher (Marketing Management)

Three more are on track to graduate this summer:

• DE James Gayle (Sociology)
• WR E.L. Smiling (Apparel, Housing and Resource Management)
• OL David Wang (Master’s, previously earned Management undergraduate degree)

For those keeping track, cornerback Antone Exum has his degree in finance and quarterback Logan Thomas has his in human development.