Edmunds to begin at tailback, Beamer’s slimmed down, plus a few more notes to close out the ACC Kickoff
Newly-arrived Hokies freshman Trey Edmunds has been mentioned as a candidate to play offense or defense at Virginia Tech. At least to start, he’ll be on offense.
Edmunds will get his first crack at running back when players report for practice in early August.
“Right now I think that’s where the real need is,” head coach Frank Beamer said.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Edmunds ran for 2,596 yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior at Dan River last year, earning Parade All-American honors. But the Hokies think he can be a two-way player, one who contributes at linebacker too.
“If he’s your tailback, he may end up being in certain packages on defense, nickel packages or whatever,” Beamer said. “And if he’s on defense he might be on your goal line package of your offense.”
As for this year, Beamer said Edmunds will probably stick to one side of the ball.
“I think he needs to get settled,” he said. “If a player is a freshman, you’ve got to put all your attention to that, but down the road, I think that might be a possibility.”
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It’s getting late in Greensboro, and I have to drive back to Blacksburg tonight, so here are a few quite parting notes before I hit the road. I’ll have more later this week once I can get through all my quotes:
- Beamer showed off his slimmed-down frame at the ACC Kickoff. The veteran coach has lost 32 pounds this offseason, going from 204 to 172, his playing weight in college. Why the weight loss? For starters, his daughter got married this spring, so he had to fit into a tuxedo. “And then when I tried to bend over and tie my shoes, I had trouble getting to the shoes,” Beamer joked. “And then when I’d rise up, I’d be out of breath. So mentally, I was like, I’m going to lose weight.”
- He said he did it by exercising daily on an elliptical, limiting himself to 2,000 calories a day (vegetables and fruits not included) and eating “only half of the stuff on your plate.”
- What does being the winningest active coach in Division I football mean to Beamer? “Besides being old …?” he quipped. “It makes you go back and appreciate the people around you. I’ve had really good coaches around me, really good players, a great administration at Virginia Tech that I wouldn’t have been there at a lot of places after a few years. But they hung in there with me.
- Beamer hasn’t talked with kicker Cody Journell in person since he was allowed back on the team following a seven-month suspension, but he has talked to him over the phone. “Cody made a terrible mistake,” Beamer said. “He made terrible judgment. He’s a good person; he’s got a good family. I want him to come back and … learn from what happened, which he certainly has.”
- Beamer thinks Journell will have some challengers at kicker, but he made it sound like Journell will be the No. 1 guy.
- The Virginia Tech Twitter account tweeted a few starting positions for incoming freshmen. On offense, Adam Taraschke will start at left tackle, Jack Willenbrock at center and Augie Conte at right tackle. On defense, Ken Ekanme will be a stud end, Alston Smith a nose tackle, Devin Vandyke a Mike linebacker, Dahman McKinnon a free safety and Donovan Riley and Davion Tookes boundary corners.
July 23, 2012 - 9:24 PM
Kudos to Beamer for slimming down!! I’m sure everybody including his family, friends and fans are pleased he’s looking after his health a little more.
So, Alston Smith at nose tackles?? I guess he’s not following in the footsteps of his dad and being the sack master defensive end??
Couple of thoughts:
Coach Beamer should sit Journell first game. Yes he missed the Sugar Bowl, but he should get one more game.
I’ve read so many comments on how fast NCAA has acted with PSU. They should go with private investigations like the Freeh report at PSU to wrap up the 2-3 year looks at UNC and Miami. These have been going on forever, and if football is not bigger than the schoolas Emmert said yesterday, prove it again. I also hear that Clemson is next…
Time for VT football
Cody Journell is an embarrassment.
Let’s go Hokies !!!
Why is Cody an embarrassment? If people are not forgiven and given second chances, even after they have been punished, there is no hope for anyone.
Everyone makes mistakes. God forgives. Why can’t you?
People who deliberately break the law should also encounter some time of responsibility for their stupidity, as well. Journell missed a bowl game, is that the extent of his ‘punishment’? Would you even consider such forgiveness if he wasn’t on the VT football team? We all know the answer is no, that the answer is forgiveness is only begged for when it impacts sports allegiance.
Didn’t Journell do 100 or so hours of community service this summer already?
I haven’t personally done that much community service this summer.
He did do community service and served five days in jail. Football has nothing to do with it “crooked road”. It is about people. Lots of things are against the law and are broken on purpose – speeding, illegal turns, underage drinking, lying on your tax returns, etc. String them all up. You are so self rightess. Come out of the cave and join the real world
Victor, Bruce was primarily a DT during his playing days at VT.
Once again crooked road you ignore facts and just throw some crap out there to instigate. You are sad
Jerry, protect the shield every chance you get. What’s sad is that your attitude mirrors that of so many Penn State fans, in that they want to coddle athletic personalities and enable all their actions. It’s always different when it’s the home team, isn’t it?
I’m not a fan of bringing Journell back… but, he did serve his punishment that he was given by a judge for the crime. I can’t argue that that’s not true, no matter if I agree with bringing him back or not.
I just don’t think there’s a need for overreaction over Journell. He’s a so-so kicker who was on scholarship since a freshman, but only started 1 season. I don’t think bringing back a kicker is an example of putting winning in front of everything else.
Nah it’s different when you’re talking about rape and misdemeanor trespassing though
Like I said, Jerry, you protect the shield as well as the most fervent Penn State fanatic. You must feel so proud to enable that way…
You keep talking about a shield. You mean the one that keeps facts and reality from entering your consciousness?