With an eye on next year, Hokies using part of bowl practice to evaluate younger players
First, here’s a column by Aaron McFarling saying it’s time for a change at Virginia Tech with regards to offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring. This one’s sure to generate some discussion.
Second, here’s my article today about the Hokies using some of their practice time in the early portion of bowl preparation to evaluate some of their younger and inexperienced players with an eye on next season.
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In my story I briefly take a look at a few redshirts and younger players who might be counted on to have bigger roles next year. Here a closer look at a few positions of note in that regard (I’ll do these under the assumption that the underclassmen who have NFL decisions to make, choose to come back):
** Offensive tackles: Seniors Vinston Painter and Nick Becton played nearly every snap this season, putting together solid seasons but also leaving the Hokies with almost no experience at the position behind them. Redshirt sophomores Laurence Gibson and Mark Shuman are nominally the backups, although they’ve only played 22 and 25 snaps on offense this year, respectively, so it’s not as if there are any sure bets at the spots. Another redshirt sophomore, Nick Acree tore his ACL in the preseason and missed the entire year. He’s getting back into a running routine now and should be in the mix next season. Jake Goins is also listed as a right tackle. As mentioned in the story, there’s also freshmen Augie Conte and Adam Taraschke, both of whom redshirted this season. Conte is listed as a left tackle on the depth chart on Frank Beamer‘s website and Taraschke at right. Both have spent the season on the scout team, so it’s unclear how much they’ve progressed, although Stinespring seemed pleased with the maturity.
** Wide receivers: Tech will lose Marcus Davis, Dyrell Roberts and Corey Fuller after this year. That trio has combined for 120 catches, 2,026 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Redshirt freshman Demitri Knowles started getting more reps near the end of the season, as did redshirt freshman Kevin Asante, before a turf toe injury set him back. But as everyone saw in the first half of the Boston College game, removing a threat like Davis from the equation seriously impacts how those younger receivers operate. The Hokies will get a boost from the return of D.J. Coles, who should be approved for a waiver to get another year of eligibility after suffering a knee injury in the season opener. He’s a big receiving threat and is the team’s best blocker on the perimeter. Beyond that, it’s a lot of inexperience. Joel Caleb and Joshua Stanford were the two most-touted players from the freshman class. Caleb, a physical specimen at 6-foot-2, 211 pounds, needed a year to transition from quarterback to receiver. Stanford suffered a knee injury this year that kept him out of action. Beamer also mentioned redshirt freshman Christian Reeves and walk-on Charley Meyer as options. All seem like they’ll get an opportunity in a depleted receiver corps.
** Running backs: The only person who graduates from the group is Martin Scales, but given the lagging ground game this year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a shakeup of the depth chart coming. Tony Gregory, Michael Holmes and J.C. Coleman return, although it’s freshman Trey Edmunds who might be the one to keep an eye on. Beamer sounded conflicted about the decision the staff made in September to redshirt Edmunds. They had to come to that conclusion fairly early in the season, before the Hokies’ running game woes became completely apparent. Beamer has compared Edmunds’ running style to Kevin Jones several times and said he stood out in the team’s physical middle drill. The Hokies didn’t often feature a running back who could run through tackles this year. Edmunds seems like a dynamic player who could do that. Stinespring said the defensive staff has told him they’ve been impressed with Chris Mangus on the scout team. The speedster suffered a shoulder injury early in the season that kept him out. Fork Union’s Drew Harris, a highly-touted prospect who failed to qualify last year, could enter the mix if he gets into school.
** Linebackers: This is really the only defensive position that will feature any significant turnover, and even then it’s limited. Bruce Taylor, Jeron Gouveia-Winslow and Alonzo Tweedy are seniors. Taylor is a starter. Gouveia-Winslow began the year as a starter but was supplanted and eventually moved to backup safety. Tweedy didn’t do much on defense all season until the very end, when he stepped up into a blitzing role and has thrived. Still, the Hokies have replacements who aren’t completely green. Junior Tariq Edwards missed all of this year essentially with a knee/shin injury. He’s close to 100 percent now and, with Taylor moving on, presumably will slide back into that backer position he previously occupied (more on Edwards a little later in the week). At whip linebacker, defensive coordinator Bud Foster continues to be high on redshirt freshman Ronny Vandyke, who he pegged as the future at the position even before this year began. Another year should give him time to grow into the role. Chase Williams and Deon Clarke will probably be the next in line at inside linebacker. On the outside, it’s less clear, although Dahman McKinnon was working there in practice the other day.
** Defensive backs: If Antone Exum decides to come back for his senior season, this whole group will be back. Foster expects the position switches the team made last offseason to pay off after a year that had some growing pains. What will be more critical for the Hokies, though, is creating some depth in the secondary, something that was severely lacking this year. Donaldven Manning was the presumed No. 3 cornerback because he enrolled early, but his season did not go to plan and he nearly left the team. In the meantime, Donovan Riley began to take those No. 3 cornerback reps. Michael Cole emerged as the third safety, but a scary neck injury against Florida State has his football status in limbo. Desmond Frye began to step up near the end of the year as a promising safety. But Tech will have other bodies in the competition, including Carl Jackson, Der’Woun Greene, Davion Tookes and Greg Jones among others. There’s also highly-touted verbal commitments Kendall Fuller and Holland Fisher who could figure in somewhere if they catch on quick enough.
December 16, 2012 - 10:19 AM
Where is Kevin Rogers?
John Golden Hokie from Roanoke
They better start looking for a qb and an o-line to protect his ass!
No Tony Gregory does not come back. He’s a senior.
Wow look at the lack of snaps from the backup OL. Way to build depth guys
Gregory is a redshirt junior.
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/players/gregory_tony.html
Could’ve sworn Gregory was a senior. Seems like he’s been around forever
Prepped a year, then redshirted, then got injured. That’s probably why.
No mention of Tyler at LB, a returning Sr.?
Tyler is a given at LB. Was looking at who would be new to the lineup.
Andy, I have read elsewhere that CFBs secretary is B Stinespring’s wife. Is that true? Your article quotes BS as evaluating players for his 2013 offense. Given a key role that BS plays in the overall planning and execution of most team activities, how could CFB consult with anyone about the future of the program in terms of hiring in this situation? Do you get a sense as an outsider that there will be imminent or post-bowl change? I would imagine any decision would be difficult to execute in the above situation.
Andy, if Frank agrees with Amac, and I know that is a big if, have you heard any plausible names for a new OC?
Did GA Southern beat the Hokies? Got to watch out for those Georgia teams. Tune in for the Sun Bowl.
Barry, you go girl!!!
I understand GA Southern is by far the second best college football team in the state behind Georgia. Sun Bowl? Is USC actually playing a college team from Georgia in the Sun Bowl??
Hi everyone.
I have it from a very reliable source that Tony Franklin (the OC at LA TECH) is coming to Blacksburg.
Stiney is going to take some sort of position at Auburn.
O’Cain is going back under the rock he came from.
Shane Beamer will be special teams coach.
Merry Christmas to us!!
Stiney to Auburn, as what? What does he know that they do not know?
Auburn is the SEC, and he would be in over his head. He is in over his head at Tech.
Shane would not be on the staff if his last name was not Beamer. He would be a high school coach at the best he could do.
The program at Tech needs help and changes, and NOW.
Unknown Source: I though that Franklin has already been named OC on the new staff at California?
The unknown source keeps showing up,,I too thought Franklin was Calfifornia bound with the Head coach??
VT should use the younger players in the Russell Bowl, they would stand a much better chance to win, don’t you think? BTW, Stiney isn’t going anywhere. Frank will keep him and the Shanemeister. The ship will continue to sink but it is all about the past, mark it down.
Tony Franklin was hired by Cal a week ago:
http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121112aac.html
Andy are you not allowed to address B Stinespring, whether or not his wife works in the VT office, etc. bc this would put you in a challenging position, given that you are there at VT regularly? I imagine that it is also challenging because you obviously can’t ask the coaches what changes they are making and expect to get an answer. Does VT give you clear parameters about what you can or cannot ask about in order to be able to cover the team on a daily basis?
I always find Frank Beamer’s revisionist spin interesting. And by interesting, I mean laughable. To say that it took most of the season for the VT coaching staff to determine their running backs were inadequate is to say that the coaches are inadequate. They had all spring, summer, and several games before it dawned on them that the RBs were just mediocre? They couldn’t tell that after the 3rd game? The 4th game? The honest answer would have been that Edmunds was showing nothing more skilled during the summer & early fall than the other RBs.
The problem for Beamer if he answers honestly is that then the carrot of hope for next year can’t be dangled in front of the fan base, and they’ll be unhappy. News flash for you, Frank. We’re already unhappy. Well, except for the minority of folks who still deny there’s a fly in the soup.
Instead, we’re being told that Trey Edmunds is reminiscent of Kevin Jones, a former Hokie great. Really, Frank? You’ve got a RB that’s like Kevin Jones and you kept him on the bench the whole season? What’s that? He only became like Kevin Jones the last three weeks of the season? What magic potion did Shane sprinkle in his cereal to make him magically turn from a guy who was no better than the mediocre RBs we saw on the field into another Kevin Jones?
It’s that kind of mentality and false claims concerning a freshman that virtually everyone knew before the season was going to be a redshirt, those are the statements that represent people’s frustrations.
It doesn’t really matter what young talent we have had sitting on the bench this season. Next season won’t be any different until Frank Beamer finally, after more than a decade, acknowledges his earlier mistakes in personnel and makes the necessary changes. Nothing changes until Frank Beamer admits his error and corrects it.
Is the Tech football staff and the administration living in the past, as Barry suggests? It could be.
I would be willing to bet Stinney could not get Auburn to give him a free ticket to a game much less a job!!!
Is there any info on Woody Baron or Seth Dooley? What is the deal with these players?
I’m reading that the receiver out of Lafayette in Williamsburg, Thomas Smith is now 6-5, 230 pounds. That’s yet another gigantic wide receiver that this state will have produced. Thomas Smith, Joel Caleb, DJ Coles, and Demitri Knowles is an excellent receiving corps. Mangus and JC Coleman in the slot is nice to. The Hokies will have Leal, Bucky Hodges or the other kid out Carolina to pick from as the QB. This is more than enough offensive firepower for any defense in the ACC to handle. Like always though, does Beamer know what to do with it?
‘Beamer sounded conflicted about the decision the staff made in September to redshirt Edmunds. They had to come to that conclusion fairly early in the season, before the Hokies’ running game woes became completely apparent.’
It’s interesting what is obvious when you look at the actual numbers, instead of relying on one of Frank’s bromides for rationale. Here are the totals for our top two RBs in each of the first three games…
GaTech game: 13 carries for 54 yards, 4 carries for 25 yards
Austin Peay game: 9 carries for 40 yards, 6 carries for 36 yards
Pittsburgh game: 4 carries for 16 yards, 9 carries for 6 yards
Yeah, it was WAY too early in September to tell that we didn’t have a strong group of running backs. Gosh, if we had only known then, we could have put in the guy who’s supposed to be like Kevin Jones.
I don’t see Stinespring being removed from the staff. I think he’ll stay, but his responsibilities will change. A return to controlling the OL wold be in the cards. Let’s also remember that Beamer has probably already made his decisions and gotten commitments on any changes he plans to make, so the pool of candidates available right now doesn’t really matter. He’s got his guys selected, you can be sure.
This article about Beamer using part of bowl prep time to evaluate new players is one answer to why we never are prepared for the bowl and get out coached. Beamer, stick to the bowl prep, coach the new guys in spring practice.
OK, catching up on some comments. Sorry I’ve been slow. I’m not checking it as often since I’m technically on vacation this week:
1) I believe Stinespring’s wife is Frank’s former secretary.
2) The fact that Stinespring is evaluating players for next year is nothing different than any coach in America does, whether or not he’ll be retained. Stiney has a job. He’s doing it right now. That’s not unusual.
3) Give it a rest with the Franklin rumors. They are baseless. He’s the OC at Cal. And don’t get me started with Stiney to Auburn. That is laughable.
4) I’d expect there to be some changes, but nobody within the program is talking about it (part of the reason I think changes are imminent). Honestly, I think Frank knows what he’ll do, but he’s playing it close to the vest.
5) Teams using some of bowl practice to prepare for next year is something that coaches across the country do. VT is no different. This has nothing to do with the team’s bowl record. Every team I’ve covered has done it this way. Players only need a week, maybe a little bit longer to prepare for a team (that’s not to say coaches don’t start game-planning much earlier).
Forget Stiney not getting even a free ticket to an Auburn game. Try anywhere. I wish there was some fool school that would give him a free ticket, or even better, a job. And since no one else has shown interest in luring him to their venue speaks volumes folks. We’re stuck with Frank’s second favorite son until who knows when.
Frank, Barry doesn’t know if Lincoln was shot or hit with a pineapple.
He exists solely for our amusement.
Ok crooked road, one thing for certain. If Coach Beamer ever needs a Monday morning QB I’m sure you are that guy. You are the All-American, Heisman candidate we have been waiting for. You have all the answers don’t you-after the fact of course.
And to criticize the Edmonds kid is kind of cheap isn’t it? The young man hasn’t even stepped on the field yet.
what about the possibilities of Sherman taking over as OC, S Beamer to receivers coach (another positional spot). Steiny moving to an office position, (that way he can still take his walks with Frank) Since I’ve noticed Sherman going from the booth to the field. AND he seems to be the mouthpiece to Logan Thomas, for the calls (or lack thereof) for the past 2 years???..That way the Hokie Nation sideline remains “One Big Happy Famalia”