Virginia Tech Mailbag: Has the Hokies offense always been as bad as it seems? (2024)

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Got the post-signing-day blues, knowing spring ball is still over a month away?

Cheer up! It’s Hokies mailbag time.

For as long as I’ve been following Hokies football, the fans (including myself, I must admit) have never been happy with their offensive coordinator. I’m wondering a few things:

1) Has it always been as bad as it seems? Has VT generally had a bad offense relative to other teams and the talent available on the roster?

2) How does Brad Cornelsen’s offense stack up against Hokies offenses of seasons past? I know we’re putting up a lot of numbers, but it seems at least some of that can be attributed to higher scoring across college football these days.

3) Outside of the Michael Vick years, has Tech ever really been “just a decent offense away” from being a national championship contender? My brother (an LSU grad) used to say this about his team all the time and he was definitely proved right this year (although they were better than decent). — Geoffrey S.

Virginia Tech’s offense is like most others: It ebbs and flows, often based on talent. The difference is that the defense set such a high standard for such a long time that even an above-average offense could look bad by comparison. That’s not to excuse some of the poor offensive showings the Hokies have had over the past two decades, but it is something to keep in mind.

You’re right that there’s more offense these days, so it’s probably best to look at things in the context of how the Hokies are doing relative to other schools. Virginia Tech led the nation with a 41.4-point scoring average with Michael Vick at the helm in 1999. That figure would have ranked eighth this past season, a full touchdown behind LSU. So yeah, things have changed a little bit.

Here are scoring averages and yard-per-play averages over the past two decades, as far back as the NCAA’s online archived stats go, and where the Hokies ranked nationally:

As you can see, it hasn’t always been bad, especially when you consider Frank Beamer was always pretty conservative with his offensive philosophy and hired like-minded people. And it wasn’t good just because of Vick. Tech had a pretty good run in five post-Vick years, with scoring averages in the top 30 each year and only once dipping into the bottom half of the FBS in yards per play.

It got dicey there until Tyrod Taylor got up to speed, however, which is probably where the narrative comes that the Hokies offense cost them a shot at the national championship. Tech had an average rank of 94th in yards per play from 2006 to 2008, bottoming out at 104th in 2008. Foster’s defenses ranked first, fourth and seventh nationally those years. Ouch.

Things really went south post-2011, the impetus for the offensive overhaul to Beamer’s staff. The Hokies just seemed to be pulling out of a nosedive when Justin Fuente and Cornelsen came aboard. Since then, it’s been a mixed bag, even though it’s obviously far better than the four years before they arrived. Interestingly, Tech’s scoring average seems to outpace its yards per play under Fuente. The Hokies may not be the most efficient at doing things on offense, but they have scored points at a decent clip relative to that.

While I think the offense has been better in recent years than it was for most of the 2010s, this still hasn’t been as explosive of an offense as Fuente and Cornelsen had at Memphis. Obviously, that’s against a different level of competition, but Memphis was 11th nationally in scoring in 2015, Fuente’s last year there, at 40.2 points per game. That was the promise when they first arrived at Tech.

The guys they recruited to Virginia Tech, starting in the 2017 class, are just now becoming redshirt juniors and seniors. I think the 2020 season should be a very telling one for the offense. These are all guys who belong to this coaching staff now. And they’ve had time to develop. An uptick in production should be expected.

Does Whit Babco*ck realize that Justin Fuente is shooting this program in the foot because of his new policy toward the transfer portal? It’s very possible that this will make recruiting much more difficult. — Dom A.

It seems like Fuente is being very hypocritical with regard to the transfer portal. Fuente himself is coming back after flirting with Baylor, but he’s closing the door on players who want to explore their options. Is this just a scare tactic to dissuade players from entering the transfer portal? Do you think this will have any impact on future recruits and transfers? This stance rubs me the wrong way. — Andrew C.

Ah, it wouldn’t be a mailbag without some kind of crisis. And Fuente provided the kindling and the matches for one with his comments about transfers last week.

Let me first say that I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Could he have had a little more self-awareness considering what he just went through? Yes. Could his messaging have been a little clearer? Also, yes. But I don’t think the crux of what he’s saying is all too different from how other coaches approach the issue — and some questionable “reporting” in a game of aggregation telephone took his remarks a little out of context, making them seem worse.

Fuente was asked if the players currently in the portal could come back. He said they weren’t doing that this year, though he added that it’s always on a case-by-case basis, which is where I think most coaches stand on the portal. If an all-conference-caliber player is in there, I’m sure coaches would be more open to the idea of that player returning. If the portal is full of a bunch of backups, like it is this year, there’s little to no leeway.

It basically comes down to leverage. And for the crowd that says Fuente did the same thing with Baylor, he got to come back because he had leverage. He was an in-demand coach with a big buyout who could look at another school because Tech wanted him to stay and couldn’t afford to do anything about it anyway if it didn’t. And that’s how life works. If the vice president of a bank interviewed for a job elsewhere, do you think his current employer would fire him on the spot for doing so? Doubtful. Now, say a first-year intern tells his bosses he or she is going to take a couple of weeks off to take a look around at job opportunities. That person’s probably not getting the same “welcome back” treatment.

My question: What stance is a coach supposed to take with transfers? What do the people jumping all over coaches for being hypocritical in this instance expect them to do? Fuente’s Baylor situation is not an apples-to-apples comparison. He interviewed one afternoon and was back at work the next day having made his decision. The guys in the portal right now have missed more than three weeks of offseason workouts. Are the coaches just supposed to hold scholarships open for them for months until they decide what they want to do? Teams have moved on. They’re looking at additional signees in February and players on the transfer market, and any fan base would be down the coach’s throat if he wasn’t making full use of the scholarship allotment.

So I guess the faux outrage over what he said on signing day surprises me. His is pretty much the same stance as any coach in the country takes. There’s an argument to be made about whether he should have broadcast that, and if he planned to do so, how he could have done it better. Fuente certainly needs some public-relations lessons. But do I think it hurts with recruits? Doubtful. What recruit commits somewhere expecting to transfer? All the ones I talk to think they’re going to be great, so why would it even enter their minds?

The Sons of Saturday interview with the director of football recruiting was eye-opening to me. Hearing that UVa has double the staff than we do dedicated to finding and chasing talent, should the fan base really be that surprised that UVa finally caught up to VT on the field? How much of that under-funding is a result of lack of donations versus the university just not prioritizing football as much as it should? — Kyle D.

Andy, you have a pretty active voice on what has been termed “Hokie Twitter.” Recently, Hokie Twitter has come under fire because of the most recent Sons of Saturday podcast. John Iezzi spoke a bit about the impact on recruiting based on what fans say on Twitter. In sum, there seemed to be a bit of blame placed on fans for lackluster recruiting, which seemed bogus to me. What are your thoughts about this story? — Logan L.

Ah, Crisis No. 2! God bless the offseason, where there’s enough oxygen for everything to turn into a big story. For those who haven’t listened to the podcast, Iezzi spoke about some of the challenges in Virginia Tech’s recruiting department, which was essentially created in 2014 and has lagged behind its peers since. The most striking anecdote was that Tech was the last Power 5 school to subscribe to Hudl, meaning staffers would have to sit and watch 30-second commercials before every bit of player film they reviewed on the site. (Of note: I have an interview request in with Iezzi. We’ll see if Virginia Tech approves it.)

The recruiting staffing is an issue, and while Fuente didn’t seek contract enhancements when he spoke with Babco*ck after the Baylor dalliance, they have spoken this offseason about getting some help on that front and cutting through some of the university red tape in getting positions approved. Looking at UVa’s football staffing compared with Virginia Tech’s, you can tell the Hokies are a bit behind. The Cavaliers have four positions carved out for regional and senior scouts, who, presumably, can pore over film of recruits. Tech has none. And even UVa’s staffing pales in comparison with the big dogs of college football, where assistants to assistants are common. Clemson has an army.

Tech will never be that and Fuente knows it, but keeping pace with UVa shouldn’t be a big ask. Even a few more bodies would help. I’m sure donations would help, though I think making the brass at Tech aware that there’s a shortfall of help relative to programs the Hokies want to beat probably pushes that agenda along even more.

As for the part about what fans say on Twitter affecting a recruit’s decision-making, I think it might be a tad overblown. First of all, every fan base is like that. If you’re looking to stay away from negative takes about any fan base, the best advice is to just stay off Twitter. (Especially after a loss.) But I can’t imagine that being the sole reason for a recruit not picking a school. Part of it? Sure. It all goes into the same decision-making pot, and a 17- or 18-year-old might put more stock into what’s being said about him on social media than adults do. But I don’t think it’s some silver bullet that immediately disqualified Tech, and it’s certainly not a way to explain away the Hokies’ 71st-ranked recruiting class in 2020.

OK: Baylor job vs. Virginia Tech job. On paper, I see why Baylor, in theory, is the more attractive job for someone with Fuente’s background and beginnings, but when I really thought about, I don’t think it’s really close.

Baylor is a better location but will never be higher than third (at best) in the state, behind Texas and Texas A&M. Even that could be a struggle with Texas Tech and TCU. The conference is smaller and there’s the round robin format, so (that means) playing Oklahoma every year (I know they haven’t won any playoff games but their dominance of the Big 12 can’t be thrown away). Plus, Texas will always have the talent. Getting the right coach has been trouble. Money-wise, the ACC Network should soon start to pay out while the Big 12 is still dealing with conference realignment and having to be hostages to Texas and the Longhorn Network.

Virginia Tech isn’t in a talent-rich or urban location, but there’s talent in the DMV (plus the Carolinas close to the border). The division is always winnable, though maybe not the conference yet. The fan base can be wild, but I think a Texas school fan base when it comes to football is probably just as much. Money and resources right now seems to be an advantage to Baylor but eventually they should even out.

Obviously both jobs aren’t top 10 in the nation — both are fringe top 25 at the moment. Fuente stayed, but I thought it would be fun to compare. — Joe T.

I think you’re underestimating the money and resource advantage a place like Baylor has and will continue to have. Baylor is a private school and thus doesn’t have to submit its financial situation for open-records requests, but the school has money. People who cover Baylor tell me Matt Rhule was supposed to make in the neighborhood of $6 million this year before he decided to leave for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. You’d imagine with a head coaching salary like that, assistant pay would also be through the roof. Fuente’s due to make $4.25 million this year, and Tech’s assistant salaries rank in the high 30s nationally of public schools.

Baylor built a $266 million football stadium in 2014. It has proposed to build a $55 million football operations center. Shoot, someone just anonymously donated $100 million to the university, some of which will be used in paying for a new $105 million basketball arena. There’s money coming out of the ground there, something that hasn’t been happening in Blacksburg for some time. As for conference cash, yeah, the ACC has a network that should start supplying extra revenue in the future, but it has had to play catch-up. In the 2018 fiscal year, the most recent to compare the two conferences head to head, the Big 12 gave out $34.7 million per school compared with the ACC’s $29.5 million.

Yes, the Bears are second fiddle to a lot of Texas schools, but there’s a whole lot of talent to go around in that state. Virginia has 10 players ranked as four stars or higher in the 247Sports composite rankings in 2021. Texas has 48. (Even if you add in North Carolina, Maryland and D.C. to the total in the Hokies’ “neighborhood,” it’s still only 45.)

As for on-field performance lately, you’d still give the edge to the Bears, even if the overall records are almost the same. In the 2010s, Virginia Tech went 84-49 and Baylor 83-47. But while the Hokies had three 10-win seasons and zero top-15 finishes, won one conference title and played for two others, the Bears had five 10-win seasons and five top-15 finishes, won at least a share of two conference titles and had a Heisman Trophy winner. The Bears also had one of the most heinous college scandals of all time under Art Briles. Two years after going 1-11 after his ouster, Baylor got back to 11-3. Go back 30 years and Virginia Tech has a better track record of success, but this is a what-have-you-done-lately business. And on championship weekend last year, Baylor was a top-10 team playing for a possible invitation to the College Football Playoff. Virginia Tech was at home awaiting a Belk Bowl invitation.

I think you look at the tale of the tape, you have to give Baylor a clear edge right now.

Who all do we expect to go pro at the end of 2020? I suspect we will have a much larger class of athletes who will either graduate or declare for the NFL, not to mention enter the transfer portal. (Dax) Hollifield, (Caleb) Farley and (Rayshard) Ashby come to mind. That is a good chunk of the secondary that might be gone. Who all are primed to move on? — Akshay R.

When you hear Fuente talk about how important the 2021 class is in terms of how big it will be and how much talent the Hokies will have to replace, it’s because Tech could have a ton depart after this year.

After back-to-back years with very few seniors, the Hokies have 15 in 2020. Among that group are All-ACC players in linebacker Ashby and punter Oscar Bradburn, plus guys who will be multi-year starters: defensive tackles Jarrod Hewitt and DaShawn Crawford, defensive end Emmanuel Belmar and safety Divine Deablo. Kansas running back transfer Khalil Herbert could also be a major player this year.

Additionally, I look at the junior class and think cornerback Farley and receiver Tre Turner could at least entertain the idea of turning pro after a strong junior season. Farley definitely, since I think he could have done it this year if he wanted. Turner perhaps a little less so, simply because he has some work to do before he’d be ready for the pros from a physical standpoint. Maybe keep an eye on true juniors like left tackle Christian Darrisaw, tight end James Mitchell and Hollifield, though I think all three of them would have to make a big leap this year to even enter the conversation.

Anyway, that’s a large number of players before you even start to consider the typical attrition that occurs every year with transfers looking for a better opportunity. It’s no wonder Fuente not only anticipates a huge 2021 signing class but also understands its importance — and especially after a relatively down year in recruiting. A coach can slip like that occasionally (and if it was going to happen, the situation being due to a small class isn’t the worst thing), but do it two years in a row and the effects will really be felt a couple of years down the line.

(Top photo: Bob DeChiara / USA TODAY)