I had the opportunity to chat with Ricky LaBlue, recruiting writer and beat writer for Tech Sideline. Here’s our conversation:
Jon Manson: One of the big storylines for Tech this season is a new head coach for the first time in decades, with Beamer retiring and Coach Fuente taking over. What is the general sentiment of the fans around the program? What’s the mood around the program?
Ricky LaBlue: I would say there is a mix of optimism and curiosity. I think the fan base is excited to have some new blood. I think some of the fan base was disappointed in the way Coach Beamer’s tenure ended. But now with Fuente and new guys on staff that have some good resumes at their past coaching stops, I think the fans are looking forward to how the new coaching staff is going to run things. A lot of fans are happy with the way the offseason conditioning program went. I think that’s led to a lot of optimism. I think there’s a lot of curiosity as I mentioned. The program has been kind of tight-lipped on a lot of things. We haven’t seen much of practice at all. We haven’t been able to talk to some coaches and players as much as we’d like, and that just creates a sense of uncertainty a little bit. But then again I think the fans are just really curious to see how big the changes are going to be under Fuente because we haven’t really gotten a large taste of that just yet.
Coach Fuente, photo courtesy SB Nation
JM: Fuente certainly brings a new look on offense compared to what Tech is used to. What can you tell us about the new offense from what you’ve been able to see and find out?
RL: Well, with the offense, it’s definitely going to be more of an offense that you generally see at the college level nowadays. It’s going to be a spread offense. They’re going to run pretty up-tempo from what we can tell. Now that being said, Tech’s receiving depth is a question. They’ve got 2 pretty good receivers, one guy has a chance to be an all-ACC player in Isaiah Ford, but you’re looking at Ford and Cam Phillips, who’s had a good career so far, Bucky Hodges, who almost went to the draft this past year. The receiving depth is very top end heavy after that there are some questions, but there are a lot of versatile weapons that Tech can use. Sam Rodgers??? Is a guy that can carry the ball, can block, can catch out of the backfield, can play kind of that h-back/tight end position if need be. So, the offense is going to be a kind of a spread, but I think there are going to be very flexible in the personnel groupings that they use.
JM: Another dynamic that I’m paying attention to is the fact that Bud Foster stuck around, and he’s going to be defensive coordinator under a new head coach that he doesn’t have any previous ties to. What is your assessment of that relationship to this point in time?
Bud Foster, photo courtesy The Daily Press
RL: I think there were a lot of questions surrounding how that dynamic would work, but, from everything we can gather, its going very, very well. Fuente made a comment recently that he doesn’t understand how outsiders can’t wrap their head around the fact that he and Foster get along so well. He talked about how the 2 have a great working relationship. He talked about how Bud is a Virginia Tech first guy. I mean, you got to remember, Bud’s been here 30 years. He owes his career to Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech owes a lot of their success to him. I think, at this point in his career, he might be a lifer. I don’t know if he wants to go anywhere else. He loves the town too much. He’s absolutely beloved by all of the residents in Blacksburg and all of the students. He’s got a lot of support. But, yeah, so far the relationship is going very, very well from what we can tell.
JM: Obviously Tech has a big game on the horizon right after Liberty, September 10th with the Battle of Bristol against Tennessee. They open with Liberty, which in Tech’s eyes is not much of an opponent. Is there any chance that the team could be overlooking Liberty as they get ready for that game on the 10th?
RL: There’s always a chance that can happen. Obviously coaches and players wouldn’t allude to it. With that being said, every time the Battle of Bristol is brought up in a press conference or the question is asked, even when we found out when the uniforms were revealed, the focus of the rhetoric of the players and the coaches, seems to be around the Liberty game. I think that Fuente is really hoping that he gets a good gauge of where his team is against Liberty. Obviously, Tech enters that game as a favorite, but there are allot of questions surrounding the tech team. There’s depth issues at linebacker, at receiver, and the defensive secondary. I think Fuente is really curious to see how the first game goes because I think right now if he had to play Tennessse he would not be very confident in his squad.
Photo courtesy hokietickets.com
JM: Lane stadium has a lot of hype in recent years and notoriety of being one of the toughest places to play in the country. What can we expect as first time visitors at Lane Stadium?
RL: Well, it’s definitely loud. I was a student there for 3 years. I enrolled as a sophomore. I attended a couple games as a student before I started covering them. It’s a very loud atmosphere. The student section is always excited. I think that in years past, the students might not had been excited about a game against Liberty, but now, with a brand new coach, a brand new offense that is aimed at being more productive and scoring more, I think the students are probably going to show out for the Liberty game. Obviously, it’s going to be an earlier start which is never easy on a group of students, especially with it being a Saturday, with that being said, I do expect Lane to be pretty loud and pretty full for Liberty. I think that Tech has to put out a good performance against Liberty to be able to pack Lane Stadium for the rest of the season.
