The Hokie Hotline (football and basketball season)
When: every Monday from 7:00-9:00 during football season, 7:00-8:00 during
basketball season.
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for a list of radio stations, and to find the link for listening to the show on
the Internet (look to the right on the hokiesports.com page that loads when you
click the link). You can also watch the archive on hokietv.com.
Monday night’s Hokie Hotline featured Jim Weaver, Kevin Rogers, and Frank
Beamer. Weaver answered questions on home game revenue and conference revenue,
plus ticket availability and the status of the West side expansion. Rogers
answered questions about Marcus Vick, and Beamer talked about his new contract
and a variety of other topics.
Jim Weaver
Roth first asked Weaver about finally getting Beamer’s contract done.
Weaver said he was glad to have the process ended, and he knows that Beamer is
glad as well. He said he is glad that it didn’t become a distraction during
the season to the players or the coaching staff. He thinks everyone is pleased
with the end result. Weaver said things like this just take time and they don’t
get done overnight. Keeping the staff together was very important to Coach
Beamer and Virginia Tech.
Roth asked Weaver if he thought Beamer would go past 2012. Weaver said that
Beamer might go even longer. Paterno and Bowden are still going. He went on to
say that he has nothing new to report on the scheduling front.
Weaver got a complaint about there being no individual game tickets available
for the public. He responded by saying that Virginia Tech refunded 2,400 season
ticket requests this year, so there are simply no tickets available. If opposing
teams return any of their allotment, they generally go to public use. That isn’t
the case this year because Tech needs those tickets to set those who have to be
moved because of the West Side expansion delays.
Weaver said he thinks the facilities will be a little better for the Boston
College game, but not much better. Right now he is not optimistic that the West
Side expansion will be completed this season. “The general contractor hasn’t
met a deadline yet,” Weaver said, when asked why. He went on to say that
current contractor will more than likely not be used to build the new field
house that is being planned.
Regarding fan behavior, the athletic department had Coach Beamer write an
open letter to the students, as well as participate in a video that was aired on
Hokie Vision during the game. They have also told the usher to pay more
attention to the fans in their section. Students must understand that Lane
Stadium is not general admission.
Weaver was asked how much money Virginia Tech makes from a home game. He said
Tech grosses about 1.5 million per home game. Depending on how much Tech must
pay the opposing team and other expenses, the net is generally between $750,000
and $1 million. The ACC will pay for the Hokies to travel to the ACC
Championship game should they be fortunate enough to make it that far.
Weaver said Tech’s best year of revenue sharing in the Big East was $5.1
million. Without full revenue sharing in the ACC, the Hokies are already making
over $6 million. Full revenue sharing will begin for Virginia Tech during the
2006-07 year.
The response from the media to the West Side expansion has been very good,
according to Weaver. It is much easier for ESPN or other networks to televise a
game from Lane Stadium now.
Kevin Rogers
Kevin Rogers began his segment by saying that everything had been good so
far. He goes by the motto “one game at a time”, and doesn’t think the
Hokies have accomplished much yet. They still have six very important games left
in the season.
Rogers said at one point he wasn’t even sure if he would get a chance to
coach Marcus Vick. Vick had to get his life turned around, which he has done. He
has been great to work with. He is a good kid and his heart is in the right
place. He shows up to work everyday and works very hard. He wants to do the
right things. Rogers said he doesn’t think Vick has missed a protection this
year.
Rogers said he thinks some people are just born that way. Vick doesn’t pay
any attention to big crowds or big atmospheres. He just goes out and does his
job. Roth asked if spending time with his brother in Atlanta helped him in this
regard. Rogers said he thinks it might have helped some, but overall he believes
that Marcus was just born that way.
Roth asked Rogers to compare Vick to former quarterbacks Donovan McNabb,
Marvin Graves, etc. Rogers said that was like asking someone which of their
children they loved the best. He did go on to say that Vick has outstanding
potential and throws the ball better than any quarterback he has ever coached.
He has the ability to throw the ball from a number of different body positions.
Rogers said Vick wasn’t very good in the first quarter of the Marshall
game. He hopes it becomes a blessing in disguise. Hopefully it will show Vick
that no matter who the opponent is, you have to prepare and play the same way
every week.
Rogers said Sean Glennon is in a better position right now than Cory Holt to
manage the game if the game was on the line. However, a year from now that could
be different. Glennon is very bright, but the more snaps Holt gets, the better
he will become. Roth asked if Glennon would be ready if Vick were to go down in
the Maryland game, despite not taking any snaps in a game this season. Rogers
said that he better be, because if Vick gets hurt then Glennon is the man.
Roth asked Rogers about going undefeated. Rogers said that for him, he
wonders how many more chances he will have to be part of a team that has a
chance to be special. He wants to win badly and to go out and play well. He
doesn’t want to waste the opportunity. Not many teams have the opportunity to
do what the Hokies can do this year.
Rogers said Vick has made great strides in his fundamentals, but he still has
some work to do. Michael was outstanding with fundamentals, but Marcus sometimes
has a tendency to throw off his back foot or not step into throws. However he is
improving every day in practice.
Rogers said that every week they face a different defensive scheme. There are
some things that a quarterback can take with him from one game to the next, and
there are some things that he must learn in the week leading up to the game.
Vick has learned a lot in the six games he has played, but he will see some
different things from the Maryland defense. He will also see some things that he
has already seen. Rogers said Vick has had a great week of preparation for the
game.
Rogers was asked by a fan about keeping the team focused on each game rather
than outside events that they can’t control. Rogers said the team would
probably tell him that being the third ranked team in the BCS means about as
much as being the best ice hockey team in Florida. It means nothing at this
point in the season.
Rogers said he is shocked that NC State is 1-3 in ACC play. He doesn’t know
their situation fully, but he knows they are talented football team. Sometimes
you put so much effort into the first game of the season, and you just get
disappointed when you don’t come out on top. NC State put a tremendous amount
of time and effort into the Virginia Tech game, and it was a heartbreaking loss
for them.
Roth asked about Maryland’s defense. They are a 4-3 team, but they like to
mix up their defensive fronts. They will run and 8 man front and a 3-4 at times.
They like to try to confuse the quarterback and offensive line.
Rogers said Mike Imoh looks better than he has looked in several weeks.
Branden Ore has great physical abilities but must get better in other parts of
his life. George Bell is a great kid who is still suffering the effects of a
knee injury. The pain comes and goes for Bell at this point. Rogers also said
that Cedric Humes could be back for the Boston College game.
Rogers said Ike Whitaker is a very talented player. He can run the ball and
throw the ball. Right now, Rogers has no idea about what kind of intangibles
Whitaker possesses. He will try to find out in the spring however, and Whitaker
will be in for a rude awakening.
Frank Beamer
Beamer began the show saying that the Hokies can’t start worrying about the
BCS. The BCS won’t matter unless Virginia Tech goes up to College Park and
wins on Thursday night. He said he is proud to be associated with programs like
USC, Texas and Georgia. There are a lot of great teams in the BCS, and Tech is
in good company.
Beamer said it will be extremely difficult for the Hokies to win out. The
Maryland game will be the toughest that Tech has played so far. Boston College
is on a roll, Miami is good as always, and Virginia just upset Florida State.
Roth asked Beamer if he would still support the BCS if the Hokies win out and
don’t get a trip to the national championship game. Beamer said to ask him
again if it actually happens.
Beamer said he knows Maryland is going to be very well prepared. Things just
got out of whack against the Terrapins last season, thanks to turnovers and
field position. Friedgen is a great competitor and Beamer is sure that Maryland
will be ready to play. It will be very difficult to win in College Park. Beamer
stated again that this game reminds him of the West Virginia game in 2003. The
Hokies must be ready play.
Beamer said he doesn’t expect Cedric Humes to play against Maryland. He
needs to take some hits in practice before he will play, and that won’t happen
this week. The team is healthy for the most part. The bye week really helped the
Hokies in the injury department.
Beamer was asked about his new contract, and he said he was pleased with it.
He said he wanted to finish his career at Virginia Tech. He enjoys the
environment and the people of Blacksburg. Beamer is also pleased that his
assistant coaches are now being paid in the same range as other coaching staffs
across the country. He said he has a great group of coaches and other personnel
in the football program and he wants to keep it together.
Beamer said he has no problem with a coach leaving for a better job. In fact,
he would even help them out and encourage them. Beamer said he doesn’t want to
lose a coach to another school just because of salary issues, so the new
contract will really help to keep the staff together.
Roth asked Beamer about coaches taking jobs at schools that will ruin their
careers. Roth pointed out that Beamer took that risk in 1987 when he came to
Tech. Beamer said that he made up his mind that he wanted to be a Division 1-A
head coach, and that opportunity wasn’t going to come at a big time school.
You have to take a job at a smaller school, win for a few years, and then go get
a job at a bigger school. That was the direction that Beamer wanted to go until
the Virginia Tech job came open.
Beamer said that Virginia Tech was a tough job when he first took it. He said
the school was going on probation, taking their academic requirements to a new
level, cutting the budget and playing a tougher schedule. He said he was
fortunate that he had people like Dave Braine around him that gave him a chance
to succeed. Eventually Virginia Tech turned into a winner because of the hard
work of a lot of different people. He also gave the Big East credit for giving
the Hokies an opportunity to get to the national stage. It is difficult to
change the status of a program in this age of college football.
Beamer said he thinks Maryland is a good football team who played great
against Virginia. They feel like they are on their way back to winning once
again. Sam Hollenbach is running their offense well and Beamer thinks this game
will be tougher to win for the Hokies than any they have played this season.
Beamer said the staff is so far along in recruiting this year that they
already know who they want to recruit next year. That goes back to keeping the
coaching staff together. The same Tech coaches go into the same high schools
each year, so they already know about the young talent that is in each area.
Beamer said Tech has some great commitments so far and there are many great
players left on the recruiting board.
Beamer said he went to Ralph Friedgen’s Fourth of July party again, but
they didn’t talk football while they were together. They are great friends and
they have coached with and against each other for a long time. Shane Beamer was
a graduate assistant under Friedgen. They compete on the playing field and in
recruiting, but that’s just business. They don’t let it take anything away
from their friendship.
Beamer said he was surprised that NC State was 1-3 in ACC play. They have
talented players. He thinks the UNC-UVA game will be interesting, and that
Marques Hagans played a great game against Florida State.
A caller asked Beamer why he thought the #1 player in the state (Percy Harvin)
doesn’t view Virginia Tech as a speed school like Miami and Florida State.
Beamer said sometimes your school just doesn’t appeal to certain kids. He said
the first school he thinks about when he thinks speed is Miami. To beat Miami
seven out of the last ten years means that the Hokies must have a few fast guys
on their own team.
Beamer was asked about the Minnesota punter who dropped the snap and had his
punt blocked against Wisconsin this past weekend. Beamer said the team goes over
situations like that in their scripted scrimmages. He asked Nic Schmitt what he
would do in a situation like that, and Schmitt said he would throw the ball out
of the back of the end zone. Beamer said that was the correct answer. Beamer
also talked about Michigan State botching a field goal attempt right before
halftime, and the coaching staff also goes over situations such as that.
Beamer talked about defending tight ends. Maryland has an excellent tight end
in Vernon Davis. Sometimes tight ends are just going to make short catches and
there is nothing you can do about it. You can zone them or do a number of other
things, but how the Hokies defend the tight end depends on how many other
offensive weapons the opposing teams have.
Beamer was asked about Justin Hamilton. Beamer said he has done a good job
and he is getting better every day. He is an extremely hard worker who has
played very well despite his lack of experience at safety.
- Monday was day 325 of Virginia Tech’s
continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup, day 381 of Virginia Tech’s
continuous possession of the Black Diamond Trophy, and day 318 of Virginia
Tech’s continuous possession of the ACC football championship.
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