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.
Where: Click here 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 see the show in person at Awful Arthur’s in Blacksburg.
Jim Cavanaugh
- There is always motivation in football, but this week there is extra
motivation. Obviously the Coastal Division title is big, but it’s even
bigger when you are playing UVA. - Duke decided to play to keep the game close with Thad Lewis out. They
didn’t throw the ball much because they didn’t want to turn it over. They
wanted the game to be close in the fourth quarter, and it was. - Ted Roof did a great job recruiting at Duke. They have much better players
than people give them credit for. And obviously David Cutcliffe has done a
great job coaching them. - Tech is doing well in recruiting this year. The state of Virginia always
puts out good players. - Tech is trying to get athletic offensive linemen who can move. Defensive
linemen are generally quicker than offensive linemen, and the Hokies need
quicker offensive linemen to compensate for that. - It’s important to know which high school coaches you can trust with player
evaluation. They are under a lot of pressure from parents. 
The
NCAA has passed rules which allow less evaluation time of prospects.
Naturally, more mistakes will be made the less time you have to evaluate
players. Offensive line is also the toughest position to recruit.- The parents of kids are involved in recruiting more now than ever, and
rightfully so. However, sometimes their expectations are sometimes not so
realistic. It’s Cav’s job to tell them how it is, and sometimes they don’t
particularly care for that. - Tech hopes to get a lot of pressure on Marc Verica. He can pick you apart
when he has a lot of time to throw. - This Tech team is one of the best teams Cavanaugh has been around in terms
of quality kids. They are good guys. They are a joy to be around, and they
practice the same every week. - Cody Grimm has had a great season. He’s a r-junior who came to Tech as a
walk-on. He’s got good football sense, and he’s quick. He’s a very good
player for the Hokies. - Overall, Cavanaugh is having a great time coaching his current group of
players. They are very smart players and they pick up things quickly. - Tech has a good defensive scheme, a defensive coordinator who makes great
decisions during the game, and they have players who respond. They prepare
very well each week. - The Hokies are 7-4, but they are close to being 2-9 or 11-0. There was a
lot of parity on Tech’s schedule this year. - The assistant coaches work for a good head coach. He’s a good guy. He lets
them coach. Not every head coach is like that. The guy up at Notre Dame
(Charlie Weis) is a pain. Nobody could coach for that guy. - Ju-Ju Clayton has played pretty well, and the Hokies will have Marcus
Davis as well. They are also still recruiting quarterbacks. Fans just have
to trust the Tech staff when it comes to the quarterback situation. - Cavanaugh wishes coaches were given more time to go out on the road and
visit recruits. There is a proposal out right now that would allow coaches
to visit players during the spring.
Frank Beamer
- This has been a very tough schedule with the way the games have been
arranged. Tech had a really tough stretch of road games with a very young
team. It means a lot to be in a position to win the Coastal Division. - There were a lot of good plays in the Duke game. Tech ran the ball well,
but there was always just something that stopped drives, whether it was a
key sack or a turnover. Consistency is still an issue, but hopefully they
can put it all together this Saturday. - Tyrod Taylor just got on a bad roll against Duke. Sometimes the momentum
just goes against you. He’s a terrific quarterback who has a great future.
Taylor will start against Virginia, and that’s all Beamer is going to say
about the quarterbacks. - For the second straight year, the Tech-UVA game means a lot. It’s always
big to play Virginia, but the games mean more now than ever. - Clearly Tech would like to be better offensively, and they are working
very hard to be better. - The ACC has some very strong defenses, and most teams are trying to get
better offensively. It’s basically the same story across the conference
right now. - With such a young team, for the Hokies to be one game away from winning
the Coastal Division, it’s a good accomplishment. - Tech got behind in recruiting offensive linemen. They are making it up now
though. The kids they have now are working very hard, but they need to be
more consistent. - It was a good decision for Macho Harris to come back. He’s made some great
plays, and he’s probably improved his NFL Draft status. - Tech has a good group of seniors, and they’ll be honored before the game.
This is a really hard working football team, and that comes from good senior
leadership. - Tech needs to concentrate on UVA. That’s why they locked down media access
this week and only made two players available for the media. You don’t want
anyone saying something that disrespects Virginia. Orion Martin and Danny
Coale will speak to the media, and Beamer trusts them. - Virginia is playing really good defense right now. Their linebackers are
very good, especially Clint Sintim. Cedric Peerman is a good runner, and
Kevin Ogletree can get it done at wide receiver. - Overall, Virginia is a good team. Tech is going to have to really play
well. They can’t turn the ball over, and they’ve got to be able to run the
football. Defensively, Tech can’t give up the big play. There also has to be
more production in the kicking game. - The Hokies have a lot of great seniors. Hopefully they’ll be sent off well
on Saturday.
Monday was Day 1,458 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the
Commonwealth Cup.
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