Tech Talk Live (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 Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill in Blacksburg.
Jim Weaver
VT
checked with the Redskins, and the Skins said that 67,000 tickets have been
sold for the game. Weaver thinks they will reach the 70,000 mark.- Beamer’s contract has been extended through 2016. He deserves it. The VT
administration wanted to show the Tech fans that they were committed to
keeping Beamer, and they also wanted to show high school coaches and
possible recruits. The negotiations for financial terms will begin in 2012.
Beamer’s current contract runs through the 2012 season. - Weaver wants to give the Hokies the best facilities so they can continue
to recruit. Beamer didn’t request the new locker room. That was the
brainchild of Weaver and Tom Gabbard. - Thanks to the success of Olympic sports such as track, women’s soccer and
swimming, they deserve facilities too. The Olympic sports will be getting
their own weight room in one of the back gyms at Cassell Coliseum. - Weaver considers himself a facilities athletics director. He’s coached and
recruited before, and understands the importance of facilities. - Parking lots will open for tailgating for the Boise State game at 4pm.
Virginia Tech has no control over what time the lots open. - Tech will be playing Pitt in 2012 and 2013, then Ohio State for two years,
and then Wisconsin for two years. Weaver is in negotiations for another
school after Wisconsin, but he’s had no luck so far. Kansas State is in
there as well, but that series might not hold up because the Big 12 now only
has 10 teams. It is affecting their scheduling. - There is no timetable to add more sports at Tech. If they add any sport,
it would be women’s golf. The Hokies wouldn’t have to build anymore
facilities for that sport. Weaver wants to work on improving the sports they
have now before talking about adding another one. - The Boise State AD recently suggested that the NCAA should take over
scheduling and force BCS conference teams to play road games at Boise, TCU
and other non-BCS schools. He says it would eliminate the rich getting
richer. Weaver disagrees. You can’t make Joe Paterno take Penn State to
Boise, or make Ohio State play at TCU. That’s not going to happen.
Bud Foster
Foster is pleased with how the defense is progressing. He thinks the first
group is going to be fine. Tech is young and inexperienced at many of the
backup spots. They made a lot of strides from week one of fall practice to
week two, and they had a really good practice on Monday.- The defensive staff sat down and talked to all their players individually
on Sunday. They let each player know his role for the upcoming season with
regards to playing time, redshirting, etc. - Alonzo Tweedy and Jayron Hosley practice on Monday. It was Tweedy’s first
practice. Tweedy told Foster that he feels around 85%. - Foster feels good about Jeron Gouveia-Winslow at whip, but he’s concerned
about depth. All the backups have injury concerns. In a pinch, Tech would
move Davon Morgan to whip, which means Antone Exum would have to step into
the starting lineup. - Chase Williams is back from injury, but he’s still struggling. He hasn’t
recovered fully yet. He made some plays in the scrimmage, but he’s slow in
space. - Foster thinks Zack McCray will redshirt. He’s not physically developed
enough at this point. He’s athletic and fast, but not strong enough. Foster
is really excited about McCray, and think he’s going to be a special player. - Kyle Fuller has been very impressive, and he will provide depth at corner
and play special teams. Defensive tackle Derrick Hopkins is the fourth
defensive tackle right now. He’s very explosive and has quick feet. He has
really stepped up. - Foster really likes the freshman class as a whole. There are some very
good prospects. - Isaiah Hamlette and Dwight Tucker have also made progress at defensive
tackle. Foster thinks one of those guys can be a fifth defensive tackle this
year. - Foster feels like the team is ready to play. They are tired of hitting
each other. - Foster has been at Tech a long time, and he likes what Tech is doing
offensively. They have a lot of talent. The offense is ahead of the defense
right now, and that’s not always the case. They have great running backs,
and Tyrod Taylor is playing great. The receivers are outstanding, and Foster
is excited about it. The defense needs to step up and do their part. - If Davon Morgan got hurt, Eddie Whitley would probably move to rover.
Antone Exum is at the age where Foster doesn’t want to move him around a
whole lot. - John Graves rolled his ankle in Saturday’s scrimmage, but he came out in
practice on Monday and had a great day. - Boise State has some excellent players. They have a great quarterback and
very good receivers. They run the ball very efficiently. Tech has to stop
the run and make them one dimensional. - Boise will take their shots downfield, but they are more of a West Coast
offense. They’ll run screens and throw short. - Cincinnati’s offense is a little more wide open than the Boise State
offense, but the production is similar. Both teams do run a lot of screens
and they like to get the ball to their playmakers. - Jacob Sykes has been the pleasant surprise of the camp. The Hokies gave
him the opportunity to move on, but he wanted to be a part of the program.
He’s really worked hard to gain the trust of the coaching staff. - Cris Hill has also continued to improve. He has good skills. He’s got to
maintain his concentration at all times. - Each day in the scout team period, a trick play is run against the Tech
defense. That will help keep them on their toes for Boise State. The Hokies
have to be disciplined on defense and in the kicking game.
Beau Warren
Beau Warren is going for his third degree at Virginia Tech, this time in
German. The language sounds cool, so he just decided to pick it up.- Camp has been good so far. The offense has been sharp. They are playing a
very good team in Boise State, so the Hokies are working hard. - Warren thinks the Hokies can be as good as they’ve ever been. Tech has a
great line, a great quarterback, basically a great everything. It’s a very
tight group with great chemistry. - A lot of the linemen hang out of Sunday night and watch True Blood and
Entourage on HBO. - Andrew Miller is coming along just fine. He has a wresting mentality, and
that helps him mentally and physically in football. He has a great base for
run blocking and pass blocking. - Warren grew up a Redskins fan since his dad played there. He watches every
single game, and it’s great to know he’ll be playing on their field on
September 6. - Warren’s older brothers also played for Tech. Tech has a great atmosphere
and gives a great education. Because of Blake Warren, Brett and Beau were
able to get to know the coaching staff and become comfortable with the
school.
Davon Morgan
Morgan plans to come back to Virginia Tech for grad school at some point.- Morgan has high expectations for Virginia Tech. He still has a bad taste
in his mouth from last year’s season opener. - Tech has a lot of talented players on defense. The Hokies lose players
each year, and they replace them with good players. - Morgan has been watching Boise State film since the Hokies played
Tennessee. They have a lot of explosive weapons, but Tech has a lot of
talent on defense too. - Tech has to tackle against Boise State. If they can’t get in the end zone,
they can’t win. Nebraska completed passes last year, but they never scored a
touchdown. - Morgan was raised by his grandmother and his great-grandmother. They made
sure he stayed on the right path, and he appreciates them a lot because
there’s no telling where he would be without them. - Morgan thinks the Hokies have a lot of junkyard dogs on defense. A lot of
people think there is going to be a dropoff on defense, but when you play
for Bud Foster there is no such thing. - Morgan is on the punt block team as well. Coach Beamer thinks it’s good
and bad that the Hokies had two punts blocked in Saturday’s scrimmage. - It’s fun playing on the punt block team, especially when you have a great
returner like Jayron Hosley. It’s like blocking for Eddie Royal again.
Morgan joked that sometimes he can hear the punter’s heart beating. - The Tech experience has been great. Morgan came to a lot of Tech games
when Jonathan Lewis was playing. He’s always been treated like family, and
everyone has always accepted him. - Morgan came to Virginia Tech because he wanted to be a part of the
tradition and success. - Kellen Moore is a good player, but Davon Morgan doesn’t want Moore to
think he can play with the Hokies. He’s ready to play on September 6. - Morgan is graduating in December with a degree in Human Services. He wants
to do good things and work with kids.
Chris Colston
- Colston came up with the idea for his annual by reading preseason
magazines, and the coverage is so spread out between all the teams. He
thought Tech fans would appreciated a 112-page magazine dedicated completely
to the Hokies. - One of the coolest features of the annual is a roundtable with Will
Stewart of TechSideline.com and Kyle Tucker of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
and both guys go through game by game and give their picks for the season. - Colston has interviewed LeBron James and Peyton Manning, but he really
missed interviewing the Tech coaches. It was great to sit down with the Tech
coaching staff because they are straight up with you. - The Hokie Annual gives you a look into Tech football that you won’t get
from the newspapers. You are going to get inside information straight from
the athletics department. - The Hokie Annual tells you the difference between a whip and rover, a stud
and an end, etc. - It’s not a media guide, and it’s not a magazine. It has a little bit of
everything in it, from a look back to 2009 to a preview of 2010. - Colston has the Hokies at 11-1 in 2010, with a loss to Boise State. He
thinks they’ll run the table in the ACC. - You can get the annual at HokieAnnual.com, Amazon.com, at the University
Bookstore, Stop-In food stores, Glory Days in Reston, VA, and on campus at
Lane Stadium. It will also be available at FEDEX Field.
Frank Beamer
Beamer is happy about the contract extension. He feels privileged to be
the coach at Tech. He has a great group of players, and that makes it fun.
Tech has the ability to recruit and win, which makes Beamer want to do it
for awhile.- A lot of people have been involved in Tech’s success. It’s a great
organization. - Beamer hasn’t thought about whether or not he’ll coach into his 70s. As
long as he likes his players, he keeps winning and his health is good, he
enjoys coaching. - It’s great for the players to help students move in, which they do every
year. They are selling pink bracelets for breast cancer. - Beamer thought the scrimmage on Saturday got a little sloppy. The effort
was great on both sides of the ball. There were great plays by individual
players. They have to clean up some things. He stressed to the team on
Monday that they need to get better from Saturday, and he felt they were a
better team during Monday’s practice. - Tech has the greatest group of athletes they’ve ever had on their punt
block team. It’s not easy to block a kick, and you also have to be able to
block people in the open field as well. Beamer lost one of his Pride and Joy
members when Xavier Boyce hurt his knee during the scrimmage. He’s going to
be out for awhile. - The Hokies have to work out some things on their punt protection team.
Beamer gave that group some extra work on Monday. - Punter Brian Saunders has a bruised foot, but Beamer thinks he’ll be back
in a few days. He’s been doing a really nice job. - Xavier Boyce will probably be out for awhile. The training staff will take
a further look at his knee on Tuesday. - D.J. Coles was going to play regardless of the Boyce injury. Coles really
has a chance to be a good player. He needs to concentrate all the time, but
he’s a tall guy who is strong. He’s on the punt block team, and he can
really help the Hokies at wide receiver. - It’s getting very hard to make the decision on David Wilson. He ran really
hard during Saturday’s scrimmage. Beamer is happy that Wilson is competing
so hard for playing time. There’s no timetable for a decision right now.
Right now he’s a hard guy to keep off the field. - After a game, Beamer likes to go home and relax. If Tech wins, he’ll go
home and watch other games. If Tech loses, he doesn’t like to watch other
games because he doesn’t want to see that score go across the bottom line. - Beamer thinks both Mark Leal and Ricardo Young have good futures. They are
both smart players. - There are different ways to run the option, and the option will be part of
Tech’s game plan this season. - Beamer likes tall guys with long arms on his punt block team. It’s all
about getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. He also wants
players who don’t close their eyes. It takes a heck of an athlete. - Cheryl Beamer had a little bit of a setback. She went to South Carolina
over the weekend, and that might have been a little too much for her. She’s
toughing it out though. - Beamer doesn’t see any rule changes this year that will significantly
impact the game. They don’t allow wedge blocking on kickoff returns anymore,
but the Hokies only had one wedge return in the playbook. - Beamer never wants his team to be flagged for excessive celebration, so
they actually practice celebrating with teammates in the end zone during
scripted scrimmages. - Beamer was a little surprised that Tech is ranked so high this year after
losing so many players, but it’s a testament to how much respect the program
has earned. Now the Hokies have to go play and back up that ranking. - Beamer thinks voters vote based on how well they think a team will do, not
based on how good they are right now. Votes don’t necessarily think Boise
State is better than Florida, etc., but they think the Broncos have a great
chance to go undefeated. - Boise State is really good in all three phases of the game. They are just
solid all around, and they’ll run some trick plays and some crazy
formations. - Nick Becton was back at practice on Monday. He’s got to keep working, and
he’s trying to fight through it.
Monday was Day 2,095 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.
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