I've always thought Virginia Tech's football program was typically 5-10 years behind the times. In some ways, this was beneficial. As most programs put their focus on the offensive side of the ball, they expected to win in shootouts; this was the key to the mid-2010's in college football. Offensive production exploded, and inversely, defensive emphases went down. We provided teams with an obstacle in their planning, at least for a decade or so, where we remained stout defensively to the point that we could actually win games if the offense gave us 20 points or so. That was Beamer's bread and butter. Smash mouth football: run the ball effectively, don't make mistakes, and win the game on the defensive side of the field.
Then Fuente came in, and he had some adjusting to do. He was much more of an offensive-minded coach, trying to respect the tradition and brand of VT football. Growing pains were had, and we're seeing them now. But why exactly do we have these growing pains? Well, think about it. Right now, this season more than any under Fuente, we're seeing a shift in philosophy. Our team is winning games not because of big defensive stops, but because we're lighting up the scoreboard. At the same time, we have a new defensive coordinator. As much as Hamilton wants to have a Foster-esque defense, I think our key to success is going to be a defense that maintains, gets big turnovers, and doesn't give up huge plays. There are some growing pains, there too, but he's headed in the right direction. When you put these factors together, you can start to see a picture of what the future for VT football might hold: electrifying offenses and a slightly above-average defense, with a 1 or 2 NFL draftees in the secondary every year.

You don't shift from defensive juggernaut to offensive powerhouse overnight. It probably takes a decade. And we're at the halfway point. I have a lot of faith in this program. Don't be surprised if we make the CFP in the next 5 years as our program adapts to the high-scoring landscape of college football while also fielding a respectable defense.