Unfortunately the late season swoon is all too familiar with Szefc and the current coaching staff in ACC play:
2018 last 4 weekends: lost 2of3 to ND, lost 2of3 to Duke, swept by Miami and UNC
2019 last 4 weekends: lost 2of3 to GT, swept by Miami, lost 2of3 to BC and UVA
2020 lost 2of3 to GT in only ACC play
2021 last 4 ACC series: swept by NC State, lost 2of3 to UVA, swept by Duke and ND

I've attended about 20 games in each of '18, '19 & '21 seasons, and 4 in '20. Putting aside '20 when COVID ended the season, toward year-end the team each season seems to "check out" and just be going through the motions. Some of it's probably due to prolonged losing, but where is the will and gumption to persevere and turn the season around? I've not seen that from the coaching staff. In fact, back in 2019 I actually heard Coach F say to a couple pitchers "my job's on the line, you need to f'ing do better"! It's fine to hold guys accountable - but doing it by appealing to the need for a coach to keep his job is ridiculous.

Yes, the incoming 2021-22 roster might have some highly-touted arms and bats. But is it necessarily a talent issue, or a "coaching up" issue? When have we seen Szefc or the staff say "I love my players; we've got enough talent to be great; it's my job to take the players I've got, and help them become a cohesive team and win." Rather, I've heard in interviews or post-game comments things like: "we're still trying to improve the talent here." Or "we're about to bring in some great new talent to help us compete at the ACC level." Or back in 2018 or '19 "yeah, I'm still trying to get my type of players here."

ND's Coach Jarrett has been very successful in just his 2d season. Until a late slide (albeit less of a slide than VT's), Pitt's Coach Bell has been very successful in his 3d season. Both played at FSU and had major conference coaching experience. They project confidence and helped bring a winning mentality to their respective teams.

That seems sorely lacking from the current VT staff.