After much hype and speculation, the Hokies have finally welcomed Bill Teerlinck into the fold. Major props to Chris Coleman for breaking what might be the biggest and most unexpected piece of news from this offseason.

In the short term, the most important thing about this hire is that Fuente may have broken the “Tech DL don’t play in the NFL” narrative. I do think there’s a good chance we see improvement in on-field performance from these coaching hires, though there’s a limit to how much new stuff a coach in a new scheme can cram into a player’s brain. Recruiting, however, can turn a 180 on a single hire.

We know from insiders that two cards have been played against Tech on the recruiting trail for years now: “Beamer/Foster will retire before you finish school,” and “Tech won’t prepare you for the NFL.” It’s not just that Tech linemen don’t get drafted because of measurables—it’s because they aren’t prepared scheme- and technique-wise for the pros. A lot of that is overblown, but there’s truth to it, too. I think it was Darryl Tapp himself that said he had to discard a lot of his techniques and approaches when he went pro, and I’ve heard of another, more recent Tech lineman who was unhappy with how the Hokies prepared him for the NFL. 

We, as fans, can point to Tim Settle, but that’s it—I can’t find another Hokie DL who finished the 2019 season on an NFL roster (and I even would’ve counted Dadi Nicolas.) Meanwhile, UVA has two DL who finished the season on active rosters, and the blue-bloods have far more—Detroit and Washington each have two Alabama grads in their DL group (and Detroit’s includes Da’Shawn Hand.) Alabama-level is too much to expect, but something more is needed.

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