Virginia Tech 2020 Defensive Back Preview

Armani Chatman, Virginia Tech
Armani Chatman made one of Virginia Tech’s best plays of the season at Notre Dame, but unfortunately it didn’t count. (Ivan Morozov)

Brian Mitchell served as Virginia Tech’s cornerbacks coach the last four years, and he did a great of developing guys like Caleb Farley, Jermaine Waller and Greg Stroman.  He’s now at NC State, and Ryan Smith will take over coaching the cornerback position for the Hokies.  Safeties coach Justin Hamilton has added to his list of responsibilities by taking over the defensive coordinator role from the retired Bud Foster.

With a new face at cornerbacks coach, as well as some new players to get used to, there are some question marks in the secondary as we inch closer to the start of the 2020 season. 

The Virginia Tech Cornerback Conundrum

When Caleb Farley opted out back before the preseason began, Virginia Tech lost the ACC’s best cover corner, and arguably the best cover corner in all of college football.  It was a big deal, but his loss was mitigated to a certain extent by the fact that fellow Hokie cornerback Jermaine Waller (6-1, 180, Jr.) was the league’s second-best cover corner in 2019.

However, there are rumors that the foot issues that kept Waller out of the Belk Bowl against Kentucky have not subsided, and that he’s been extremely limited since practice opened last month, and perhaps hasn’t even practiced at all.  Justin Fuente did not mention this in any of his preseason press conferences, but he normally doesn’t mention injuries like this unless he’s specifically asked, and even then he usually gives a “no comment” type of answer with a wink and a nudge.

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