1) A lot of first-year coaches will bias towards younger players to play early because they know they get a pass the first few years and are hoping those players create better success in years three and on. What players and/or positions could you see this bias affect this coming season? – BleedinOandM

Chris Coleman: I personally don’t think Pry will have that bias. What’s most important at Virginia Tech is culture, in my opinion. If there’s anything that the failures of the Fuente era taught us, it’s that. To me, the main pillar of Virginia Tech football culture is that you earn playing time. Your playing time isn’t dictated by how old you are or what your star ranking is; rather, it’s what you earn on the practice field. If you outperform your competition, you play. If you don’t, then you don’t. It’s as simple as that.

That’s how Virginia Tech football was at it’s peak. I can really only think of one incident where it wasn’t that way, and that was Marcus Vick playing a lot in the second half of the 2003 season. Bryan Randall’s numbers were clearly better, and there has been speculation from some in the program at the time that Beamer decided to play Vick because he was afraid Vick was going to transfer. He thought it would look bad if a Vick transferred, so he played him. In two losses (Pitt and BC) that year, the offense was humming along with Randall, and then got stopped dead in it’s tracks when Beamer put in Vick. That’s a perfect example how getting away from your culture can cost you football games.

Pry said this week in Charlotte that Virginia Tech’s best players are also Virginia Tech’s hardest workers. That can be a cliché comment, and a lot of coaches say that, but let’s take him at face value and assume that it’s true. That’s a good thing. That means Pry will be in a position this year to play his hardest workers, and the younger players will see that the hardest workers are earning playing time. That’s a good thing from a cultural standpoint. It sets the standard for the future, which is very important for any new coach.

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