Hokie ClubAfter enduring a 3-8 season, their worst record in three decades, Virginia Tech players, coaches and fans all are trying to make sense of what they just experienced, and frankly, working hard to ensure it doesn't happen again.
2022 was a season full of far too many "first-time-since" moments for anyone's liking. From a seven-game losing streak, to staggering penalty totals, to historic offensive woes. No need to recap them all here.
But with the holiday season approaching, Tech fans are eager to look ahead to 2023. And their wish list can be set to a familiar Yuletide carol.
They know that Santa's on his way.
With lots of transfer portal talent and high school studs on his sleigh.
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Head coach Brent Pry also has a wish list, and he admitted that the portal could help his Hokies. While the exact makeup of the 2023 Tech roster won't be known until next summer, expect some changes.
"There's going to be movement on the roster," Pry said. "I don't want the fan base to panic — there's going to be movement on everybody's roster, just about."
Don't expect Pry and his staff to necessarily go the USC route. The Trojans and new coach Lincoln Riley brought in 19 transfers before last summer and promptly find themselves in the College Football Playoff hunt.
Instead, look south to Tallahassee. Pry noted the job Florida State and coach Mike Norvel have done in three years at FSU. After fishing 3-6 and 5-7 in his first two years, Norvel's team is 9-3 this season and is ranked in the top 15.
In the last year, FSU added 13 players from the transfer portal, including leading rusher Trey Benson (Oregon), leading receiver Johnny Wilson (Arizona State), sack leader Tatum Bethune (UCF), the remarkable lineman Jared Verse (Albany), first team all-ACC tackle Dillan Gibbons (Notre Dame) and first team all-ACC safety Jammie Robinson (South Carolina).
Incredibly, of the 15 FSU players named All-ACC this week, 11 are transfers.
That's staggering. That's an impressive mining of the transfer portal. And that's why Pry mentioned the 'Noles in his presser on Monday.
And while Pry didn't commit to a specific number of players, he did say, "it's pretty obvious where we need help."
While it's unlikely Pry and his staff would turn down a player at any position, any newcomer must fit the culture he sees growing in his program.
"You never know exactly where a team is and a program is, culturally, talent-wise, all the things that go into making up a good football team, until you dive [into the regular season]," Pry said. "We have good leadership in that locker room. We have high-character guys."
And despite the losing season, Pry is confident Tech can turn its fortunes quickly.
"I wouldn't have taken this job if I didn't believe that we can flip the script and do this here," he said. I've got the utmost confidence in our staff and the administration."
But what went wrong in '22? Was it all a lack of talent? The Hokies didn't place a single player on any all-ACC teams this season. First, second and third team all-ACC teams were announced, sans a single Hokie making the list.
"I think I'm guilty on both sides of the ball," Pry said. "We probably just tried to do too much too soon. You try to get an idea of where your football team is.
"I think I allowed both sides to just try and be too much too soon and kind of got the cart in front of the horse."
The Hokies tried to be a power-running football team without the power. They tried to change it up but didn't have the personnel to fit the adjustments.
"We've gotten a much better handle on where we were when it started," Pry said.
So, on to 2023 and that starts with roster upgrades: Talent-acquisition, whether through the portal or the high school class, and player development.
The Hokies '23 schedule is tougher. Games at Florida State and at Louisville will be challenging. Big Ten opponents Purdue and Rutgers (on the road) will be tests. NC State, Wake Forest, Syracuse and Pitt are all bowl teams that visit Lane in '23. And a road game at Marshall is no gimme either.
Pry insists he's learned a ton in the last 12 months, and he can get the kind of players to Blacksburg to fit his model.
"We've got one of the best fan bases in the country," he said. "This is an attractive place for recruits to come – for the right recruits."
Great to be back in the VT Booth
While the Hokies didn't win as many games as anyone hoped, it was so exciting to return to the Tech radio booth this season. To be reunited with Mike Burnop and our entire crew was special, and surreal at times.
A year ago, I was just prepping for my various ESPN bowl games and had no idea a return to our LEARFIELD broadcast crew would be a possibility. I was just planning to do the TV games and preparing for our sports media classes at Tech. But God laughs at plans, eh?
Repeating what I mentioned last year, I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to reconnect with the Hokie Nation and our entire Athletics family. It is such a special place and the coaches and athletes in Blacksburg are just remarkable people.
As broadcasters, our roles and how things are done are quite different today than back in 2000, or even 2014. My goodness, the students at Tech are so smart and innovative and creative. You get the sense that in 20 years, Tech Triumph will be played by marching robots developed by TEK robotics engineers and Skipper will be fired by the Corps of Cadets app, developed by students in computer science.
But despite the techno gizmos of today, the thing that makes Virginia Tech different is its people and the closeness you see on campus and within athletics. It's fun to be a part of it, and to see a new generation of people within the halls of Jamerson and the LEARFIELD operation get a sense of what being a Hokie is all about.
As for this month, I'll still do my national games – I have three bowl game assignments in the next few weeks. But hopefully next year, the Hokies will be back in a bowl game somewhere and we'll have the chance to see the start of a new bowl streak for Coach Pry and his staff.
Mike and I will continue our Level Seven podcasts occasionally throughout the offseason and look forward to seeing you all at various events throughout the coming months.