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carterjr3: With Davis off the table at qb, who are we now looking at to be our top qb recruit this year? Any word from the staff on just moving onto 2022 class qb since we have a few years left with the qbs on roster now?

I would be very surprised - and in my estimation it would be the wrong choice - if the staff were to take a pass on the QB position in 2021. They did that with the 2020 class already, so a gap in the roster already exists, and allowing it to get bigger wouldn't be wise. It was worth the risk to help keep Dematrius Davis happy (even though that obviously didn't work out in the end), but the washout rate of quarterbacks would make it very unwise to forgo a QB for the second straight year.

The top QB target is sort of a developing situation. In the immediate aftermath of the Davis decommitment, it was another Texan, San Antonio three-star Lucas Coley. He is (or at that time was, at least) on the verge of committing to Arkansas, and while he's a solid prospect, the talent level probably isn't worth the effort required to climb from completely out-of-the-picture to knocking off an entrenched favorite in the right timeframe.

For now, the choice is New Jersey three-star Tahjamell Bullock, who is not only more "gettable" as a recruit, but in my estimation quite a bit higher-level a prospect, as well. Since the staff's interest didn't really develop until the emergency Dead Period was two months deep, there's only so much he can warm up to the Hokies until he can meet the coaches in person (and preferably experience campus ASAP, too). However, he's very receptive, and while he's not going to be the only guy the staff recruits at this point, he's certainly worth prioritizing.

hokies21: Tim, what are your thoughts on Emmett Morehead as a realistic option at QB for the Hokies? I know that physical attributes aren't everything, but looks like he's got the tools you would want. Film also looks solid to me. Am I wrong to think the staff is selling him on Paxton Lynch comparisons?

This question was asked before Morehead committed to Boston College, but I think it's still worth addressing. The in-state player would probably be flippable if the staff were to really push for him. However, I'm not sure he's a great fit for what the staff wants to do right now.

"Be the next Paxton Lynch" is certainly a nice selling point to a big, tall passer, but it's easy to forget given his NFL style that running the ball was an important part of his game in college (and to some extent, his limited experience in the NFL also had a running element). I don't know if Morehead has that type of ability. The Hokies don't need their quarterback to be Jerod Evans, but he can't be a statue, either.

Given the elements that go into the first half of the above answer - namely that the 2021 class essentially must include a future starter at the quarterback position - shoehorning a guy without the right style isn't going to work out well. That said, if the staff evaluates a need for a second QB - since there's likely to be room for a couple "luxury" recruits in the class - a more pocket-bound guy with some mobility could work out.

Given that Morehead has been sold on being capital-T capital-G The Guy for Boston College in this class, I don't think that type of role would appeal to him, anyway.

Shadyhill: The transfer QB from Oregon started games for the Ducks. He struggled but he was young and inexperienced. Will he have a chance to play at VT other than on the scout team ?

Rounding out the QB section with one that pertains to the current team.

Braxton Burmeister was bad - very bad - at Oregon. Any expectation that he contributes at Virginia Tech not only necessitates that he essentially looks like a completely different player than he did in Eugene (which is possible under the improved coaching he'll see in Blacksburg), but also that he improves enough to not only play better than an entrenched starter, but to beat out an entrenched starter - a proposition that includes a little more nuance.

Given that Hendon Hooker not only possesses more physical talent than Burmeister, but is also one of the most popular kids on the team, there are also chemistry considerations to take into account here. Kids understand that college football is big business - even if they aren't reaping the profits like the coaches and administrators are - and that an incoming player can play better and win the gig. At the same time, they're more likely to appreciate the guy who's been grinding with them in the weight room, classroom, and film room for three years, too.

I don't know if Burmeister is relegated to scout team duty, per se, but the on-field and off-field factors he has to overcome to move up the depth chart (don't forget: backup QB Quincy Patterson is probably even more popular as a personality among his teammates than Hooker) are formidable.

donjuanfashoe: Your prediction for the record of the 2020 team?

A simple one! It's too early to see how the ACC is going to shake out with unexpected attrition, unexpected additions (through the transfer portal, etc.), and development across the league. However, the job requires making way-too-early predictions, so here we are:

I think the Hokies stand a strong chance to knock off Penn State in the "marquee" non-conference game. I think they'll be favored in every other game. Give or take an upset loss here, or dropping the Penn State game because the team isn't quite ready for that stage yet, a 10-2 regular season and a trip to the ACC title game is my expectation. From there, a loss to Clemson in that Championship contest and a win in a second-tier bowl game are likely for a final mark of 11-3.

It may seem a little rosy, but with the vast majority of contributors returning from a team that finally is digging out from the year 2-3 roster hole left by the previous coaching administration, the expectation should be - must be - to get back to the heights that VT is a decade removed from.

es79hokie: Given that many teams had an abbreviated spring practice and some had no spring practice, are there any plans by the ACC or NCAA to level the 'playing field'? Ex. Clemson got in the vast majority of their spring practices - will they have a reduced number of fall camp practices?

There really can't be any specific plans until there's some idea of what the season - and therefore the preseason - are going to look like. Basically everything that's currently delayed is indefinitely so (and for good reason). If the NCAA ultimately has the luxury of a little more time than expected, where most programs will be able to go through a full or nearly-full preseason, some special considerations will be explored.

I would imagine that would be granting the 15 practices missed to programs like VT that didn't get to go through their spring sessions, rather than leaving fall camps the same length and taking practice time away from a program like Clemson. Still, though, it depends on what the timelines are ultimately going to look like.

That said, the death toll eclipsed 100,000 American lives lost this weekend, and with many states and municipalities caving to the pressure to re-open before the virus is under control... well, let's just say I'm not confident the college football season will be starting on time. Impatience is going to win out over reason (and medicine), and ultimately that impatience is likely to cost us more of the things we were impatient for in the first place, along with a lot more human life.

Shadyhill: Will the defensive scheme change with the new coordinator?

There's obviously no way to know for sure, because Justin Hamilton has never been a coordinator at this level. However, given his track record - including his history as a player and assistant in the Bud Foster Lunch Pail D system - you'd expect he's not going to go out and reinvent the wheel, either.

Scheme and technique tweaks and modernization are more likely than starting from scratch. The Lunch Pail D was almost always more about acquiring, developing, and training talent thank any groundbreaking scheme (with a few notable exceptions, like the 2014 Ohio State game in which Bud broke out a Bear defense and dared Braxton Miller to throw it). Getting back to those fundamentals - and having upperclassmen again, with the 2017-18 gap from the meager recruiting at the tail-end of the Beamer era shored up - with only minimal changes or additions to the scheme will probably be plenty.

Of course, Hamilton could just as easily come out and surprise us all, but I think leaning into what has worked for Virginia Tech and made the program special, rather than trying for something completely different... just because... is a better bet.

cmmcclu: How many Spring Sports Seniors from last year are coming back for another season? Track, Softball, & Baseball. I think I saw an interview with Whit Babcock stating that if all eligible Spring Sports Seniors in all sports returned it would cost approximately $660K.

As with other questions largely revolving around how the coronavirus pandemic plays out... well, there's no way to know until we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Will 2021 spring sports play out in their traditional seasons anyway? If football is delayed by a month or more, there can be serious questions about how familiar the remainder of the seasons' sports look on the calendar, too.

Then it comes down to the individual athlete: does a solid track athlete who's not going to be a professional runner bother coming back for a fifth year just for the experience? How about softball, or even the vast majority of baseball players? For the non-revenue sports, a lot of the individuals who can complete their degrees in the typical timeframe will dso so and gladly move on to the next phase in life.

Without polling the individuals (a task I'm not willing to undertake!), I can't purport to have a better window into the situation than Babcock does, and even he doesn't claim to have the answer. Add in the epidemiological and public-health questions that nobody knows the answers to, either, and there's too much complexity to give any sort of meaningful answer beyond a straight-up guess.

Will some return for the extra year of eligibility? Certainly. Will some choose not to? That's also certain. The ratios between those two groups, however, are just guesswork with a lot of the underlying framework still up in the air.

Shadyhill: Will VT continue to get their butt handed to them by PSU on the recruiting trail in Virginia?

Until we see an earnest effort from the staff to return to top-dog status in the Commonwealth, I don't think we'll see days where the Hokies dominate the top of the lists like they did until the very end of the Beamer era. That's not necessarily a negative, either: just a choice they've made to get much of their talent elsewhere. The wisdom of that choice can be debated, but either way, if the goal and effort do not point toward dominating the state, it won't happen.

A couple in-state players in recent weeks have committed though, and while I think that's more a matter of circumstance (and to some extent, coaxing timelines out of players - who have essentially always been ready to commit at the drop of a hat - that help the staff turn a narrative back toward good news) than turning over a new leaf, it also indicates that the staff has the desire to make that storyline a positive one.

Going forward, the solution to the struggle will be the same thing that has led to the struggle in the first place: winning games. When the team didn't win as much, it was harder to keep top talent close to home. That's been the case basically since 2011, with a one-year blip in Fuente's first season (that you could fairly say the staff didn't do enough to capitalize on, perhaps). They should win big this Fall, and if they do, the recruiting returns will follow. If the winning doesn't come... well, it may not matter at that point whether this staff can recruit the state.

cmmcclu: Do you think Neville stays or decommits?

I have a hard time seeing Latrell Neville sticking in the Hokie class. That's not to say he has one foot out the door at this point, but his primary connection to the program was his friendship with Dematrius Davis.

Both of them have expressed an interest in playing in the SEC, and without Davis's presence holding Neville close to Blacksburg (particularly because Davis's presence is not pulling him toward an SEC school), I'll be pleasantly surprised if he is still a Hokie come Signing Day.

rawest00: For most schools recruiting has been very slow due to the inability of prospects to visit schools and have direct interaction with the coaching staffs. With the potential for many HS seasons either curtailed or significantly reduced, your thoughts on when we can expect an uptick in commitments - not just for VT. My thinking is many will delay as long as possible hoping they can get to visit on campus.

As with other pandemic-related questions, there's no real way to answer until there's a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to COVID-19 (and not just a "hey, let's try this in spite of all medical advice"-type light, either). There's simply no predicting a specific set of future events when one of the conditions necessary for that prediction is an absolute unknown.

I actually think recruiting has chugged along more smoothly and consistently than anyone expected when the emergency Dead Period began, though. The number of commitments, "virtual visits" and decommitments around the country has slowed down in comparison to a typical year, but by a smaller degree than I think anyone expected.

Virginia Tech is in an odd position because one of the big selling points for becoming a Hokie in the 2021 class has always hinged around a very good product on the field this Fall. They could snap up a number of prospects right now if they wanted, but the staff (justifiably) believes they'll have access to a higher caliber of recruit if and when they give those guys something exciting to watch come September. Other schools have different angles to sell - including, unfortunately for the Hokies, Auburn - so they're operating on different timelines.

I think the recruiting news will remain reasonably consistent (thankfully for folks in my industry!), but in terms of big exciting news on the Hokie front, the delay may be a little longer.

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