"Evans is regressing" ...."Fire Cornelsen" ....."Georgia Tech shouldn't be on the same field as us". All comments I've seen/heard since Saturday. Let's break this down a little further and really look at where we are and assess where we can go.
1) It takes ALOT of time to change a culture. For the past five years, put everything else aside - - the culture has slipped at Virginia Tech. Forget recruiting rankings, forget wins/losses. The fact of the matter is the culture around the football program became stale and needed repair. Fuente has came in and QUICKLY changed that. He has exceeded every expectation we had at this point. If we lose every remaining game, it won't reflect the repair that has already happened to the culture surrounding our football program. This is reflected in the way the players handle themselves, the accountability, the consistent maturity of leaders on the team such as Rodgers, Evans, Baron, etc. If you need any more evidence it takes time to change a culture. Dabo went 9-5 in his first year and 6-7 in his second. From day one his focus was on changing the culture around the football program. To me this is the absolute most important factor when it comes to having an elite program. Fuente appears to have that same belief and mentality - - and they don't appear to be just empty words.
2) GT does not belong on the same field. Are you kidding me? This is a team that won the Orange Bowl in 2014 and has been more consistent than we have and enjoyed more success this decade than we have. The simple fact of the matter is, it is no longer 2006 and we can't just expect to run through every single opponent not named Clemson. Other teams HAVE caught up, and have exceeded us. VT has been at best the 4th best team in the Coastal this decade (Duke/UNC/GT) all IMO solidly making gains while we have regressed. My point here - - VT fans need to lose the entitlst attitude that these teams don't belong on the same field as us.
3) Bud's Defenses - - have regressed. I attribute this to a couple of things. Mainly - - he is not getting the same athletes he used to get. Our linebacker play has been awful pretty much since Cody Grimm left, and while our defensive line has been okay, it isn't like it was years ago. Again, this all ties back to our culture slipping. We can no longer just expect Bud to be able to stop anyone at will. Sure he's gonna have his good days - - but the bad days are gonna be there until the pieces are filled back in. It will take time.
4) Saw someone on twitter calling for Vice's head. Are you kidding me? If anything, our offensive line has long been our weakest link as we have consistnely let in state talent leave. This much was evident last year when a former division 3 walk on defensive tackle started on our offensive line. Props to him. The point being - - we are simply not tallented here. Later in the season, as the freshness wears on, naturally this is where you will see trouble.
All of that said. Let's assess where we are. 7 wins. 1 from playing in the ACC title. If we don't win another game at all this year, this season will have been highly succesful. Where can we go? How long will it take? Fuente is a tireless worker. He has a focus like few I think in college football. He reminds me alot of Urban Meyer in both his prepration and his attention to detail. I'm not saying we will be Ohio State, but if we give this man time, and temper our expectations, we will be where we want to be in a few years. It will take time, there will be upsets - - next year too. But in time, we will get there. We already have seen signs of this change as VT is at least relevant to a degree. Players want to play for Fuente. We just have to be realisitic and understand it will take time.
