Welcome to INSIDE The Tunnel, with the latest on Hokies football, basketball, and recruiting. Feel free to use this thread to discuss the topics herein.
After Tuesday's Joe Rudolph feature, I've spent a lot of time talking to folks who observe Wisconsin regularly, and have a feel for exactly how Rudolph fit into the big picture there. I wanted to dig a little deeper because the sentiment from a number of fans was essentially "good riddance." Everything I've gathered is that being glad he's gone is an overreaction (and I want to be clear as day here: if he'd wanted to stay at Wisconsin, he'd be coaching the OL in their fall camp right now). However, there is some legitimacy to the idea that the Wisconsin OL was showing some cracks.
For starters, establishing a baseline level of performance for Wisconsin's OL and then comparing that to the recent standard at VT... even weaker UW offensive lines would be more talent-laden and developed than we've seen in the past few years here (even with a handful of guys going pro - there's a sentiment in the pro ranks that those guys were underdeveloped as prospects to an extent, and certainly that they underachieved in being members of productive lines in Blacksburg). There's no way to slice it that Rudolph is an upgrade over what the Hokies have had.
"He is going to recruit amazing players there," one source in Madison said. "That was one of his strong suits with the Badgers. There were some pretty good players on the roster when he got here, but he turned the program into one that's going to win high-profile battles and pull in guys with the star rankings. Even with the talent we've put into the NFL, that was never consistently part of the DNA on the recruiting trail."
The development once guys arrive on campus is what VT fans were most excited about - and justifiably so. The current roster could definitely use a bit of that high-end seasoning, and as previously mentioned, there's been a sense that VT has brought in some pretty good bodies (and credit to the previous staff: they couldn't win big battles, or manage their roster well enough to keep the best players on=campus, but they did a great job scouting and identifying guys who could blossom at the college level), and not done as much with them as they should have. However, there's a sense coming from Madison that Rudolph may not have been the guy to take things to the next level, either.
"Certain guys were definitely developing," the same source said. "But the consistency in everybody improving across the roster wasn't there. And it was hard to project guys into the future because the development didn't happen consistently, or in a way that was predictable."
There are certain other explanations that can come into play, of course: Rudolph had a lot on his plate as the offensive coordinator and the offensive line coach. And when you're reeling in higher-level recruits than a program is used to seeing, the floor that they start with is higher to raise, so the predictable or linear improvement is going to look different, and smaller in scale. Virginia Tech doesn't have that issue, and Rudolph's role on the overall offense is a little bit narrower here (he's the run-game coordinator while Tyler Bowen is the OC), so the distribution of his duties should be a bit easier to handle. There's also no way to know just how good Wisconsin's GAs - the guys who are crucial to individual development - were on the OL, whereas there's plenty of confidence in Blacksburg around Austin Fields.
The big picture is that, even if Rudolph doesn't live up to the wildest dreams of Hokie fans, he's going to be a massive upgrade at the position. And I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he does indeed live up to those dreams.
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Running back Malachi Thomas is currently "week to week" with an undisclosed injury, and while Brent Pry is certainly not trying to play it up, it's kept Thomas out of camp for a couple weeks now. Pry mentioned that there's a possibility he could be healthy as soon as the season opener, but he certainly wasn't painting himself into a corner by making any promises in that regard.
Indications from a couple sources close to the program are that he'll likely travel to Old Dominion for the season opener, but the expectation is that he won't be ready to play by then. Of course, if he's needed to beat the Monarchs, that would be an issue in terms of the team's long-term results this Fall. Keeping him as integrated with the team as possible while resting him and letting him get healthy as much as possible is the priority. It sounds like he's questionable for a return in the home opener against Boston College - but of course, that's three weeks away, and guys have come back from injuries earlier or later than expectations countless times in the history of college football.
At this stage, his recovery is strictly in the hands of the medical team, and while he's participating in film rooms and meetings, the fact that he's not able to get light work in pads means he'll have to ramp up when he is up to that speed. It'll be something to keep an eye on (but if we get - knock on wood - a healthy year out of Jalen Holston for the first time in ages, the loss is certainly one that this team is going to be able to overcome).
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Hearing rumblings out of Huntington, W. Va. that Marshall head coach Charles Huff is not particularly happy with the Hokies. He has indicated a few times that he believes teams landing Marshall players out of the NCAA Transfer Portal have tampered before those guys even entered the portal... and of course the Hokies have landed two Marshall transfers in the past two years - defensive end CJ McCray before last season (though he was only nominally with the Herd's program at the time he left, anyway), and quarterback Grant Wells this offseason.
A few folks in Huntington have mentioned that it's Wells, specifically, that he's miffed about. From the Hokies' end of things, there's an insistence that they went about things the right way - and while of course you wouldn't expect them to hint at anything different than that, I tend to believe them. This seems to be more about a coach upset about his program's place in the food chain and trying to disrupt a little bit. (And yes, giving himself a bit of an excuse if things don't go well on the field for Marshall, since Huff certainly doesn't see himself staying at Marshall for the long term).
The relationships between Huff and the VT staff are many - he was a defensive backs coach under Pry's DC tenure at Penn State, and the Hokies hired JC Price after he departed Marshall when Huff arrived and cleaned out the coaching staff. He's fairly intertwined with this group in multiple ways (including Senior Director of Player Personnel Mike Villagrana being fresh to Blacksburg from Huff's staff). Obviously the Hokies are not going to consider Marshall a rival any time soon. But there may be just a little bit of spice in the home-and-home series in 2023 and 2024.
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On to hoops. The 2023 class currently has point guard Brandon Rechsteiner and shooting guard Jaydon Young in the fold. The remaining two spots that are open seem to be earmarked for a larger wing, and then a true big.
I expressed some skepticism in yesterday's story that VT was a serious player for Mouhamed Dioubate, and in checking with sources, I heard that was essentially the case. The Hokies are happy to still be in the hunt, and have vague ideas of making a strong push for him if and when there's a clear opening, but at this point they're content with knowing it's unlikely they land him. Not happy, necessarily, but limited recruiting resources simply are what they are.
As for the true big, interestingly I've been told that, while many schools are looking at him as a small-ball center, the teams still in the hunt for four-star Amani Hansberry like him as a bit more of an all-court forward.
Should he end up in Blacksburg, it will be because the staff sold him on a vision of the latter - but his style is probably more likely to see him end up playing the former. Illinois has plenty of buzz in his recruitment as he begins to wind down, but the Hokies are making a hard push, selling him on his program fit. "We're still grinding," is how one source inside the program characterized it, and that seems fair: not ready to give up by any stretch, but certainly approaching it with an understanding that there's work to be done playing catch-up.
I'm also told that if there's a true big in the class (and it sounds like it may be less of a priority unless there's a tweener like Hansberry, given the profile of incoming freshman Patrick Wessler as a very good player, but likely a four-year one), it's most likely going to be a player out of the New England Prep league, though the staff is keeping all options open.
After Tuesday's Joe Rudolph feature, I've spent a lot of time talking to folks who observe Wisconsin regularly, and have a feel for exactly how Rudolph fit into the big picture there. I wanted to dig a little deeper because the sentiment from a number of fans was essentially "good riddance." Everything I've gathered is that being glad he's gone is an overreaction (and I want to be clear as day here: if he'd wanted to stay at Wisconsin, he'd be coaching the OL in their fall camp right now). However, there is some legitimacy to the idea that the Wisconsin OL was showing some cracks.
For starters, establishing a baseline level of performance for Wisconsin's OL and then comparing that to the recent standard at VT... even weaker UW offensive lines would be more talent-laden and developed than we've seen in the past few years here (even with a handful of guys going pro - there's a sentiment in the pro ranks that those guys were underdeveloped as prospects to an extent, and certainly that they underachieved in being members of productive lines in Blacksburg). There's no way to slice it that Rudolph is an upgrade over what the Hokies have had.
"He is going to recruit amazing players there," one source in Madison said. "That was one of his strong suits with the Badgers. There were some pretty good players on the roster when he got here, but he turned the program into one that's going to win high-profile battles and pull in guys with the star rankings. Even with the talent we've put into the NFL, that was never consistently part of the DNA on the recruiting trail."
The development once guys arrive on campus is what VT fans were most excited about - and justifiably so. The current roster could definitely use a bit of that high-end seasoning, and as previously mentioned, there's been a sense that VT has brought in some pretty good bodies (and credit to the previous staff: they couldn't win big battles, or manage their roster well enough to keep the best players on=campus, but they did a great job scouting and identifying guys who could blossom at the college level), and not done as much with them as they should have. However, there's a sense coming from Madison that Rudolph may not have been the guy to take things to the next level, either.
"Certain guys were definitely developing," the same source said. "But the consistency in everybody improving across the roster wasn't there. And it was hard to project guys into the future because the development didn't happen consistently, or in a way that was predictable."
There are certain other explanations that can come into play, of course: Rudolph had a lot on his plate as the offensive coordinator and the offensive line coach. And when you're reeling in higher-level recruits than a program is used to seeing, the floor that they start with is higher to raise, so the predictable or linear improvement is going to look different, and smaller in scale. Virginia Tech doesn't have that issue, and Rudolph's role on the overall offense is a little bit narrower here (he's the run-game coordinator while Tyler Bowen is the OC), so the distribution of his duties should be a bit easier to handle. There's also no way to know just how good Wisconsin's GAs - the guys who are crucial to individual development - were on the OL, whereas there's plenty of confidence in Blacksburg around Austin Fields.
The big picture is that, even if Rudolph doesn't live up to the wildest dreams of Hokie fans, he's going to be a massive upgrade at the position. And I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he does indeed live up to those dreams.
----
Running back Malachi Thomas is currently "week to week" with an undisclosed injury, and while Brent Pry is certainly not trying to play it up, it's kept Thomas out of camp for a couple weeks now. Pry mentioned that there's a possibility he could be healthy as soon as the season opener, but he certainly wasn't painting himself into a corner by making any promises in that regard.
Indications from a couple sources close to the program are that he'll likely travel to Old Dominion for the season opener, but the expectation is that he won't be ready to play by then. Of course, if he's needed to beat the Monarchs, that would be an issue in terms of the team's long-term results this Fall. Keeping him as integrated with the team as possible while resting him and letting him get healthy as much as possible is the priority. It sounds like he's questionable for a return in the home opener against Boston College - but of course, that's three weeks away, and guys have come back from injuries earlier or later than expectations countless times in the history of college football.
At this stage, his recovery is strictly in the hands of the medical team, and while he's participating in film rooms and meetings, the fact that he's not able to get light work in pads means he'll have to ramp up when he is up to that speed. It'll be something to keep an eye on (but if we get - knock on wood - a healthy year out of Jalen Holston for the first time in ages, the loss is certainly one that this team is going to be able to overcome).
---
Hearing rumblings out of Huntington, W. Va. that Marshall head coach Charles Huff is not particularly happy with the Hokies. He has indicated a few times that he believes teams landing Marshall players out of the NCAA Transfer Portal have tampered before those guys even entered the portal... and of course the Hokies have landed two Marshall transfers in the past two years - defensive end CJ McCray before last season (though he was only nominally with the Herd's program at the time he left, anyway), and quarterback Grant Wells this offseason.
A few folks in Huntington have mentioned that it's Wells, specifically, that he's miffed about. From the Hokies' end of things, there's an insistence that they went about things the right way - and while of course you wouldn't expect them to hint at anything different than that, I tend to believe them. This seems to be more about a coach upset about his program's place in the food chain and trying to disrupt a little bit. (And yes, giving himself a bit of an excuse if things don't go well on the field for Marshall, since Huff certainly doesn't see himself staying at Marshall for the long term).
The relationships between Huff and the VT staff are many - he was a defensive backs coach under Pry's DC tenure at Penn State, and the Hokies hired JC Price after he departed Marshall when Huff arrived and cleaned out the coaching staff. He's fairly intertwined with this group in multiple ways (including Senior Director of Player Personnel Mike Villagrana being fresh to Blacksburg from Huff's staff). Obviously the Hokies are not going to consider Marshall a rival any time soon. But there may be just a little bit of spice in the home-and-home series in 2023 and 2024.
---
On to hoops. The 2023 class currently has point guard Brandon Rechsteiner and shooting guard Jaydon Young in the fold. The remaining two spots that are open seem to be earmarked for a larger wing, and then a true big.
I expressed some skepticism in yesterday's story that VT was a serious player for Mouhamed Dioubate, and in checking with sources, I heard that was essentially the case. The Hokies are happy to still be in the hunt, and have vague ideas of making a strong push for him if and when there's a clear opening, but at this point they're content with knowing it's unlikely they land him. Not happy, necessarily, but limited recruiting resources simply are what they are.
As for the true big, interestingly I've been told that, while many schools are looking at him as a small-ball center, the teams still in the hunt for four-star Amani Hansberry like him as a bit more of an all-court forward.
Should he end up in Blacksburg, it will be because the staff sold him on a vision of the latter - but his style is probably more likely to see him end up playing the former. Illinois has plenty of buzz in his recruitment as he begins to wind down, but the Hokies are making a hard push, selling him on his program fit. "We're still grinding," is how one source inside the program characterized it, and that seems fair: not ready to give up by any stretch, but certainly approaching it with an understanding that there's work to be done playing catch-up.
I'm also told that if there's a true big in the class (and it sounds like it may be less of a priority unless there's a tweener like Hansberry, given the profile of incoming freshman Patrick Wessler as a very good player, but likely a four-year one), it's most likely going to be a player out of the New England Prep league, though the staff is keeping all options open.
