College Football: 10 teams doomed to be worse in 2016
By John Buhler
2016 begins a new era of Virginia Tech Hokies football. Longtime head coach Frank Beamer has retired and his successor is former Memphis Tigers head coach Justin Fuente. Fuente had great success turning around a historical mid-major doormat in Memphis, but may end up having a tough first year in Blacksburg coaching the Hokies.
Virginia Tech went 7-6 (4-4) in Beamer’s final season beating the teams they should and nothing more. With the ACC Coastal gaining Mark Richt and Bronco Mendenhall in addition to Fuente, this division has elite head coaching talent. That will make for an exciting season in what has been consistently the weaker of the two ACC divisions.
It’s really about how big of the shoes Fuente has to fill in Beamer’s. How does one go about replacing the greatest coach in a school’s history? That’s what Fuente is up against this fall, as well as a several tough games in ACC play and in the non-conference.
Virginia Tech draws both the Tennessee Volunteers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the non-conference. Both of those schools will start the year in the AP Top 10. Tennessee is a neutral-site game in Bristol Motor Speedway on September 10th. The Hokies will travel to South Bend to play the Fighting Irish on November 19th.
At North Carolina, at Pittsburgh, and at Duke should be the three toughest ACC games Virginia Tech will play this year. With Georgia Tech certainly going to be better than 3-9 (1-7) and rivals Boston College and Virginia pushing for bowl eligibility this fall, one could see the Hokies dropping one of those three games.
The coaching acumen in the ACC Coastal may have improved with the inclusion of Fuente, but there is a chance that Virginia Tech may not qualify for a bowl game due to their tough non-conference slate. It may come down to whomever wins the Commonwealth Cup versus Virginia.
Fuente should be able to put his stamp on Hokie football, but it may not be until year two in Blacksburg. Not every team in the ACC Coastal will make a bowl and Virginia Tech could be on the outside looking in this holiday season.
Next: 7. Michigan State Spartans.