The Tech Sideline Podcast: The Virginia Tech Hokies · TechSideline.com

Virginia Tech Spring Football Updates, WBB Falls In NCAA Tournament

·52 min·3 clips

James Franklin’s padded practice setup includes a drill that ends in a collision and a direct message about effort.

1. Tech Sideline Podcast episode 478 focuses on Virginia Tech spring football updates and women’s basketball after the NCAA Tournament loss to Oregon. 2. Riley Klaus hosts with Chris Coleman, David Cunningham, Andy Bitter, and producer Nick Brown, and their roles matter because they split football analysis, basketball reporting, and on-site practice observation. 3. The episode asks what Virginia Tech’s roster looks like after A.J. Brand’s move to wide receiver and after the women’s team’s 70-60 loss to Oregon. 4. The first football topic is Brand’s position change from quarterback to wide receiver, which the hosts say should reduce quarterback reps and let him learn receiver during spring. 5. They describe a quarterback room with three redshirt freshmen plus Troy Hewitt, and say the logjam means something had to give. 6. The show notes that Brand was viewed in high school as a strong athlete and a raw quarterback, and that Virginia Tech originally saw a possible safety projection. 7. On receiver depth, the hosts say Aiden Green and Keyshawn Brown look like the clearest pieces, while Chance Wiggins and Keelan Adams are expected to play bigger roles despite limited college snaps. 8. They add that Snook Peterkin is finally in pads after basketball and that Marley Jackson is out for the spring with his arm in a sling. 9. The practice discussion shifts to pads, with the hosts emphasizing Franklin’s preference for contact, trench toughness, and a game-like collision drill built around outside-run blocking. 10. Jarett Hairston gets singled out for two strong blocks in that drill, and Franklin reacts by sprinting across the field to praise the effort. 11. The hosts also characterize Franklin as an old-school coach who values physical football, multiple tight ends, and line play in the mold of his Penn State teams. 12. Tight end usage becomes a major theme, with Benji Gosnell, Luke Reynolds, Jarek Hairston, and Matt Henderson discussed as players who could make the room one of Virginia Tech’s more reliable units. 13. The group says an offense facing receiver uncertainty could simply take a receiver off the field and use more multiple-tight-end sets instead. 14. Offensive-line experimentation is another spring storyline, and Johnny Garrett at guard is cited as a surprise from the first practices. 15. The hosts compare that flexibility to past Virginia Tech line reshuffles involving Kyle Chung, Dwayne Brown, Wyatt Teller, and Yash Nigran, using those examples to show how spring experiments can pay off later. 16. Cunningham is also discussed as a possible right-tackle option, with the hosts noting his Georgia State experience, his arm length, and his injury interruptions at Virginia Tech. 17. The tone on the football segment is conversational and film-room-like, with multiple speakers trading observations from practice and specific player notes. 18. Franklin’s style is presented as demanding and physical, especially when he gets in the face of specialists during game-winning kick and punt periods. 19. Fans who track Virginia Tech spring football and roster battles will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners only wanting game recaps without roster details may skip it.

As heard by us

A brisk Hokies state-of-play that makes small spring details feel meaningful.

Virginia Tech gets a wide-ranging update, touching spring football, the close of the women's basketball run, and transfer-portal movement on the hardwood.

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Want the latest Hokies pulse across spring football and the hardwood?

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