University of Virginia Library

more than the score

Tech
In
Trouble

by steve giannini

ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1 the sports editor of the
Virginia Tech, Don Todora, wrote a half page on the "death" of
the Claiborne football dynasty at Tech. The opposite page was
full of pictures illustrating the demise of Tech's team.

It must be pointed out that at the time of this article, Tech
had lost a close, hard fought game to perennial SEC power
Alabama, 17-14, and to surprising Wake Forest, 17-10.

STANDING 0-2 FOR the season for a team which many had
picked to be in the top twenty in the nation, Tech was in trouble.
Todora decided to try to do something to facilitate change. State
sportswriters had already begun to expound on what they believed
to be wrong with the Tech team and Todora set forth directly to
the student body and coaches what he thought the problem was
to be the coaching, and Coach Claiborne in particular.

He started his article by reciting the facts about the Liberty
Bowl last December against Mississippi. Tech lost 34-17 after
blowing a 17-0 lead. The charge was that the coach stayed with
the game plan too far into the contest Mississippi knew that
Tech would run and they adjusted to stop the rush successfully.

It was much the same thing against Bama, supposedly. Coach
Claiborne waited too long to put in the inexperienced though
promising sophomore passing ace Bob German. By that time
Alabama had stopped VPI's grinding running game and knew that
Tech had to pass and was able to stop it. Todora asserted that an
earlier decision could have possibly brought victory for Tech.

BY THE SECOND GAME, with Wake Forest, the coaching
staff had made some changes. The starting quarterback, Al
Kincaid, came out with a passing attack, but it didn't go. Here the
change was that the team was not on the field to play football
they had no mental attitude conducive to winning. Todora also
asserted that the passing game was not needed against Wake, that
the Techmen could beat them with their ground game.

When Todora was asked why he chose this time for his attack,
he said he felt that it was time for a change. But hadn't the
coaching staff already tried something different in the Wake
game?

Todora said he wanted to clear the players as he felt his
responsibility was to the students and the players as part of the
student body, so he put the blame on the coach. But hadn't he
attacked the team for their mental attitude in the Wake Forest
game? He did not say it was the coaches' fault for not getting
their team up before the game.

THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND in Richmond the VPI
coaching staff went with the plan they thought would win.
Against the University of Richmond they tried to run the ball but
could not get a first down until the third quarter against an
inspired Richmond team. And the negative support given the
team by Todora's article couldn't have helped team morale
especially starting quarterback Al Kincaid who had been cited for
what he could not do. Richmond won, 17-10.

Last weekend at the VPI Homecoming game Kentucky edged
out Tech in a hard fought game, 7-6. Changes had been made.
The sophomore, German started the game and set a Tech record
for passing yardage, although the Gobblers did not get a
touchdown. Jack Simesak, although not physically well, set a
record for a VPI field goal of 55 yards, kicked another of 36
yards, and missed a game winning one in the fourth quarter.

TODORA DOES NOT BELIEVE these changes were a result
of his article. He simply wanted to point out what was wrong
not what he believed to be wrong but what was wrong. It was
apparent and had been pointed out before. Was his article worth
what it cost?

Two losses followed the story. The VPI Athletic Department
and football coaching staff was alienated from the school's
newspaper. There is no dissension among the team members and
the coaches, so the article was taken with bad feelings resulting
from the players as well.

CLAIBORNE HAS DONE much for VPI football. They have
gone to bowl games for the past two years, and have become one
of the top independents anywhere around.

Their game has been characterized by a tough defense and a
strong ground game. They thought they had it again this year.
When things began to go bad, changes were made although not as
fast as some people thought they should have. Doubtless
Clairborne thought it would have been very risky to switch to his
sophomore quarterback from a proven veteran.

After two opening losses the attack from the student
newspaper was not warranted. Since, there have been two more
losses. The student body is still very much behind the football
team, but as of yet it remains to be seen how much they are
behind Clairborne and his coaching staff.

COACHING IS NOT an easy job. Ask George Blackburn
better yet ask Bill Gibson and the premature criticism that
VPI's coaching staff received can do nothing but hurt the overall
effort, and VPI has six games left to play. The Gobblers play
South Carolina Saturday in Blacksburg.