Not sure if the Belichick comparison is the right one. I will admit I’m like you, not seen the team play in person in awhile and since Pete took over. I think all successful programs and coaches in any sport are “it’s business” in some shape or fashion. Rarely do you see rag tag and free wheeling teams win it all. Coach K, Roy Williams, Saban, Jay Wright at Villanova, Mark Few at Gonzaga, Pat Summit, Geno, and the list goes on. It’s difficult to win National Titles without a business approach. Now the counter to that is those coaches haven’t had to deal with the transfer portal that much yet. Players couldn’t just leave these coaches, they got them in and won with them.

Now in softball, coaches like Tim Walton at FL, Mike Candrea at AZ, Pat Murphy at AL; they all have their business approaches as well. The Weekly’s at UT, very business like, though I’ve seen them try and evolve I feel like in my time here. They are definitely coaching differently today than in 2005. Lou Harris Champer at UGA is probably one of the most free wheeling/free spirited coaches out there but never won it all and even she’s had some good players transfer out in recent years. Patty Gasso at OU seems to be a mix, little out there but gets down to business and understands what it takes to win.

The field of coaching is going to change big time in the next 10-20 years. The ability to lose players to the portal is huge now. How do you keep players happy in this day and age? Unfortunately I won’t be shocked if VT loses some players this year. The fact Pete is young, he’ll be more easy to adapt if he thinks something isn’t working.

Teams have fun when they win. Teams win when they are pushed and coached hard. When the winning stops, that’s when we see what’s really up. Also the dugout mood and vibe is different from team to team. Some of the business coaches above have lively dugouts, others maybe not so much. Just look at the Hokie dugout from say all the regional wins and the one Thursday, compared to the last two nights or when we got swept by ND. Winning solves a lot!!