2020-21 Football Roster Breakdown: The State of Virginia Tech’s Linebackers
Linebacker is arguably Virginia Tech’s best position. The Hokies boast two upperclassmen starters that are among the most talented linebackers in the ACC, and even the prominent backups inspire considerable confidence – even though they haven’t played much in college.
Let’s not forget that Bud Foster was a linebacker coach in addition to defensive coordinator. At this position, he is being replaced by Tracy Claeys who doesn’t have any experience as a linebacker coach but has spent 19 years as a defensive coordinator at the collegiate level. That includes parts of seven seasons at the Power Five level – Minnesota (2011-15) and Washington State (2018-19). He also spent a season and a half as Minnesota’s head coach compiling an 11-8 record.
If there’s anything to draw from Claeys’ credentials, it’s these three things:
● He’s someone for Justin Hamilton to lean on for guidance at times.
● The only position he’s ever specialized in as a coach is the defensive line.
● His time at Washington State, in particular, placed an emphasis on mobility – he coined it as the “Speed D” – which seems to align with Hamilton and Bill Teerlinck.
Claeys’ value as Hamilton’s right-hand man and connectedness to Teerlinck in terms of areas of expertise combined with a preference for quicker players might make the second level of the defense an interesting revolving door of hybrid players.
The Starters
Rayshard Ashby: What else is there to say? After starting 11 games in 2018, Ashby led the ACC in tackles (120) as a junior, chipped in five sacks, and was named the conference’s Linebacker of the Week five times – more than any other ACC linebacker in 2019. He was also named preseason first-team All-Conference by Athlon Sports and will presumably take over as the undisputed leader of the defense this season.
Ashby is a fantastic downhill tackler and stunt pass rusher. If there is a criticism of him it’s that he’s not particularly adept in pass coverage. That's an area where the Hokie linebackers as a whole were exposed a bit in 2019. It starts with the man in the middle.
Some of that might be fixable with another year of experience, but some of it might simply require an enhanced scheme to negate the deficiency. Notice how close to the line of scrimmage he lined up in the above tweet.
Dax Hollifield: Year two for Hollifield didn’t entirely go as expected, but he should still be a fixture in the Hokie defense. He started all 13 games in 2019 after only doing so six times as a true freshman (although he still played in all 13 that year, as well), but he only recorded five additional tackles. Perhaps to the surprise of many fans, he was frequently subbed out of games in favor of a cover linebacker. Still, he was a very impactful player for the Hokies last season.
Since he’s only 232 pounds, linebacker will remain Hollifield’s position, but it’s not really a secret that he’s a more true “mike” than a “backer” which is where Ashby’s presence has forced him to play. He’ll likely be used in some unconventional ways this season to account for his current positional misfit – plus the coaching staff probably wants to implement some deception anyway.
Role Players
Alan Tisdale: The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Greensboro, N.C. native was generally the player who took the field in Hollifield’s place. He actually only had 15 fewer tackles than Dax over the course of the season. Best of all, Tisdale ended on a high note with a career-high 14 tackles against Kentucky in the Belk Bowl.
Players of Tisdale’s build and lateral mobility are the type that innovative coaches covet. Entering his redshirt junior season, he should remain the No. 2 “backer” behind Hollifield but he could also see time as a traditional weak-side linebacker – which Tech traditionally hasn’t used.
Keshon Artis: After playing in 11 games as a true freshman, Artis only took the field four times before redshirting in 2019. At 6-foot-flat and 235 pounds, he also seems like more of a “mike” than a “backer” – another reason why playing three linebackers (thus using a traditional strong-side linebacker) at times makes sense – but the former high-three star recruit from Chesapeake, Virginia should be the top backup after Tisdale.
At a minimum, Artis has carved out a role for himself on special teams, but he’ll likely find his way into the defensive rotation this season.
Amare Barno: Checking in at 6-foot-6, 235 pounds, Barno is the trickiest evaluation of the likely-contributing linebackers. His length suggests that he should be an edge rusher, but his weight isn’t where it needs to be – especially with the Hokies getting bigger up front.
Barno redshirted last year after transferring from Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. Much like Artis, his primary path to the field will be on special teams but he should get a look in occasional blitz packages – some of which may deemphasize bulk.
True Freshmen
The one truly troublesome aspect of this position group is that they don’t have any commits – or leads, for that matter – on the recruiting trail for 2020. The only way first-year players could factor into the linebacker equation is if any weak-side defensive ends – Alec Bryant, Robert Wooten, and/or Justin Beadles – debut on the second level instead of up front. Even if they become linebackers, the group has enough veteran talent for them to not be needed much if at all.
Reserves
Matt Johnson, Ben Skinner, Michael Peterson, Dean Ferguson, Tre Maxwell, Austin Rosa All of these players except for Rosa (a graduate transfer from Rutgers) are redshirt freshmen, and only Ferguson weighs more than 215 pounds. Rosa has a solid chance of contributing on special teams, which other players from this group will also likely do, and Ferguson is a former three-star recruit who likely plays a role at linebacker in the future.
Overall Outlook
The strength of this unit cannot be diminished. The trio of Ashby, Hollifield and Tisdale will carry the group plus Artis and Barno should have a chance to make some sort of impact. Many pundits rank the Hokie linebacker unit as the best in the ACC, and the group could very well cause more havoc than it did last year.
With that said, don’t expect to see the same old, same old from this position. The days of seeing two linebackers that do ordinary linebacker things for 95 percent of the defense’s snaps are over.
Ashby and Hollifield will likely be used to support Teerlinck and the defensive line as pass rushers more often, with Claeys opting for quicker players – possibly a sixth defensive back (i.e. Chamarri Conner and/or Devon Hunter) more frequently – on the second level. The deployment of Tech’s linebackers could look weird at first, but it might resolve some underlying weaknesses of the unit.
