I agree about Blacksburg. 5-5 seems about right this season (if there is a full season). I think the Bruins are in for a downturn over the next few years. Not that I’m rooting for that; as far as Salem’s district rivals go, the relationship with Blacksburg is probably the most amicable.
However, I think we’re going to see that Blacksburg’s run from 2016 to 2018 was very similar to the three-year periods of high-level success enjoyed by both Christiansburg (‘09-‘11) and Staunton River (‘15-‘17). That is, it was primarily due to an unprecedented influx of college-quality athletes. In all three examples, each school saw what would usually be a generation’s worth of talent - for schools with those enrollments, in those particular locations - come through the doors in the span of two or three years. Highly unlikely, but for whatever reasons, it happened, and all three schools had coaches that were good enough to take advantage. B’burg, C’burg, and SR may not see a parade of talent like that again anytime soon, if ever. C’burg has just now managed to claw back to respectability; Staunton River might not make it back for a very long time.
Also, I’m not sold on Blacksburg’s coach. This is just looking at his record, and is absolutely nothing personal, of course. During his four-year tenure at Carroll County, the Cavaliers didn’t improve by one iota, and there was a lot of room for improvement. A good coach can get a wretched high school program to show marked improvement often in year one, in competitiveness, if not in wins. Certainly progress should have been shown by year four. Anyway, these reasons are why I think Bruin football could be looking at a rocky road ahead. As always, I’d be happy to be set straight by any B’burg insiders who know why I’ve got it all wrong.
