Was just out for a 3-mile walk, and in between hearing Bruce Springsteen singing about “tramps like us” and saying hi to one of the neighborhood hounds, I found myself thinking about Virginia Tech women’s basketball.
Head coach Megan Duffy in particular.
I was remembering less than a year ago when she was hired, and thinking she was in for a tough year. No matter how thick anyone’s orange and maroon glasses were, there was no way her first team in Blacksburg would even approach the 2023-2024 team. She had to somehow piece together the members of the team that did not go two by two on Kenny’s Ark to Kentucky, along with new talent she was trying either to attract, or keep their earlier commitments to Virginia Tech.
All in a strange new place called Blacksburg.
Now that the team has played its last regular-season home game (there are two games left at BC and Clemson), I can’t tell you how impressed I am with Duffy. As a businessman, I’ve been in turnaround situations where it seems like whatever success you have, there’s always three people who want to know why you didn’t achieve it three days ago, and she’s had to deal with things like that. I think when you come into a situation like the women’s program this year, the easiest job is managing the team on the floor, while the tougher job that doesn’t get publicized is managing the external team of fans, press, administrators – and their expectations.
She’s been masterful in both.
For one, she’s just plain likeable. She smiles, she says the right things, and she somehow makes you believe that this program will be just as good soon, maybe even better…and that she wants to be here. She has a certain “mom vibe” going on in that she has a very non-threatening demeanor, she stays calm in the most cyclonic of atmospheres, and when she tells everyone “it’s going to be OK” you find yourself thinking “she’s right. It will be.”
Some people just watch the players on the floor during basketball games, but I tend to watch the coaches, their demeanor, their body language, and the way they deal with pressure. Some handle it better than others, but Megan seems to stay calm, sometimes goes into teacher mode, and that even temperament seems to translate quickly to the team. She keeps her group from getting too low when opponents go on a run, and too high when the Hokies are hitting every shot imaginable.
I don’t know how this season will end, but at 17-10 and 8-8 in the ACC, I think it’s fair to say this will probably be her worst season in Blacksburg…and it’s been a pretty good season. Next year more talent comes in, there’s a full off-season to recruit, and the emotional baggage of those that left vs. those that remained will be long gone.
If there is such a thing as a perfect fit between coach and program, she has been it, and it’s been a pleasure to watch. She took on a coaching challenge the equivalent of wrestling a grizzly bear, and now that the smoke is starting to clear at the end of this season, one thing is fair to say.
She kicked that grizzly bear’s backside 😊
