fate brings transfers hoffman and burmeister closer on and off the field

Chris Hirons

September 23, 2020

BLACKSBURG — Prior to the 2019 season, immediate-eligibility waivers were handed out like candy. It seemed like every school received at least one.

Except for Virginia Tech.

Transfers Braxton Burmiester and Brock Hoffman have been waiting to see the field since the end of the 2018 season. Burmiester, a quarterback from Oregon, and Hoffman, a center from Coastal Carolina, were both forced to sit out last season due to behind-the-times NCAA transfer rules.

Blacksburg is over 2,000 miles away from Burmiester’s hometown in La Jolla, California. In his decision to transfer to Virginia Tech, Burmiester said he had some small, but significant connections to the area — both of which were his father’s. Braxton’s dad, Dan, attended Oakton High School in Fairfax, Virginia. After high school, he enrolled at North Carolina and played safety in Chapel Hill until he was drafted by the then-Washington Redskins in 1987.

Burmiester’s initial immediate-eligibility request was denied by the NCAA and his appeal was too. Though quarterbacks typically have success with eligibility waivers, Burmiester wasn’t a beneficiary. And so, without any noise, Burmiester sat out last season and set his sights on playing in 2020.

“I’ve talked to some of my old teammates at Oregon,” Burmiester said. “They’re disappointed that they aren’t playing. ... I’m blessed to be able to play this season.”

As quiet as Burmiester’s denial was, Hoffman’s was as loud as a Boeing 747. His story garnered attention from national media in the form of Scott Van Pelt, who shared his story on Sportscenter. Some other collegiate and NFL players reached out to Hoffman following the NCAA’s decision to deny his medical-hardship waiver.

Hoffman transferred to be closer to his mother, Stephinie, who was undergoing treatments for the after-effects after a non-cancerous brain tumor was removed. Hoffman wanted to be closer to his family and help take his mother to doctor appointments, and other places of treatment.

However, to be granted a medical-hardship waiver, the player must be the primary caretaker of the parent, spouse or friend undergoing treatments. While she was receiving treatment, Hoffman was in Blacksburg, over 100 miles away from Statesville, North Carolina.

Hoffman’s father filed the initial waiver and forced the compliance department to watch from the sidelines. Ultimately, the original waiver was denied and so was the appeal.

As the duo sat in the same boat last season, the former Oregon quarterback and Coastal Carolina center became best friends. And though they were both redshirt sophomores at the time, they both ran with the scout team last season and often had late-night chats with each other. The two were inseparable.

Hoffman credits those chats with Burmiester as the reason he’s taken a step forward — both on and off the field. The Hokies’ starting center said that Burmiester, a California native, along with Virginia Tech’s nutritionist, helped with his dieting, which now includes fruits and vegetables.

“It’s actually kind of crazy,” Hoffman said. “I’ve told my friends this before, but I played my first two years and I thought last year was the year I kind of took that step as a player and gained a lot of knowledge, but also nutrition and lifting, and I think you can tell that if you look at pictures of me from a few years ago to now, that transformation of my body. I think that’s where I grew the most.”

Now, Hoffman, who was listed as Tech’s starting center on its unofficial depth chart released on Monday, is ready to see that friendship turn into something special on the field.

Hoffman likes what he sees from Burmiester, as does his teammates. From viewing his game film, Burmiester is anything but a sure thing. For the past year, the football program advertised Burmiester as an athletic quarterback that can scramble and make plays with both his arms and legs.

His film at Oregon proves that he’s agile, but after not seeing the field for a year-and-half, it’s fair to question how precise his decision making will be after spending the year on scout team and practice. After all, the majority of his game snaps came as a freshman in 2017.

Hoffman offered praise and described Burmiester as “shifty.”

“He’s very shifty,” Hoffman said. “Based off of the quarterbacks I’ve played with before, he’s probably one of the shiftiest ones in space, and I think it’s pretty cool seeing us get out there and making some plays.”

Even as they were battling out for the starting job, Hendon Hooker called Burmiester athletic and said that he’s even tried to incorporate Burmiester’s game into his.

“He can make a play out of nothing,” Hooker said of Burmiester. “I love seeing other quarterbacks succeed; at this point, I’m just a fan of his.”

Fuente has never deployed a two-quarterback set and has generally relied on one quarterback to play through the Hokies’ season. This year, Fuente plans on running two quarterbacks out —likely Hooker and Burmiester— on the field at once, a new look that Hokie fans have yet to see in Fuente’s tenure.

Hoffman, meanwhile, unseated Bryan Hudson at center, which forced Hudson to slide to right guard. Hoffman’s addition only makes the Hokies’ offensive line stronger than it was a season ago.

Kahlil Herbert, Raheem Blackshear and Jalen Holston, the three running backs listed atop Virginia Tech's depth chart, respectively, praised the offensive line in fall camp and said that they created holes wide enough to fit a car through.

"There are definitely some big holes," Herbert said. "There’s a lot of experience coming back and you can tell that they’ve worked together with each other. Seeing the experience up front helps me slow things down because I’m able to just read and go."

Both Hoffman and Burmiester are set to take the field for the Hokies for the first time on Saturday. And even though they won’t be running out to Enter Sandman with more than 67,000 jumping fans, the two are ready to make an impact on the field this fall.