Virginia Tech’s 2012-2013 football campaign brought about the worst feelings surrounding the program in two decades. Those feeling culminated with massive changes to the Hokies staff, something head coach Frank Beamer is not a fan of.

But in today’s introductory press conference for new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler, new offensive line coach Jeff Grimes, and new wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, those ill feelings were replaced with energy and excitement.

Quarterback Logan Thomas announced Tuesday afternoon that he will stay with the Hokies program for his redshirt senior year.

Thomas made the decision on ESPN’s College Football Live 15 minutes prior to the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL Draft.

“I think I have a lot to work on. I think that we can get better,” Thomas said on the program. “Leaving a program at 7-6, especially a program like Virginia Tech where we have a legacy of winning a lot of games and ACC championships, kind of left a bad taste in my mouth and I want to come back and have a better season this year.”

Thomas, who graduated last December with a degree in human development, was projected by some draft pundits, namely Mel Kiper Jr., as a potential first round selection in the upcoming draft. That, coupled with uncertainty next season with the offensive personnel, his physical attributes, and a weak upcoming quarterback draft class, fueled the speculation that Thomas would leave school.

However, his bond with his friends, teammates and community Virginia Tech proved too convincing to leave.

“I’m deciding to come back to Tech to better myself and this team for the future,” Thomas said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to what this upcoming season holds. The NFL has always been a goal of mine, but the NFL will always be there while college is only a five-year experience that you can’t get back.”

Thomas has started 27 games over the past two seasons, throwing for 6,096 total yards and 37 touchdowns along with 1,015 total yards on the ground and 20 touchdowns in his career. Thomas also has a 55.6 completion percentage and a quarterback rating of 125.7 in those 27 games.

Virginia Tech announced Friday afternoon the hiring of former Auburn offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler and offensive line coach Jeff Grimes to the same positions. The school also announced the addition of former Stanford assistant Aaron Moorehead as the school’s wide receiver’s coach, as well as the relegation of Bryan Stinespring’s role from offensive coordinator to tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator.

Reports of the hires first surfaced the evening of January 14, first by The Washington Post’s Mark Gianotto followed by CBS’s Bruce Feldman and FootballScoop.com.

Loeffler, Grimes and Moorehead replace Mike O’Cain, Curt Newsome and Kevin Sherman as Virginia Tech’s quarterbacks coach, offensive line coach and wide receivers coach respectively.

Virginia Tech (8-2) suffered their second loss of the season at the hands of Georgia Southern University (4-5), falling 78-73.

The Eagles grabbed the lead early on, opening the game on an 8-0 run, and never gave it up.

After failing to hit a single one of its 9 three-point attempts, the Hokies found themselves behind at half 35-27, only the second time this season that they failed to score 30+ points (West Virginia).

Jarell Eddie, who finished the game with 21 points, was consistently found open beyond the arc throughout the game, but only made 3 of his 13 shots from deep.

“Shots weren’t falling. We had good shots but the shots weren’t falling, that’s all it was,” Eddie said. “We had a lot of shots rattle out. So we were making the same plays, we just couldn’t finish.”

The Eagles, who shot 50.0% (7-14) from three-point range in the first half, were able to hit what seemed to be difficult, well defended shots, to which the Hokies weren’t able to stop.

Erick Green believed it wasn’t a matter of failure on the Hokies part, but rather an issue of great performance by their opponents.

“They were hitting [their shots],” Green said. “We had some contested shots. They just had a great night, beyond the arc, shooting the ball period. Nothing wrong with that, that’s how they beat us.”

The Hokies fell even farther behind early in the second half, allowing a 7-0 Georgia Southern run that increased their lead to 15 points with 18:10 left in the game.

But for the eighth straight game, the Hokies were able to score more points in the final period than they did in the first.

Behind Erick Green, who finished the game with a career-high-tying 28 points, the Hokies put together a 46 point second half, including a stretch in which they trimmed a 16 point Georgia Southern lead to just 3 with 54.3 second left.

Green, who finished the game without a made three-pointer, grabbed a defensive rebound, trailing by 3 points, with 29 seconds left and missed a shot from deep that would have tied the game.

The Hokies then fouled Cameron Baskerville, who made both free throws to extend the Eagles’ lead to 5 with 19 seconds left.

After a quick inbounds pass, Erick Green sprinted up court and went to the basket with very little contention from the Eagles’ defense, possibly making his previous three-point attempt seem a bit misdirected.

“Coach told me to shoot a three,” Green assured, after the game. “I thought, honestly, it was in. But ya know, it’s a lesson learned. Next time go to the basket.”

But the Eagles didn’t falter in the remaining, and were able to seal the victory.