J.J.'s Uncertain Future

After Tech's loss to Miami I read a couple of interesting tidbits pertaining to J.J.'s future.

#Hokies coach James Johnson tells media he's confident he'll be back coaching Tech next season.— Norm Wood (@normwood) March 12, 2014

I think coaches have to say that. If he truly believes it, then perhaps he thinks he'll be able to sell his vision of the future and the groundwork he's laid to Whit. Or maybe he knows Tech can't afford a better option.

According to Teel, Whit is mulling his options.

All of this magnifies an already excruciating decision for new athletic director Whit Babcock. With the program saddled with three consecutive last-place ACC finishes, two on Johnson's brief watch, does he make a coaching change?

Had Johnson won elsewhere, or previously at Tech, the answer would be a resounding no. After all, the last ACC coach dismissed after less than three years was Duke's Neil McGeachy in 1974.

But Johnson remains a novice, and if Babcock is virtually certain that he can hire a proven coach, then he owes it to the school, program and athletic department, and all their constituencies, to make the difficult and unpleasant decision.

That's what leaders do.

Yet if Babcock is unsure, if he concludes Tech may lack the cache and/or coffers, then Johnson's character, manner and potential merit another season.

If that strikes you as waffling, so be it. But rest assured, Babcock, who turfed four coaches in two-plus years as Cincinnati's athletic director, is vacillating on this as well.

I think it's a coin flip either way, and that's based on a gut feeling. There are so many options to consider: will a change at the top force more roster turnover and leave Tech with a short bench again, is there a budget to lure an inspired coach to Blacksburg, is 2 seasons enough to evaluate a coach, will anyone buy tickets if the status quo remains given last place finishes in the ACC three years in a row...

This will be interesting to watch play out, that's for dang sure.