So we have that going for us this year, which is nice.
Sigh
The worst part? I'm not even that upset. I'm numb, I'm emotionless. The passion about this has been sucked out of my life this year.
I hate that this is where we are. I hate Fuente for leading this program to where it is now. I just want this era to end.
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Is this meant to say "Depression"?
Well, they did say 2020 would be our year.
#MakeTheMove
I with ya
#MakeTheMove
Dec 16th can't come soon enough. Fuente has completely destroyed this program. Time to rebuild.
I will say I think the kids played hard all season and I'm proud of them for that.
Oh yeah the kids have been playing their nuts off, but they just aren't being put in a situation to have success. We call so many low to no percentage plays that it's eventually going to hurt.
Defense has given up late in games the last couple weeks, but I can hardly fault them for it when the offense is just so consistently awful
Agree 100%. I just wanted to present one positive for this year.
So much talent and heart on that roster, and wasted due to a lack of coaching and leadership. What a shame.
I am going to disagree. There are some dogs, and I don't mean that in a complimentary way, on the team. The lack of effort by some guys, or the lack of mental preparedness, jumps out on film over the course of this losing streak. Miami was the exception where most of the team seemed to be with it.
this really sucks to read...but thanks for sharing French....I'm sure the last several weeks have been exceptionally trying for you and I can't begin to express how much I appreciate the hard work you put in and the misery that must come with it at times for my benefit and entertainment. You're a GD saint. Thank you and Merry F***in' Christmas
It was disheartening for me.
via GIPHY
If he played Hooker knowingly injured, that's grounds for firing, I don't care how severe the injury. He's clearly got either a broken rib, and he can't take full breathes, or something serious is up.
Yeah, "cold" my ass. That's not the shivers.
In the fucking post-game he said the trainer said "Hendon is cold, he's a no go".....what the fuck?
How cold was it? Hypothermia would be a no go for sure, but unless the players weren't wearing whatever they do for really cold weather under their uniforms, doesn't seem likely. Plus, whatever was going on with him looked WAY off normal, I guess MAYBE really low core body temp with wracking shivers? If his hands were borderline frozen, it could explain that bad snap/fumble. Your fingers don't work well if you're coming down with frostbite. But I'd think a player would be more aware of that going on and getting near heat, especially a QB with their fingers.
Looked like he was hyperventilating to me.
Not that I really want to defend Fu, but thats on the training staff and not the coaches. I can see how if a trainer told me he was "cold" that I would send the player out there.
I'm a Maryland fan. I've heard about players getting "hot". That player died, and Durkin got fired even though it wasn't directly his fault. Sometimes it doesn't take a physician to make a judgment call like this and when these kids are being recruited the coach is the person that ultimately takes responsibility for them. I respect Fuente for giving Hooker a shot and starting him but Fu knew something was wrong enough to bench him for BB right away. He had to have known something about what was going on and he still put HH in when it was obvious something was wrong.
As I said above, if Fuente played Hooker knowingly in the game injured, severity of which no one knows, that should be firing with cause. We all saw it. Our SID didn't share anything with ESPN and wouldn't. Which, to me, he was hiding something.
If the coach wasn't so goddamn secretive, and closed off, maybe we'd know.
It definitely should be for cause but no way that will happen. Durkin didn't even get fired for cause. Unless Fuente has some very broad welfare clauses it'll be impossible to turn this or damn near anything into a for cause firing. Fuente is getting 100% of his money.
He did the same thing with Josh Jackson back in 2017 against Miami. Coincidentally, that was the first time I got angry with Fuente and flat out disagreed with something he did.
Yesterday had the potential to just be a loss that we all expected. We looked competitive for a bit and just didn't get the bounces you need to for an underdog victory. Instead, the Hendon situation is completely mismanaged and we are all left to question whether or not Fuente just had another complete coaching fail. At this point, it seems like he is just doing it on purpose. "What can I do this week to make everyone mad at me?"
Gotta say the effort was there today on defense but on offense it's alot of the same old. Too many players out injured or went down and the scheming and play calling was atrocious. Fuente was hardly an asterisk in the game I think they mentioned him once or twice which says it all without saying a thing. He's killed this program and is making it worse than was thinkable at the beginning of the year
I hope Whit has cornered Tony Elliott in Lane right now. "Hey, have I got an opportunity for you..."
1992? That was the year I was born.
Fuck.
1992? That was my last year at Tech!
Fuck!
I don't hate Fuente.
But he's gotta go. And it's probably going to require a complete overhaul of the staff, to right the ship.
Exactly... It's nothing personal, he just doesn't seem like the right guy
Bingo.
Im wondering if he had a punctured lung and it was collapsing.....
I actually wondered if he was on medication from his early season concerns that would make him severely cold intolerant.
If you told me in January that Tech would have a blow-out loss to Clemson in the first week of December, I would have been stoked about our Coastal division title.
Such a frustrating game. People will look at the final score and just say Clemson blew out Tech but man we had so many chances. Clemson was right for the taking but a combination of not making plays and poor coaching decisions were the difference between a major upset and a lopsided loss....
I mean Clemson scored something like 28 points in the 4th quarter. This game easily could have been a lot worse had our defense not balled the fuck out. But the offense can only shoot itself in the dick so many times before the wheels fall off
D played well but balled out is making the pick that Conner missed early, trying for the pick6 when you make the int and not letting some noname RB score a TD right before half....
Lyn-J Dixon might not be Etienne, but he was a 4* recruit, 10th ranked RB in the Class of 2018. Not exactly no- name. Even Darien Rencher, the senior that scored near the end of the game was a three star. Still wasnt a good look with the hapless arm tackle attempts and ease that they each scored with.
Also shows you the huge difference in depth charts that their third and fourth stringers are better than our starters, especially in the skill positions
IMO This was a winnable game, and another team loss. We didn't protect the football and had two of our turnovers converted directly in to 14 points. One missed pick on our end that should have resulted in a pick-6. If those three individual plays go the other way this is a much closer game. I'm not going to talk about the coaching because we've beaten that dead horse enough, but execution by the players should not be overlooked and just blamed on bad coaching.
hell, the training and medical staff needs to be examined after what we all saw on the broadcast. Even the grounds crew - the f&$%ing grounds crew - had a screw-up.
#Makethemove
The Hooker situation is unreal to me. Guy jumps on Twitter to defend the program post-Pitt game, and then Fuente today out of nowhere is like nah man, YOU kick rocks. Pulled after one series because Fuente "liked what he saw" out of Burm?
It all makes sense when someone is just grasping at straws. The Hooker situation is likely to draw a lot of eyes. We can all just hope he is healthy.
Come on. Something was wrong with Hooker. He fumbled half of his perfect snaps tonight and was spasming on the sideline from something.
They said we'd get answers in the post game presser but this aint it dog. I'm gonna need more than this. A LOT more
Fuentes said he was cold in his postgame. Also he had big hands.
Don't know if we will know more until late
Listening to the VT radio broadcast, in the 3rd Qtr the sideline reporter said that VT players were starting to huddle around the sideline heaters and complaining that it was too cold to play. What the hell is that......
BULLSHIT! I have only been to 9 games in Lane but I was at the 2008 Duke game any one else remember that, it was literally the coldest I have ever been in my life I literally couldn't feel my toes. That didnt stop Tyrod from getting Boykin his 1st Hokie recieving TD and it sure as hell didnt stop Macho from getting the game winning pick 6.
Good Lord.
If that's true, and I hope it isn't, then this whole team has zero heart. Cant play because it's too cold? In southwest VA? Just... wow... also throw the equipment managers in to the "must be cleaned out" bucket. If they can't the right gear on these kids to keep them wrong then they deserved to be fired as well.
Not what I'm talking about. Yanking him after one series, because they wanted him to "settle down" after a fumble, is a pretty wild justification for pulling your QB1 and then not putting him back in until you have to,.
I listened to the Fuente post game radio interview and he was mad at Hooker after the first play not just because he fumbled the snap but also because he broke the huddle much early and snapped the ball much earlier than he wanted. No injury involved in the initial benching and "cold" the reason for the second benching.
Wait, you disagree with that decision? We're we watching the same game?
Whit should hand Fu an envelope with $10MM...
...donation in your name has been made to the Virginia Tech Hokie Club.
Now clean out your office.
If the Hokie donors have the hay in the barn, it's time to back up the wagon and take it to market, Dec. 16..
#MaketheMove. It is that time. Step up, please, Mr. Babcock!
Well guys, I'm glad we waited until the program was at its lowest in 20 years to finally decide maybe Fuente wasn't the right guy. I mean we could have done it before we owed him a shit ton of money or maybe when Virginia Techs football brand was actually desirable, but I'm glad we saw it out. Recruiting damage is second to giving someone with a million dollar salary a full term. I'm also really glad that we're letting South Carolina publicly carry out their coaching interview progress so they can get their situation straightened out before we even show were considering making a move. With Napier off the board, Fickell somehow having a better team than us when I've heard from fireman and co over and over again that resources = success, Shane probably gone to SC, and Tony Elliot ass blasting us on prime time and both him and Campbell obviously being way too good for us, I think if whit does have the stones to make a move we end up with Healy which will have us in the same spot again in another 5 years. I'm so disappointed
Don't underestimate Whit. Dude knows what he's doing.
If he did, we wouldn't be in this situation.
So all the other home runs hirings don't make up for one bad hire? Whit won't make a mistake second time through
No, they don't. Football is king. The other sports besides men's basketball survive because of football.
There is virtually no way that when Whit announced the Fuente hire that you said "Wow, dumb hire. Whit doesn't know what he is doing."
Hindsight is 20/20, and that is the only reason why you think that Whit doesn't know what he is doing.
1) I did not like the hire then, although I did not think it would be this bad.
2) One doesn't need to be an expert not have their own foresight to see that someone else is not great at something through observing their results. That is an absurd claim. And this is beyond just his selection of Fuente as a coach. Our football staffing in general is an embarrassment. Our outreach to fans and former players is an embarrassment. The decline of our brand on the national stage is an embarrassment. Many of these issues started with Weaver, but Whit has not fixed them, and I will judge him as such.
Sorry dude, but you just expounded your "Whit failed to see he was making a poor hire" argument into a "Whit isn't properly micro-managing every aspect of the football program" and "Whit isn't fixing other, non-head-coach-related problems" argument.
I'd like to hear your arguments of what indicators there were, at the time of hiring Fuente, that things were going to nose-dive 5 years later at VT and Whit should have had the clairvoyance to see?
Please note that I am not trying to say that Whit is not culpable at this point. Whit made the hire and he has to stick by it, dealing with the consequences. People in business make decisions that turn out to be bad all the time. But it is wrong to say that Whit is bad at his job just because the Fuente hire didn't work out.
You're acting like this situation was inevitable, that we were destined for this, that nobody could have possibly seen these issues looming. For three years I have been whining and complaining about the staffs shitty predictable offensive play calling, lack of control over players, isolation of the team from fans, and our inability to win recruiting battles in state. The signs are all there. In fact this isn't the bottom. The bottom will be 2-3 years from now when these recent recruiting classes catch up with us.
Like holy shit do you still think that not televising our spring game is a strategic advantage? Do you think not having our famous and beloved players involved is helping? Do you think the pitiful number of support staff we have is acceptable? Do you think wasting what little recruiting resources we have in Texas and California is benefitting us? Do you think chasing away 1000 yard rushers is helpful? Do you think using our quarterback "as a battering ram" isn't what's pushing them out do the program or maybe why we had to play a 4th string an tonight? Do you think every other team in the country isn't prepared for a an run on 3rd down? Do you think we can afford to not make every penny we can by selling alcohol at Lane? Do you think it was great to tie ourselves to playing ECU forever? Do you think it's a good look to have your head coach have his ass kicked for 60 minutes then show up to the press conference looking like he doesn't give a shit, act super defensive when questioned, then blame player execution? Do you think it's ok to get embarrassed by every other team in Virginia who has a football team? Did you think it was ok when we were barely beating scrub teams like deleware? Did you not see an issue where he's not been able to successfully keep and develop a starting quarterback from season to season? Did you not see an issue where receivers that were actually getting minutes were fleeing from here sometimes to go to dumpster programs?
Like how many signs do you need dude?
Congratulations, you called it. Get your prize. It's the same prize as the rest of us, but with three extra years of pessimism and sadness. 👍
My best recollection is that with 1 season under our belt with FU + Beamers kids + A Lucky QB Transfer Whit re-upped Fu's contract with a LOT of tough mutual exit stipulations and basically completely got us into this situation.
IMO, based on the limited set of information I have, Whit jumped the gun way too fast on that (end of year 1) and created this lame duck Situation. Let's not defend Whit as our lord and savior, at least discuss from that basis.
Can someone who probably knows more about the contract history educate me better on this? This is my understanding.
We got to the ACCCG in his first year. Whit has hinted at how much interest there's been in Fuente over the years. After that first year, there may have been interest from some big names and Fuente may have leveraged that into a contract extension and raise. At the time, it probably seemed like a good thing. I was happy Whit was trying to keep him. Now, after hindsight has provided input, yeah, not such a great decision, but nobody knew that then.
I'm glad everything worked out so you could be right on the Internet. So happy for you. #blessed.
The bigger problem, apparently, is that our alumni base is a bunch of 80-100k/ year living in debt in NOVA and doesn't have the will or capability or engagement to donate and actually make changes happen.
All of these complaints and circular discussions are essentially a bunch of sideline conversations to the bigger point that we are probably around the "meets expectations" category based on our department size and performance in fund raising and expecting otherwise is just funny.
Why were we so protective on fuente? Probably because we didn't have the cash. Scared Money doesn't make money, but also no money definitely doesn't make money.
I am not sure that I will be donating to VT again since - they severed my ties to the university when they kicked my fraternity off campus. I plan to instead create a large endowment when I am older to my military high school which values my traditions and values and way of life.
Virginia tech has done fuck all to value me and keep me engaged as an alumni and they, the coaches, and others need to wake up on that.
Excuse my French and I am not meaning this as a knock against tech I felt the urge to speak up because I still somehow care as evidenced by my time spent on this forum
So as soon as Fuente was announced, and they announced Bud was staying on as DC (happened at the same time), you were like, "this isn't going to work out?" Based on what - how successfully he'd built up the Memphis program? Then, after year 1, right after we lost the ACCCG by 1 touchdown, you were like, "this guy doesn't get it, 10 wins is nice and all, but he can't win here"? Then after year two, when he ONLY won nine games, you said "this level of performance is unacceptable, we GOTTA get rid of him"? Then, after year 3, you had so much built-up frustrations after how bad the first two years went, that you started "whining" to get rid of him rather than see if he could get back to the levels of performance of the first 2 years?
No one was complaining after the first two years. The complaining started after the team lost to ODU, players transferred en masse, recruiting dried up, and we got an SI article that hand-waved players quitting because they were all bad apples.
Apparently a few super smart people knew Fuente was a bad hire from day 1. Just ask them and they'll tell you all about it.
I just listed a ton of reasons. You want more?
What about him trying to push Foster away?
What about him snubbing Torian and pushing him away?
What about him sticking his nose into issues involving the basketball team that don't concern him?
What about the end of the 2017 Georgia Tech loss (that you're making sound like it was a Cinderella season) where instead of just picking up first down, we go for a Hail Mary for a walk off turn over on downs?
What about the whole season when we were trying to take a player who prided himself on his dad bod and run him him like he's Michael Vick?
Like I'm sorry that it's hurting people's perceptions of a coach they used to love and an AD they still love, but signs have been there. You all have just forgotten or chose to ignore them.
I think Whit is a good AD, but he made a VERY costly decision that has sunk football for a long time. That's unacceptable. And I don't understand the desire to pretend it isn't.
Is it a hope thing? Like is everyone convincing themselves that Whit is capable of fixing this just because they hope he's capable of fixing it?
They are convincing themselves because they have no choice otherwise. Tell me, o wise one, how does us having any more or less faith in our AD to pick a coach have ANYTHING to do with the eventual choice or performance? What can we gain by moaning and whining and fretting other than self-induced misery?
We hope because otherwise we despair. And despair is a lot less fun.
This Is Fine Fire GIF from Thisisfine GIFs
I heard he was responsible for the release of covid too /s
You seem to think every coaching hire eventually wins 11 or more games a season. Hell, look at how many coaches have gone through Miami and FSU the past few years, and they desperately want winners. Not every hire pans out, and if the ADs knew which would be which, they wouldn't hire the bad ones. So what if Whit didn't hire the right guy last time, it doesn't mean he's an incompetent AD. Look at the hires he's made for the basketball program.
It's going to be a hard task for you to find a person who didn't think that Fuente was a home run hire.
Maybe because they haven't seen him speak? He doesn't get it. And everyone who thinks he was a great hire doesn't get it.
Ok I'm lost as to what you are even talking about at this point.
The VT job was much more attractive five years ago, following the Beamer legend at a program with national respect. A much less attractive position, now, and a much more crucial hire for the Babcock resume. Let's hope that Whit is at least ready to step up and make the move.
Here let me help you-
"Let's hope that alumni donors are ready to step up and make the move"
I still haven't seen a Kickstarter or anything like that.
My wife is from venezuela and she asked me this morning about if "they" do Christmas caroling anymore. I said who is they? It's you. If you want carols in your neighborhood get out and carol. There is no "they" (some Deus ex machina donor) that is going to come and save you.
2015 I had two girls from UVA tell me that they weren't impressed by the hire and they liked their hire better. That shit still pisses me off... Especially now because they were right.
It's gotten so bad, that Hoo relatives and friends text me to see if I'm okay. I just keep my mouth shut.
Since after 2017, I've been able to watch maybe 20% of the games live, anyways.
Not to pile on, but this comment doesn't hold water. Whit made 1 bad hire, a hire that was basically applauded throughout people with sources and without. Every other hire he has made has been really good. We can be mad for a lot of things, but taking this out on Whit doesn't make sense. We can at least wait and see what happens from here. No one is perfect, no decisions are either. He made what he and most thought was a great move, and it didn't work out. Such is life.
Or maybe he secretly always wanted us to be a basketball school
Hell it's a lot less stressful for everyone than football hire. Would shave points off his and our blood pressure.
I think whit re-negotiated Fu's contract really fast in the beginning and got us into this situation>
@barr1990 -
So if we look back we almost won ACCCG with a great quarterback that we didn't retain that we ran 3 plays with.
The early signs were there, sorry. Jerod Evans leaving early was the first smoke on this whole thing and we have all been living on Hopium since then.
That's fair, but also the times we live in with these coaches. Thankful that he didn't do anything when the Baylor situation happened. Whit needs to take ownership, I just don't think we should jump the shark on him as an AD.
I would say that whit isn't innocent here that's all for the reasons I posted above. He played an early unproven extension bet and it didn't pay off- that's all there is too it.
Okay, I literally just said he needs to take ownership.
If you were in Whit's shoes, and you would have chosen NOT to extend Fuente in 2017, he would've left after being 19-8, and everyone on TKP would be complaining about how tjbhokie was too cheap to spend an extra couple million to keep a great coach.
Heavy weighs the head that wears the crown. He absolutely would have gotten a ton of smoke from the fan base, but it also avoids putting us in a situation that we can't afford.
It was the right decision at the time based on the information available.
Exactly.
All these Miss Cleo's would be crying about how cheap Whit was and how Weaver never would have let a coach walk.
Healy is the complete opposite of Fuente, not sure why you're so opposed to him. Jamey Chadwell, also the complete opposite of Fuente, is also still available. Not sure why you think Napier is off the board.
Just because someone is the opposite of Fuente doesn't mean they're a home run hire. We don't need to overcorrect on the things Fuente lacked and simply trade one set of problems for another. Sadly VT fans are finally finding ourselves where fans of other schools have been for a long time. Hire a guy you think will be good, hype everything up to 1,000,000, get disappointed, fire him and repeat. Firing is always the solution and the next coach is always the answer to our woes. Except he usually isn't. Believe me, we have had it good for 25 years and we are just now experiencing how the other half lives.
1000% agree. I didn't mean to insinuate that we should go get the opposite of Fuente. Rather, I believe that this experience has been a lesson, and taught us a little more about what you need to be successful at VT. It's clear that we need a coach who can (1) leverage the fanbase and (2) develop talent. I'm pretty confident Healy and Chadwell can do that. I'm not confident that Elliott can engage the fanbase, just because he hasn't had to.
Sounds like Napier is 800% committed
Translation: I haven't been offered an SEC job I want yet. Not goin to Vandy.
He's definitely holding out for something specific. Bruce Feldman on Russillo's podcast this past week said Napier has turned down opportunities at a few P5 jobs already and I think he said Arkansas was one of them too. Now we can add South Carolina. I don't think this is the football version of Mark Few/Gonzaga. Napier is holding out for a big time job.
He supposedly REALLY wanted South Carolina.
I briefly saw a future with Fuente in the first half, it surprised me, and it was glorious... then I woke up to Fuente dick slapping me again for the fourth consecutive week and came crashing back to earth. Stop destroying the thing I love.
This matches the 2019 Duke score which was, as you remember, the worst ACC loss for Tech in conference history.
That's so, like last year, man
And we ignored the 1999 team tonight as well!
All I care about right now is knowing that Whit understands, and sympathizes with us fans, over what a face-palming, pud-whacking, trying-to-put-out-a-fire-with-gasonline clown show (I'm sorry, that is actually offensive to clowns with respect to CornFU) the preparation and in-game coaching of this program has turned in to.
Most of the first half showed us that the players have the heart and talent to play against the best, but the failings of the staff continuously flush all of that down the drain. I know Whit has to be a PC, unemotional rep for the university, but man I would love to know that the O/U on him saying "What the fu*#k?" was at 10, and he blew away the over tonight!
Even more frustrating with all we were bringing back and the expectation that this would be a better year than 2019.
Well 2021 was also going to be our recruiting year. I think we've all bought a bridge.
Sigh
I had forgotten about the recruiting thing over the last months lol.
If you think the talent was thin last night as Clemson whipped our ass, wait 2 years from now. Lol. You think Beamer left a "bare" cupboard with Tim Settle, Tremaine Edmunds, Trayvon McMillian, etc. you just wait. Lol
Not to mention Facyson, Motu, Mook, Stroman, Adonis Alexander, Phillips, Ford, Hodges, Teller, and Slye. I believe Mook and Motu are the only guys on this list that didn't have at least a cup of coffee in the NFL and they were still very solid college football players. He had a "buffer" year and he still hasn't been able to elevate the program.
About where I'm at right now:
I'm not sure why this is relevant, but please get off my couch. I'm gonna have to donate it to West Virginia now.
An embarrassing divorce story. This is where we are as a program right now.
Video clip of Hendon on the sideline:
Take note that it doesn't appear that anyone else on the sideline is "shivering" in this clip. And if Hooker is shivering, why doesn't any trainer give him a jacket and park him next to a heater?
This was just such a bizarre scenario. It harkens to the Willie Taggart "we didn't bring enough water to the game" fiasco.
Its a cold night, having jackets, heaters ect. seems pretty obvious. It just shows such a lack or forethought and organization or what I would now like to term "fuenteism".
Honestly don't know if this is a Fuente thing, manager thing or what, but literally having a player on the sideline so cold he can't play is just so damn ridiculous its hard to compute.
On the other hand, HH is from Greensboro, not San Diego...I have a hard time understanding how he could be so unprepared himself.
VT football is just all so broken at this point...apathy really is the only way to tolerate it anymore.
Blood thinners maybe?
Well at least we all now know what time the sprinkler system is set to run!!! 🤣🤣🤣
From the words of a great Hokie fan
"Fuck you asshole!"
Second best moment of the game behind Deablo's INT.
Sorry, no.....this was the best moment of the game as it was lasting impact. The Deablo Int lasted three plays before Clemson was in the end zone anyway.
FUASSHOLE for the WIN!!
A: All
B: 'Bout
C: Clemson
All
Clemson
Conference
Actually, ABC was all about ND with that obnoxious interview. Clemson, I have to admint, has earned their status by winning. ND is not even a ACC school and got a gift to play with us this year.
Sorry to say it but, at this point, it may not be a bad thing to have Fuente lose all of the records, including the bowl streak and not get the Commonwealth Cup back. As mentioned earlier, let the new coach come in with a completely clean slate. No pressure to avoid losing seasons or lose the bowl streak or lose the Commonwealth Cup. If they feel the best way to move forward is to tear everything down (and we are 1-11 next season) then fine. Let them do what they think is best to get long-term gain.
Don't get me wrong, I hope we (1) win next week, (2) get into a bowl game, (3) Fuente is fired, (4) the new coach wins the bowl game and (5) energizes the players/keeps them here for a good year in 2021. With the right coaches and system, I could easily see the team winning 8 or 9 games next year. But if everything falls apart and there is no pressure on the new coach to win short-term that might damage long-term progress, it is not necessarily a terrible thing.
I think we all agree that whomever had followed beams had huge shoes to fill...following Fu will be easier.
I agree. It was a tall task, and Fu was one of the top hires we could have made at the time. There were some concerns and red flags, but people were hopeful that he could overcome them (no major program experience, lackluster recruiting record).
What really makes me nauseous is the whole forced/contrived storybook narrative created by VT on how this was just the perfect transition, Fu and Beamer connecting so well, Fu reminds us all of Beamer and will do things the right way. That was a bunch of garbage. I think a lot of people just bought into the narrative that we had found the next Beamer and all was going to magically work out.
The next guy will need our patience in rebuilding the program for a while. We should really temper any expectations. We need to nail this hire though.
Yep, as someone once sang, we need a little patience. Actually, we need a lot of it in terms of wins and losses. What we need to see right away is:
Better coaching decisions in the game, fundamentals like taking the right angle on defense and catching a punt, getting the players ready and showing the effort when playing teams like ODU and Wake and not just when playing Miami and Clemson.
In the fairly short term (1-2 years):
Significantly better recruiting and better team chemistry/not being at or near the top in portal entries each year. Understandable that there will be a lot of this when a new coach first comes in, but need to see it get better after the initial burst that is likely.
In the intermediate term 3-5 years is when the wins need to start coming in. Need to give them at least this long to turn things around given the terrible recruiting this year and last. As long as we see the things above, the wins will come with time.
From an expectations POV, sure. From how difficult the job will be, absolutely not.
I don't disagree with you, however a history of success and impressive win streaks make it easier to sell recruits on VT. Without all that we are less attractive.
35 point home loses for VT from 1979-2015... zero. 35 point home loses for VT since 2019- 2.. wrong fucking coach
After reflecting on the game last night, I'm just down in the dumps on how far we have fallen as a program. VT being blown out at home and Clemson singing their alma mater on our home field made me sick. I'm done with this coaching staff. Fuente is absolutely awful. Get him and his band of merry men as far away from VT as possible.
Then seeing the Shane news was another gut punch. I know there were mixed opinions, but I also think he would have really united the fan base and got donors back onboard. We really need to nail this hire. Failure is not an option. I also don't view Healy as a viable option like some - think he would be a major reach. Fickell or Elliott would be my choice, but can we get it done? Hearing some speculation now that Fu leaving may not be a done deal yet is also making me sick. Very depressing state of affairs right now with this program.
I'm concerned the BOV is more interested in saving money than the health of our football program.
If Torgesen was still around, he'd tear that argument up. A great football program is great for everything else on this campus.
Sands needs to get on board.
Ah. Now we are nearing the heart of the issue. University priorities, values, and engaging the alumni base.
It's shifted.
I'm also wondering if this is the case too. I think they are more concerned with "optics" than making the correct and prudent business decision. I don't understand how anyone can expect things to be better by allowing your main revenue driver continue to be destroyed and lose even more money in the future that you may never be able to get back. Also the "optics" argument is such garbage. You'll have a few twitter warriors spouting off for a few weeks. No one will care a year from now.
Fwiw, we have the buyout money. Money isn't the issue. It's perception. Why fire the coach after laying off staff? Why worry about the bowl streak during Covid? Whit and Sands gotta step up.
Tech has seen a 35% increase in prospective students applying "early action," from last year
I'm nervous that bad football not correlating with enrollment applications this year makes the BOV indifferent to football.
During the 70s And late 80s Tech had some really bad seasons. But I always had hope things would be better. This coach has made hope a thing of the past.
New sweatshirt came in
Where does one purchase that?
Everybody talking like Fuente being fired is a done deal but I just don't see it ( unfortunately). Can somebody tell me where the $$ is coming from when the Athletic department just made 15 million in cuts during a Pandemic? Big boy donors really willing to cough up 10 million?
I can give you 5 names of where the money is coming from, and it is happening.
This comment just redeemed the funk I've been in all day. I try to be apathetic but I can't help myself.
Also hope I'm not overstepping with this comment but I'm a fan of the pod in your sig. Hope you do an episode on possible candidates.
Edit: grammar
We appreciate it, thanks! We had an awesome guest lined up, but schedules are slammed now that the coaching carousel has started. Will do our best to cover it.
See my post above regarding the BOV and Sands.
On a positive note, Knox Kadem appeared to have complete mastery of our playbook, even though we only have 6 plays.
I'm pretty sure I've mastered the playbook at this point.
Opposing D's have mastered it for years
That 3rd and long QB draw must not be as difficult to pick up as I assumed it was.
Wonder if Jack Click has any eligibility left?!/s
Rough day for us 1993 kids
That was my freshman year. It used to be great to be able to say we had been to a bowl every year since my Freshman year. Until two years ago, it was nice to be able to say we hadn't had a losing season.
And 1995 kids that was my freshman year, we beat Texas in the sugar bowl
Me too! Don't forget we also got shut out at home by Cincinnati. Unlike recent seasons, that one started out bad with 2 straight home losses (including the home shut out loss) but we bounced back with 10 straight wins and signature wins over Miami, UVA, and Texas. We showed a toughness in the face of adversity that we don't seem to have anymore.
https://twitter.com/kamchancellor/status/1335647944284893185?s=21 Maybe I'm reading too much in to this because I'm still mad from the hope the first half gave me last night. But if our arguably 2nd best pro alumni from the 2000's is being boxed out of the program, fire Fuente right now.
Edit:I don't know how to link tweets on my phone.
1992 I was attending VT. Here's some perspective of the time. Beamer was in about year 4 and was a laughing stock. There were rumors on campus he was possibly going to be fired. That's when coaches had a pretty long leash. The story turned out alot differently.
Interesting. The last time we didn't make a bowl game we didn't fire our coach and then ... we Beamed our way through the next 20+ years. Hmmmm... Interesting....
And for every Frank Beamer there are dozens of examples of hanging on to a coach too long and watching the foundation crumble. Just because Frank was successful/lucky to turn things around doesn't mean he is the model. Frank was the exception. We likely don't have two of them in a row.
The more usual example are teams who fire coaches when they don't excel, only to hire another one who goes another direction and in the same position three years later.
Tennessee and Nebraska are good examples.
We sucked but we also had a lot of close losses (I think 4-5 by a FG or so). We'd also recently gotten into the BE and had the Sweeter than Sugar win a couple years before.
The biggest thing Beamer did was change up the staff with guys like Ricky Bustle and Phil Elmassian. He got help when he needed it. Fuente brought in Jerry Kill but then (apparently) ran him off when he didn't care for Kill's comments on his guys.
I remember the early Beamer years too. We should be grateful not not totally sucking for 20+ years. I've seen losing seasons before. Not fun but the only thing to do is keep cheering and hoping everyone works harder.
You guys going on about the early Beamer days are ridiculous. In the modern day of online national recruiting services, social media, facility wars, and huge tv contracts, there is no room for steps backward.
Thanks Captain Obvious. I thought we'd just screw around a few more years. Maybe hire a mediocre coach or two and see what happens if the Hokies coast to 2026.
So who would you hire? It's really easy to sit around and be a critic. Not so hard to be a performer. I'll take Whit's track record over your brilliant takes.
Well we did have a losing record recently when you account for the bowl game. In 2018 we finished 6-7 overall with the Military Bowl loss to Cincy, but we did get that extra Marshall game to get to the bowl.
With the reduction in bowls this year it might be unlikely that a possible 5-6 record would mean that this could be the first year we don't go bowling since the 1992 season, but if the circumstances of the year allows us to schedule an additional 'postseason' game that is *not* a sanctioned bowl, then maybe we could get a decent opponent and play one more time which might salvage both the 'bowl' streak and improve the 'overall' season record.
So what I'm saying is let's play Penn State sometime in late December.