Here's an interesting midweek read from the folks at Banner Society that may spark some interest as VT (potentially) embarks on (or completes, depending on which tea leaves you choose to read) our second coaching search of the post-Beamer era.
This industry is not, nor has it ever been, a meritocracy.
In the Nick Saban era of the Southeastern Conference, you can drop almost every head coaching hire into one of two buckets: a Chadwell or a Beamer. A Chadwell is an outsider, with schematic or cultural bonafides that an athletic director and/or booster corps believes will translate successfully to the SEC. A Beamer lacks the head coaching experience and can't boast a proven working system, but has knocked around the league long enough to know its hidden politics and what it takes to make the SEC's signature blood sausage, i.e. recruiting.
It's not important to figure out which is better. I'm not even sure that's possible. The point of the exercise is that these two ideas of a man — a promising young head coach with a new idea, or an already accomplished doer of dirt in the SEC — are often mutually exclusive, and often the decision makers at schools like South Carolina choose to hire one and hope the new coach fills out his staff with the other kind.
I've actively supporting that VT hire a Chadwell (including, but not limited to, the Chadwell), but if we hire the right Beamer *cough* Clemson coordinator *cough*, I won't be complaining.
Comments
So...Elliott Chadwell it is
Does it count as doing dirt if you still lost despite having the opponent's playbook?
Only if your players still got their weekly hundred dollar handshakes after the loss.
Todd Grantham?
Oh, he's definitely a Beamer.
Interesting read, definitely need a chadwell to rejuvenate the players and fanbase
I know they try and lump Fisher into those two groups but not sure they can. He has a NC with a team outside the SEC.
Why not? He was an SEC guy that left and came back like Shane did, he just had a more productive time away (nothing against what Shane has done)
Spent more times outside the SEC than in, was a HC at a historical blue blood and won a NC outside the SEC.
He was in the SEC 13 years and spent 12 years at other FBS conferences.
Shane only has 9 SEC years (not included GA) vs 8 out of the SEC. I honestly don't know how much an SEC GA learns and understands the intricacies of the SEC.
My math has him 11 years in the SEC, 93-98 Auburn, 2000-2006 Auburn.
6 seasons + 7 seasons is 13.
Years are inclusive not exclusive. Fuente has been at VT 5 season 2016-2020
Wouldn't Fuente qualify as a Chadwell back when he was hired?
I think so.
But it turned out he was a choad
At risk of hijacking the thread, here's something from an article linked to in the post article (and also by Godfrey):
https://www.bannersociety.com/2020/9/17/21444366/southern-miss-coaching-...
We all believed we were a (2) when hiring Fuente, but might we be a (3)? And did Fuente figure it out too late? And can we recover to (2) status?
I agree.
Lets go all-in on 4. Maroon and orange football field will bring in the stud ponies!
Yep I think we were a (3), hesitantly. It takes a bunch of time and long success to be a (2) and even then it takes time to become a (1). I think had we maintained Beamer-level success through our second and third hires we could be a (2). But it'll take a long time to be a (1).
Beamer transformed VT from a 3 to a 2. Fuente has allowed VT to slip back into the 3 category due to poor staff choices and poor recruiting. VT could easily return to being a 2 because the ACC is relatively easy to earn winning seasons consecutively with top 25 recruiting classes and an overall solid group of assistant coaches. I am generalizing on the assistant coaches because Bud was phenomenal and Billy Hite made the offense punch above its weight in the RB department.
Correction: Beamer took us from a 4 to a 2. There was no expectation to even come close to competing for national titles when Beamer arrived in Blacksburg.
Whether or not we've slipped back from a 2 or a 3 will likely be determined by the success of our next coach.
I think Auburn and Tennessee will get into a bidding war for Freeze.
Freeze will not be allowed back in the SEC #sauces
But, I wouldn't be surprised if Haslam all of a sudden sponsors the Pilot Flying J SEC Championship....
My #sausce (AKA, Stephen Godfrey on Split Zone Dou) say the same exact thing. They also say that Nick Saban tried to hire Hugh as OC a couple years ago and Greg Sanky said something to the effect of "I highly recommend you find someone else to fill this role"
There's really nothing that can hide in the $EC
I think Pruitt doesn't get fired, but cleans house, hiring Fuente and Muschamp as OCs.
That would still depend on us firing him first. No chance he leaves his cushy $4.5m salary and $10m buyout for an OC position, even if it is in the SEC.
This is why College Football is the most American of sports.
College football presents as meritocratic.
But everyone knows it was organized by schools with the most resources and set up to reward access to those resources.