As @Beau_Davidson has been promoted to director of recruiting, @lino_lupinetti has been promoted to assistant director of personnel & recruiting and @leahjoeee becomes director of on-campus recruiting— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) May 13, 2021
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Wasn't Lino promoted like three months ago?
Classic university system HR
As discussed these people have probably been doing/ready for these roles for months now, but nice to know it's all locked up and official before the cycle goes full wild West in June.
I'm all for people getting promoted and getting a raise, but this feels odd to me. At most businesses when a department is underperforming and has been for years, the best way to improve is usually not by promoting the low performers into more influential roles. I'm not trying to be an ass, but like it or hate it college sports is a business and it feels like VT makes a lot of dumb mistakes that are obvious to anyone that has worked in the corporate world.
Edit: I really hope that these promotions/raises and the new hire will pay off in the long run, but Whit and Fuente have so far not shown that their decisions turn into recruiting success and on the field success.
Catch me up cause I have no idea, how are these individuals low performers? This isn't a challenge, I genuinely have no idea
Our recruiting is terrible. To me that suggests that there are low performers. I work in software. If the sales team's numbers decline or are consistently low, they would not be promoted.
One was not part of the football program.
The other 2 now have more access/freedom to do their jobs, one of whom finally gets a well deserved raise. Maybe they were "low performers" cause they were restricted by their job title? I know when I found my current job, my success far exceeded what I was doing before b/c I had less restrictions, and more freedom within our given processes to execute.
I agree about the new hire. Time will tell for the others. As I stated before, I desperately want them to succeed, but it seems like an odd move to me. If the recruiting gets better that should turn into more wins and the titles won't matter. But I am very skeptical given what we've seen throughout Fuente's tenure.
Some thoughts are that Fuente is not allowed to make many outside hires. If you notice, the majority of recent hires are all internal, except for maybe one or two. And those, like JC Price were of someone who recently lost a job and has a connection to the program.
seems its a bit of prevent on the schools part, as you don't want to bring someone in for potentially a single year.
Not allowed, or not able due to people unwilling to hitch their wagon to him when he could be out of a job after this season?
I hope to work in software. This is agreed upon.
Our last 2 classes are 14th and 11th in the ACC respectively. this current class won't be in the top 7 either. Bottom line
Because dcwilson40 said so.
dcwilson40 is actually being optimistic with ranking 7... we shall see
That's a Stunner of a response.
how much beer is actually consumed here though?
3.16 fluid ounces....
is this....is this a religious joke?
Austin 3:16 CUZ STONE COLD SAID SO
So it's a layered religious joke. Got it. Thanks!
I think it's more trying to say that pie is better than cake but he just was off by 0.02. But hey, what do I know? I'm team ice cream.
Obviously you're not a golfer
I'm glad someone got the joke.
They are just taking their cues from the government, fail upwards...(Note this is not meant to be political, I say this as a retired military/current government employee who sees this phenomena on a yearly basis)
On the other hand, you need to establish that you're willing to pay for these positions and you have the financial and administrative resources to attract, say, a new head coach and whoever he'd like to bring in.
My hope is that Whit doesn't want to spend too much knowing that the football staff (and recruiting staff with it) will be gone after the season. Hire form within screams temporary hire while waiting for better staff with a new HC.
Or....they are just making lazy hires and the mediocrity will continue.
Yes
My hope is that the new hires excel in their roles and we win the coastal and do not change coaches. In other words I hope we win.
And if we don't?
We can fire people then. I would just rather win now if that is on the table.
At least you have some faith in this staff/team👍
Hold your horses pal, don't mistaken hope for faith. I mean I have some faith, but perception is hard to battle and recruiting has to be tough when the prevailing opinion is we are playing a waiting game.
I got ya
For my money, the lack of fresh blood was the most important thing not said. I'm not saying these folks can't excel in their roles (and Beau seems to get "it"), but as it stands now my hunch is Tech ain't a desirable job for anyone with ample qualifications because of job security.
He definitely does. He retweeted the signal today, too. Recruit incoming.
I assume there are still additional positions to be hired potentially. Perhaps the fresh blood will come then or with the backfill hires. These seem to be well deserved promotions from what little I know.
Yeah, I haven't seen the non-football, office coordinator types impact the bottom line of recruiting at all. I'm sure Saban's office staff is great, but they aren't the ones scouting and signing players. A new on field coach that can actually recruit well in the P5 would have made a much much larger impact. These young office go getters that have never coached or scouted football players in their life prior to VT that Fu lseems to like will ultimately cost him his job.
Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, from this, I'm not sure you realize how much effort goes in to scouting players by "back room" staff by watching film, finding track times, so on and so forth. I think our guys have actually done a pretty good job of identifying and getting in on talented players early, but we really struggle with getting those players to Blacksburg.
With every ounce of respect I can say.... If this is true, Fuente should hire football coaches for the back room. This is NOT a social commentary, but a football one. I don't see former football coaches, GA's etc getting hired for these recruiting roles.
do you have an issue with the players we are offering? or the players we are getting to campus?
Both.. Much more so the players we are actually landing, Obviously. But I have heard this staff can be petty and political on the trail- which is reflected in how they recruit MD and VA. Proof is in the pudding.
i think i better understand your point now. fair to say your position is that the backroom staff can be spectacular, but if the coaches, who need to be the ones to close, can't effectively do so on high-priority targets, then it's all a moot point anyway?
yes, and to add- having say a former SEC head coach as a 'recruiting coordinator" might be more effective than a former videographer that works really long hours and deserves a "promotion"
So it sounds like watching film and scouting isn't the issue and that selling and closing is our issue
I agree with your sentiment, but Beau definitely deserves the promotion I believe in him to lead the department in a good direction
As has been said before, Techs recruiting budget and staffing seems much more limited than some other schools. So it's difficult to say with any confidence whether the current staff is performing well or poorly. It's all about workload. The best performers in the world can't do it all themselves. The worst performers may fail at the simplest of responsibilities. Where does Tech fall in that continuum? Do we have Top 25 resources?
No, donate to the Hokie Club, Reach for Excellence campaign, where monies are specifically targeted to upgrade the recruiting staff. This is a need we absolutely have to have. Whether it is Coach Fuente, or Coach Wiggins, or Coach Freeze, we have to get our donations targeting recruiting staff up.
I have a very good source- no bullshit- that can directly influence spending on recruiting stuff that tells me that Fu gets the money he asks for. If he wants to fly private to Texas to recruit, he can. If he wants better food for game day open houses, he can get Ruths Chris, etc. It's an excuse that doesn't line up with signing the 75th ranked class.
If that's the case, then what is he *not* asking for that he needs to recruit better? Is the limitation really Fuente's vision of what an appropriate recruiting system needs to be?
If he hasn't figured it out by now, his sixth year as a P5 head coach, will he ever?
At some point it's not things and decorations
The eternal optimist that I am, Beau seemed so close to closing the deal on all those TX2VT recruits. That was the most pumped I've been about VT football for a while now. The deal fell through in the end, but he brought an energy and enthusiasm that was sorely missing. Good hire/promotion IMO. With a couple of key alum now likely better suited to recruit VA kids, I remain cautiously optimistic. Hopefully it doesn't all implode.
Disagree completely. TX2VT is stupid. How about VA2VT, or NC2VT, or GA2VT, or FL2VT. Going to TX for recruits is shortsighted, and seems Buzzlike to me anyway with CJF and Beau plotting their future, so I never was a fan of that approach. I have no problem with national searches where applicable via known connections etc., but seriously it's a waste of resources (of which VT keeps complaining they lack anyway) to be going that far. It is still absolutely ridiculous that VT is not the #1 choice school for Top 10 VA kids. Until that problem is solved, I will have my doubts about this staff, period, regardless of how many recruiting staff VT has, or what titles they want to call themselves, director of this and that. First Step toward success - START CLOSING on Top 5 in VA. Until then, I'm not impressed. VT must start closing on Top 10 VA kids to get back to relevance anyway, and must recruit NC, GA, FL much harder.
Why Florida but not Texas? Our best recruit this year is from California. We can't live off Virginia alone.
If we were going to TX, CA, wherever and consistently winning 4 and 5 star recruits that would be great, however that is not the case. Does it make sense to use precious time and money for 3 stars from far away states? Based on our recent W/L record, the answer should be fairly obvious. We have plenty of 3 stars in VA. If CJF is good with 3 stars, doesn't it make sense to pursue the cheaper option and stay close to home?
There are many more hidden gem 3 star players in Georgia, Florida, Texas, and California. We need to recruit better players, but there aren't enough in just Virginia.
Well we "could" live of Virginia if we signed 7 of the top 10 players in the state consistently. And don't tell me VA talent is "down"..those top kids are signing with OSU, Penn State, Bama, etc. They aren't signing with VMI and JMU
Virginia talent is down.
But not so far down that there aren't great recruits in each class. However, I never expect to lock Virginia down in this new shrunken world.
Based on what?
It's down based on the former recruiting director saying it's down as an explanation for VT not recruiting well in VA any longer. Big Dogs of college football have not gotten the memo.
That was that director talking specifically about one cycle
Eye test for me. Recruits seem overrated across the board. There is still a lot of talent, but I do believe it is down.
Next time read my post before responding. Where in the world did I write or imply that VT should "live off VA alone". Give me a break. You totally took what I wrote, which I completely stand by, and tried to spin it into something else. Please don't do that. And using one CA player in your response. He's like the 2nd player from CA we've landed I think the last 30 years, so actually you just helped me make my point. FL is closer than TX to many ACC schools, we've have a reputation in FL, we've played much more in FL. We've had lots of success landing FL Hokies. Miami and FSU are in the ACC. Miami is in Coastal Division. No TX teams are in Coastal or in the ACC...must I go on....
I didnt say you said anything. I was just making a statement. You seem to take offense that we pushed hard in Texas. But we were also recruiting all those other states as well. My point is that we need to cast a large net, and I have no problem with Texas being in it.
Almost the entire staff has connections to Texas. That's why we recruit Texas. We dont have any in Cali, and landed DJ Harvey.
Our 2 commits from TX would be in the top 15 of VA.
This is all that's needed here. The coaches have proven they can identify talent, and get kids to the draft. Our top 2 picks this year were from out of state.
Top 5 VA kids want to win now. We aren't winning. So we need to close on the talent we go after, win with that talent, and those top 5 VA kids will start considering us.
This is why I highly advocate for a P5 to snatch up Houston as soon as possible. Except for the Big 12, all we wanna do in that conference is beat Texas.
But on top of that, Houston gets into a P5 (alma mater love), and the other schools can highly recruit out of the Houston area. Population of 4 million, and surrounding counties outside of that will give family an even bigger incentive to make the trip. Many students down in Houston as well want to not only get out of dodge because of the sheer competitiveness and politics that go into getting into STEM/Engineering schools (UT/TAMU/UH auto-admit rules), but also use their athletics as a BONUS to get into universities.
Yep... work your ass off for 2 years courting a kid from Dallas, only to have TX offer after their board shakes out a bit, and you have zero shot. Especially when they start winning big again.
You're welcome to disagree all you want. I don't care if the kids come from Texas, that wasn't the point. The point was that Beau created a brand "TX2VT" and instilled some much needed energy into recruiting. Sometimes we learn more from the near misses than we do from the wins. Beau is unlikely to put all his eggs in the Texas basket again, but his social media was strong, his connection to the kids was strong, his messaging was exciting, and the momentum continued to build off of each success until it crumbled. My comment isn't about Texas kids, its about seeing a recruiter in the program who brings some excitement. We'll see how he does, but my gut says he will find a way to close the deal next time.
Legged you for this quote
Somehow we've got to get the energy and enthusiasm back into VT recruiting. The last enthusiastic campaign that we seemed to have any success with was NC2VT. We need to have a good players from all over. I don't give a rat's ass where they come from but we've got to be more successful keeping them locked up and getting them signed (I originally said 'on campus' but visits don't seem to help anymore) . And that applies to kids from VT, NC, CA, MD, FL, TX and kalamazoo for all I care.
Back when Tom Herman was the Houston coach, the quote was "HTownTakeover". This was to use as much Houston recruiting ground as possible to take over the American Conference and whatever goes beyond.
He may be fired from Texas now, but he did bring Houston into playoff consideration, and really knew how to market the smack out of the program. Holgy is trying, but is very JUCO and Transfer based.
If something can happen where it would make people WANT to come to VT other than the athletics portion, you have it then and there.
Well then we need increase presence in nova, Richmond, and 757
Oop