Afternoon, gents.
Typically I only come around to issue a Call to Arms before a big home game. Today, I am writing one final time with a call for awareness.
Up until this morning, I held out hope that Virginia Tech was different. I naively wanted to believe that the Virginia Tech football program, and its fan base, still represented those values that I came up on as a fan in the 90's.
Today I must admit to myself that this is no longer the case.
Simply put, rejoicing over somebody losing their job is reprehensible. And many of the comments I have read over the last several weeks were equally as disgusting.
For those engaged in this behavior, I would suggest to you that it is a direct reflection of your inner world. Perhaps some introspection is warranted there.
As it pertains to football, Virginia Tech just signaled that it wants to play the arms race game in earnest. I suspect the allure of what Clemson has demonstrated was too tempting to ignore.
And as Clemson proved in recent years, playing that game can potentially bring about a temporary high. But I bet it proves hollow in the end.
Either way, I can no longer support the program or associate with its advocates. As such I am cancelling my TKP membership, as well as my annual donations and ticket purchases.
I realize that this is of no concern to anyone else. But I wanted you to hear a different perspective amongst the group-think.
Farewell.
Comments
Bro he's getting paid almost NINE MILLION DOLLARS to get fired this isn't some minimum wage worker being left out in the cold without a job lmao
There's a lot of analyst, support people, ops people, etc making $30k/year who all of a sudden have a lot of instability in their career. They should know that given the industry and recent performance, but it's still difficult for them.
They are welcome to go work a more stable career.
It sucks, and I am not excited for them to be out of a job - but they chose to go into a job with their eyes wide open regarding the high amount of turnover in this industry.
Everyone who takes a job in football knows about the heavy instability. The pro is you get to work a cool job and the con is you can be gone at any second. I mean come on, just stop it, we are talking about college football here. Stop acting like we are talking about an AP clerk for Amazon.
jwithrowa I could see your point if Fuente had a regular 9 to 5. Fuente being fired isn't going to make him lose one necessity. All of his bills will be paid, his family will still be eating well and most importantly he will be employed again as soon as he wants to be employed. Fuente knows what he signed up for when he entered into this field of employment. This is part of the job unfortunately.
Jwith,
Don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you.
Silicon Valley! yes leg
Seems like kind of an over reaction to parting ways with a coach who was not doing a very good job.
I'm proud that we gave him 6 years unlike a lot of schools who turn on the coach after 1 or 2 seasons.
No one was turning on Fuente after year 1.🤷🏾♂️
That's certainly a perspective.
Feel better?
goodness gracious...people shouldn't be elated or overjoyed by this, but I understand the positivity that comes with change.
Please spare me the "someone lost their job" tsk-tsking. Fuente was well compensated in his time here and is well compensated on his way out. The only Fuentes I feel bad for are the kids because they have no say in this. That said it's not like they have to drop out of school to go make ends meet because of this. But enjoy watching from your supposed high ground
This is not an airport. There's no need to announce your departure.
Perspective: he's getting more in a buyout than almost anyone here will make in a lifetime. Fu's made 30 million bucks from VT.
To be fair, I haven't read the threads but I think people are just happy to see a shakeup. It isn't like they are kicking his dog or TP'ing Fuente's house. Too me it is a stop to the insanity of expecting this guy who hasn't been able to get it done in 6 years. And that means letting somebody go.
Well I'm going to be borrowing that in the future, if you don't mind.
Wait so in the last 5 years you haven't seen this used because so many people wanted to announce they were done with one thing or another.
Ha, I wish I was clever enough to come up with the airport line. But as an engineer, I don't have any creative brain powers so I just borrow from the internet.
Engineers (and scientists, like me, too):
That s/he decided to quit TKP over a difference of opinion on how VT decided to handle its own football program tells me everyone I need to know here.
Perhaps you'd be happier following a Division III football program like Emory and Henry (assuming they play football)
Hey now! We are D2 as of 2022.
Is Curt Newsome still there? He's a D3 coach.
Was he really coaching D3? Seems about his level
You misspelled "above."
Where were you in 2021 when Curt Newsome was thrown by french60wasp off the top of TKP and plummeted 16 feet through an announcers table?
That should have had a /s after it. He's not even a D3 level coach. Maybe a peewee coach, but he somehow found his way to the D2 level at Emory and Henry.
No, he isn't. Had some serious talent (lots of transfers, guys who were the first wave of scholarship players) and lost two ODAC games and to NAIA Bluefield this year. Very dissappointing, sort of like his offensive line's fundamentals at VT.
The son of an old high school friend/teammate signed with them. He's a TF this year. He's got good size (6'-4") for the WR position he was recruited for, but it will be interesting to see if he develops the toughness necessary to play at the next level.
Kids got some talent though.
While I understand and appreciate your sentiments I do not think the majority of fans here are celebrating getting into the CFB arms race.
I've seen many posters acknowledge our shortcomings and limitations with regards to recruiting and player development, and am among those people.
In the end, it was stagnation and generally speaking, a boring on-field product. I think we can all agree that our Hokie athletes were busting their asses out there on uninspired play designs that weren't the type of exciting plays we grew used to in the past.
Even in the more predictable Beamer years, the product was entertaining to watch. I remember quite vividly a Miami fan commenting on how simple our playcalling was, but how effectively we ran it.
As a fan of the game, in general, I can appreciate a bland style if it is executed well. Our playcalling under Fuente and Cornelson was neither exciting nor well executed. Consistent boredom in playcalling is entirely on coaching. Consistent poor execution is on coaching.
Yes, I would still have watched and/or followed every game next year, but outside of a few games, I really wouldn't be excited for all of them. With a new coach, I can have some excitement on each gameday.
Yeah man those 2 national championships in '17 and '19 are going to be really hollow in the end am I right? /s
Where would one sign up for this hollow high exactly?
I'm not canceling subscriptions or tickets - but I do feel it's gotten weird and less enjoyable because of the vitriol.
People act like he was intentionally losing and destroying the program. I don't think he made good decisions going conservative all the time, but I can understand the rationale (most of the time).
But the amount people saying like "fuck him" and "he was never a true Hokie" is kinda bizarre to me. And it sucks seeing some of the players being hurt by this - because it's true we don't spend all the time with him like the players.
The internet has turned us into a fan base without empathy and it sucks. We don't have to dance on his grave cause he's gone. And we don't have to cancel everything because of the idiots grave dancing.
I can't even remember how many times I have read people say they wish nothing but the best for him and are sad it didnt work out on this very site.
I agree, this site is better than the others in that regard - but that doesn't mean there isn't annoying noise that OP is referring to. But chances are if you're paying on here, you're probably at least looking at other places too (247, /r/cfb, and the cesspool that is Twitter).
But watching people get mad at James Mitchell for getting mad at the firing sucks. I think this guy thought TKP would be more on his side, but he took it equally too far in the opposite direction and is facing (a much more mild) backlash.
I think Mitchell got backlash was mostly because people don't particularly like gatekeeping.
I agree - The 'fuck Fuente' comments do rub me the wrong way. It's not difficult to explain all the ways he's failing to meet expectations without saying that Fuente needs to fuck himself.
That said, I try to ignore it. I (really) enjoy engaging with the posts/posters who make in depth, well researched posts or provide unique viewpoints, and I disregard the posts that are pure and blind emotion.
Completely agree, though to be completely honest I'd say that the attitude shift on here over the past 2-3 years, even when I agreed that changes need to be made, has meant that I visit here less and less, and actually did nearly cancel my subscription. On top of the big decline in the amount of content for the same price*, why would I want to come to a place that's just serving as an echo chamber for the angriest fans week in and week out? It's not that I'm trying to shut out reality or something - don't worry, I completely agree that Fuente needed to either make a change or go last year (and to some extent the year before) - but, knowing myself, all that going online and bitching about stuff every day of every week with other people who are equally frustrated will do is put me on a fast track to depression and mental toxicity, and I have better things to do with my life.
* And to clarify this (since I know it'll just invite the exact same "duh doy if you don't like it don't pay for it" and "didn't need you to come into the comments and complain" comments that this parent post has gotten), which just sidesteps the actual argument), I'm not complaining about the cost, I'm complaining about the fact that 5-6 years when I joined, TKP was putting out 10+ articles a week during the season, covering postgame thoughts, press conference highlights (full transcriptions for a bit), recruiting, fun articles like foe-rensics/advanced numbers/"betting" lines, even getting into basketball coverage during the overlap in seasons.
Now the weekly output is generally a review from French, maybe a By the Advanced Numbers, and maybe a high-level-state-of-the-program/fanbase Marcolini piece. All of these pieces are still great, but it's all there is. I know staff come and go, and I know nobody really feels like writing much about a team that struggles to make it to .500 each season, but still...that's over a 60% reduction in content over the years paired with an extremely negative forum experience. I hate to say it, but not great selling points for the same money (though maybe the comments will get a bit better for a while).
Comments will get better because now we will have a renewed sense of optimism. It'll be fun, interesting, and engaging.
While it has been painful to watch Fuente hold onto a job for longer than he deserved, I am glad that Whit has showed patience, which is important for future coaches to see. It is also waaaaay too expensive for VT to enter into a shorter 3-4 year cycle of hiring/firing.
But that painful period meant a lot of apathy and frustration. That will be gone at least for a while. And discussions on TKP will be of greater variety and more worth the engagement.
That said, the other issue that I've noticed these last few years is the policing of comments. Everyone attempting to tell others which comments are of value and which are not. Which comments are appropriate and which are not. Both TKPers and staff have done this. And I know that maybe it was necessary for the Covid related forums that needed to be shut down, but I cannot stand the policing and constant criticism of comments. I hope we see that go away in this new era of VT football.
Here's to our next head ball coach, and may he find great success at VT!
Let's Gooooooo!
I feel conflicted. On one hand, I do feel dirty routing for a whole staff to lose their job (many of whom will struggle to find employment and aren't getting a buyout like an FBS head coach would). On the other hand, I don't think that Fuente is capable of meeting the standard that Virginia Tech Football expects, and I'm excited to - for the first time in a long time - actually be excited about the future of Virginia Tech football.
I'm not celebrating because Fuente & Co is fired, but I'm excited for the future and looking forward to something new. None of that happens unless Fuente and staff are released.
The expectation for the job is physicial dominance and annual contention going into the final week of the season for the ACC Coastal. Justin Fuente never delivered the physical dominance piece consistently (with all due respect to the 2016-2018 defenses that kept the team competative when the offense was really short handed), and the contention only happened twice. If that isn't the expectation, Mr. Babcock's bosses need to have a conversation with him.
But, I take no joy. In my 30 years+ of watching college football, if there is one thing I am sure of is that most of the time, new hires don't meet expectations. I also hate it for the staff, who now have job uncertainty and don't have the benefit of a buyout. I would be the first to laud Fuente if we hear that half of that buyout goes to the assistants who also will find out they are not being retained after Thanksgiving that were not making big money. This is just a gross part of the business, but it had to happen.
I'll be honest. This is what should happen in all staffs across the country. Reduce the golden parachute for the head guy and reallocate that across coordinators and assistants for when situations like this happen. Any head coach who has a soul should be fully on board with that as well.
I think we're in complete agreement?
These are generally hard conversations to have with people, but they are conversations that need to be had nonetheless.
It's one thing to have someone just phoning it in, but it's quite another to have someone working hard and just not meeting expectations. Fuente was probably the latter, and every now and then you land on the conclusion that it is might be the right person for the wrong job.
I'm with French on this. There's a lot of folks affected, from assistants down the line to people we don't know about. And they're not necessarily pulling down big $. The change needed to be made, but it's not something I'd rejoice about.
Don't feel sorry in the slightest for someone who gets to coach football for a living and is getting paid $8.75 mil to not work. I'm not going to make it a personal vendetta against him or anything, but it didn't work out and he's gone, let's move on. But I'm certainly not feeling sorry for him whatsoever.
"I don't like winning and I like losing"
Weird flex but you do you. Appreciate the zigging against the zag, definitely a unique perspective.
I'm not celebrating Fuente and co getting fired, but he himself is getting paid more money than the average person makes in their lifetime to not do his job. I'm not losing sleep tonight that he's out of a job in an industry with an incredible number of bounceback opportunities for former HC's.
It sucks much more for the lower paid staff and support staff members. There are lots of low paid employees in a college football program that do struggle mightily. I DO feel very bad for those people.
No. You don't get to tell others how to feel about their "inner world" or if they should get any "introspection". That is some grade A level entitlement and it's not very Ut Prosim of you.
I scrolled down to say just this. OP can get outta here with that shit.
They guy is a multimillionaire and has been well compensated by tech.
The bit about people wanting him out of this job being reprehensible is laughable.
The guy never has to work again and no change will happen to his quality of economic life, nor will he ever have to worry about providing for his family.
While no one should be defaming the guy, the scrutiny for being paid millions of dollars to coach a game is well within the job description.
I wish him the best, and hope he finds person and professional success at his next stop. He seems like a nice guy, and he is hard not to root for.
But the athletics program has done nothing wrong by parting ways, and I have not seen the undeserved talk regarding Fuente on this site you seem to have found.
Are people happy? Yes. Football is clearly an important part of nearly everyone on this site. No one is saying "I'm glad that he's now unemployed and hope he and his family are out on the street."
VT's motto is "Invent the Future" and it's clear that innovation had stagnated with the team. That to me means it is one of the strongest core values that Fuente did not uphold.
I was extremely happy when we signed him and still think he was the best case scenario to transition from Beamer. And as much as the program struggled with the game, I still can look back at Fuente's time as coach and be grateful that he didn't bring any questions of ethics or controversy.
He also just got 8.75 MILLION DOLLARS for being bad at his job. That's more money than I'm going to make in my entire career. That doesn't even include the millions in salary. I'm not shedding a tear for him just because he's not a coach right now.
Many of us here are excited for change since Hokie football has given us so much excitement and happiness and knew Fuente wouldn't be able to bring that to us in the level we expect. At least change gives us hope
....shit
well it's still my motto!
cries quietly in the corner
LMAO this guy
I'm not sure I fully understand the perspective. It seems like most people have the mindset of solid person, but not the right coach for our university. If you look at on field results that is a fair statement. I'm gonna need some receipts of non-blurred posts for people who have been actively hostile about what's occurred.
If we had 1/2 of Clemson's success that would still be the highest point of ANY VT team. We are looking for a guy that will bring us to the highest of highs. Beamer almost got us there, and did his damndest to try and keep us there. If we were the value-less mercenaries that you're making us out to be, Fuente would have been fired 2 years ago and we'd be figuring out if the current coach would be the one for us to move on with or move on from. 6 years is an eternity in college football, how many times do coaches get 3 and out now?
Good day, and I think you might need to take a look at your own values, rather than calling out others for simply being relieved that a long painful divorce has been finalized.
ok, we here have been pointing to exactly what needs to happen with VT Football (better recruiting, player development, QB, Offense, play-calling, marketing) and he hasn't been good at any of those for the last 3 years and as such the product on the field has been impacted. I think even Fuente knows that he didn't live up to his own expectations. Some of it might be hard-headedness. who knows, but he has to correct all those things at his next job if he is going to win.
CFB Arms race? In case you are unaware - we are way behind the blueblood when it comes to the Arms race and despite that we stay competitive.
Well, TKP is certainly moving in the wrong direction today on net-gained TKPC memberships.
Do you have a virtual tip jar for TKP? It's clear by the Hokie club thread people are throwing around great sums of money today. For those of us that have already fully dipped in TKPC, having a way for us to throw money at you for operating costs of the site might be a way around those TKPC losses.
This is a good idea. While some aren't able to justify/afford a full-fledged membership, they may be able to still assist the cause of TKP with smaller donations as able. This is an amazing platform 99% of the time and would hate to see it go under due to lack of funding. (not to say that is actively happening)
I'm in.
My strong hope is that once Whit announces the next head whistle, you will see a corresponding uptick in new memberships as excitement and curiosity for the new coaching staff builds. Hang in there Joe, better days are coming (that's what I am telling myself at least).
And oh yeah, there's something else popping 🍿 right around the corner. It's a great day to be a Hokie. Let's Go!
Is this satire? If not, you should be embarrassed by your incredibly naïve mindset.
Yeah, can't wait to see OP highlighted on @BoardGeniuses
A guy got hired to coach a team people care about, did a bad job, and people are happy he's gone.
99% of the commentary has been civil, most people aren't going after Fuente the *person* they're just glad he's no longer the head coach.
Thinking that people shouldn't be happy that there's been a (extremely necessary) change is dumb.
I was just about to tweet this at them.
#FireNobody
Perspective: The signs that things were not working have been around a couple years. I still believe we are different than other schools. We didn't let a coach go after 2 seasons (FSU, Washington). Fuente had 6 years. In those years we led the nation in Transfer Portal entrants. Had multiple head scratching losses. Claimed to be all about development, yet had a backup QB we didn't trust to throw the ball.
I feel for Fuente. I think he is generally a good guy and did care about the team. Yes it sucks to lose your job, but the reason college football coaches get paid this much is because there is a high risk/reward. He knew that this was the most likely outcome. The odds of having back to back coaches retire, based on their own call, was slim.
I wish him good luck. He will get a job elsewhere and I hope he takes heart the lessons he learned while he was here.
Upvote for sharing your opinion. I disagree. I donate and help pay his salary, and have a right to voice my opinion if he does not do his job. He was paid a big salary to fund the athletic department by winning games and bringing in more fans and donations. In my opinion he was not being successful, and in not doing so was causing financial harm to the university, its other athletic employees. I do not think he was successful in serving many of the student athletes who came to play at VT, or in bringing in the type of player we want to represent VT on the football field. I am glad he and Whit were able to mutually agree to part ways.
This is, hands-down, the weirdest, most self-entitled, grandstanding, tone-deaf, ridiculous fuckin' 'hot take' I've ever read on TKP. And that goes back to lurking for quite some time before ever even creating an account, let alone joining TKPC.
So us getting so close to the mountaintop and falling heartbreakingly short in '99 - if you recall those years, was that not a temporary high for us followed by a hollow feeling now compared to where we were then? The only thing different between us and Clemson since then, is how hollow that NCG trophy case still is in Merryman compared to the number of times Clemson has filled theirs since then. I would *gladly* play whatever 'game' it is that gets this program back on the right track and back to its winning ways to experience a little bit of the joy their fans must have felt with those championships. As a long-suffering BoSox and Eagles fan for *years*, I know how it feels, and I'd love to feel that same joy for my alma mater's football team.
So because Whit did what was best for the team, and the program in general, you're going to take your ball and go home and deny your financial support to the current and future kids in this program that those donations could help? That's absolutely batshit reasoning, my man. I'm sorry if I'm coming off as harsh, but because someone made a move that you disagree with, which in light of everything that has occurred is the proper move to get this program back to where we all want it, you're pulling support at a time when it's probably most-needed? Especially financial support? You're not hurting us other fans out here by doing so, you're just hurting the kids on the team you claim to currently (formerly?) support with your actions.
I could keep going, but I'm ranting at this point and it probably sounds like I'm attacking you rather than your points, so I'll just shut it off at this point. But if this is the type of reaction you were looking to get out of people by announcing your departure at the gate, a rise out of folks so to speak, then congratulations on the spectacular bait. I took it. Enjoy following whichever team you can find who decides to stick with their current coach for 20 years in this current 'arms-race' landscape that is college football.
This is the second worst IMO. The infamous "ima speak the damned truth" post was the worst.
At least that was weird/drunk-ranty enough to be meme-able.
This...is just a tantrum.
I certainly understand the sentiment that the author of this post is trying to convey to the readers, and as someone who lost his job to outsourcing (India) back in 2003, I get it. I kinda hated myself for wishing Fuente would be fired, but at the end of the day, the man chose to keep his friend as OC instead of parting ways with him and keeping everyone else on his staff employed. I hope that part of his buyout will go to the other coaches and support staff, but that is a separate matter entirely. I would also be remiss if I didn't point out to people that Coach Fuente was given 6 YEARS to get the job done and make this program his own; this is unheard of in today's world of college athletics. I'm sorry it didn't work out and I'm not proud to be happy the man is gone from VT Football. But I am also hoping that he finds another job somewhere else and rebuild his reputation as an offensive minded coach. In all honesty, the guy sounds like a stand-up dude who is loyal and represented the university well. I hope the author of this post returns and consider these points. Hokies can disagree with one another and still find common ground in their love for Virginia Tech. Go Hokies.
Bro don't be leaving out our female members, this should read Afternoon, Ladies and Gents.
And those among us who may not identify as either. Hokie Nation is all inclusive. I think I've even seen a few Hoos running around here.
k bye
Yo, f off. I'll take the "short-term" high (see below) that Clemson experienced, along with its great players instead of the BS we endured or for matter of fact the highs of the highs during Beamers career of which I was a student from 1999-2004. Also, I hardly feel one ounce of sympathy for anyone who got fired after making $20M and will get paid near $9M to do nothing if he wants the next 2 years. Do you feel the same sympathy for CEOs of public companies who are far more intelligent and accomplished than a football coach?
National Champions: 2016, 2018
Playoff Appearances: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
National Championship Appearances: 2016, 2018, 2019
ACC Champions: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
ACC Atlantic Division Champions: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
I hope you don't ever fall off that horse of yours because that's a long way to fall
Bro this must be a troll, we are talking about college football. You have to WIN GAMES. The less fans have Emotions the less REVENUE for the university. Fuente and others can get a job with a private company and not have to worry about winning games anymore if he wants.
Leg for Kacey
Also, OP is just blowing smoke
I mean, I'm not gonna downvote, but Fuente just took a lump sum payment of $8.75 million for doing a sub-par job. He's not gonna go hungry, if he wants one, he'll have another job next year (maybe not as a P5 HC), but he will get back to being a HC within a couple of years.
What was the alternative, ride that contract out for the next 3 years and just not re-sign him? You know what the damage to the program, VT, and Blacksburg businesses could have been? Yikes.
Now, you maybe just don't like the in-season firing, he had the opportunity to stay on and finish it out. He chose to take that $8.75M and bounce. It is an arms race. I'm not satisfied with .500 seasons.
Bye.
I have a question:
What exactly did you expect to happen here today?
Because if your expectation was that this fanbase would, upon Fuente's firing, sit shiva for a few days and reflect on the situation before commenting on Twitter and message boards, then I hate to tell you that the modern-day tribalism that is College Footbaww fandom probably just isn't for your "different perspective."
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 This has to be one of the more ridiculous things I've ever read. This is big time college football not the neighborhood summer swim team. The introspection needed here is maybe you don't have what it takes to be a sports fan.
Feel free to wait for Radford to field a football team, they seem much more your speed.
Perhaps by then, you will have removed your head from your ass. C'mon man
I liked the other part of your comment
want me to put it back
I didn't get to read it, so.... Yes
done for my mans Reese
It looks better this way, my fellow beard.
Shane Beamer can still vivdly recall angry fans screaming at his dad in Lane Stadium on November 21, 1992.
Fans often called their home phone, telling them to pack their bags and get the heck out of Blacksburg.
Is your perspective based solely on visibility? Was this a historical perspective, or nostalgic?
It is documented that a lot of individual's recollection of the past is remembered better than it was. We forgot the bad things and hang onto the good.
Along those lines, I remember reports of Sean Glennon's parents getting abusive phone calls when he was struggling. Love or hate the guy, that's some bush-league shit right there. Sadly this is not new, but thankfully (hopefully?) it's a small if very vocal minority.
Considering Glennon was an asshole in person while at VT (personal experience), this isn't surprising. He did himself no favors being as cocky as he was.
We lost to Liberty.
Liberty Biberty
I have seen some stupid/ borderline inappropriate takes on social media....but that's kind of how it goes in that even idiots have a voice now. I started out reading the post like "okay, I get it", as I have thought that there is a segment of the fan base that has become irrationally toxic. However, I don't think that represents TKP as a community, especially when you read how many posts over the last few years have said it's purely a business decision (winning) and that we generally feel Fu is a good guy. This guy had me at first but quickly went up the ivory tower and I was out.
Fuente isn't a cashier at Chick Fil A. He's a P5 football coach who took what was clearly going to be a difficult job and was paid, on average, over $3M/year for 6 years and got an additional $8.75M payout. In 6 years he has made almost $27M dollars. Do I like CFJ as person? Absolutely, I think he's a fine person. Do I think he's a great HC for VT. No. Do I hope he finds happiness in the future? Absolutely. Do I think he's down and out after making almost $27M in 6 years. No. He's going to be just fine. Corny on the other hand... IDK.
Cashier's at CFA are actually personable though.
This post ranks up there as one of the worst takes ever posted to this site, and I've seen some doozies.
I'm not going to down vote or up vote, but just share my own perspective.
I think what I'm seeing today (my perspective) is an AD declaring to his fanbase that we take football seriously and we don't consider .500 to be a great year. I came up as a fan in the '90s as well, albeit late ('98). I felt then and still feel that we have something different to offer, but I also understand and appreciate that this is a business and not making changes (even when things are going great) regularly leads to stagnant program. I think a large portion of us felt things were going great with Frank until suddenly they were not, and by then the program was already behind the curve against the new and renewed power programs.
I can't speak for the other comments, but I can probably safely say that was a part of the Twitter mob that Whit so eloquently referred to last December, and a very small minority of the fanbase speaking the loudest with some rather questionable commentary (i'm putting it lightly).
The other perspective - people get fired or let go from their jobs for underperforming. It happens, and quite honestly should be expected. I've seen a ton of comments from this immediate community today THANKING Fuente for his hard work and wishing things could have worked out better. It didn't, and both parties (Fuente and Whit) agreed that it was time to move on. You can't even consider that a firing - that's a mutual agreement that the employment was no longer working out. The mutual agreement also comes with a freakin' huge safety net for Fuente, AND he leaves on decent enough terms that he's still a viable candidate for a HC position. So yes, he may be technically unemployed, but he's also just hauled-in annual payments for the next several years that come close to matching his until-today-salary. In short, his quality of life isn't changing.
Not to nitpick as your perspective is spot on. If I am to believe what I read on The Athletic, the negotiation took his quarterly $10M payout down to a lump sum of $8.75M. That's a pretty penny in one payment.
No worries and I appreciate the correction - I made the assumption he was still going to get the installments. This makes things even more financially beneficial to Fuente... If only everyone were this lucky with their severance.
Hopefully it also means that some big time donors have stepped up to help facilitate this. It is nice knowing that our future budget won't have this constantly lingering over it. Our pockets are lighter today, but it just means we can pay our bills knowing we don't have that hammer waiting at the end of each quarter (or whatever it was)
There's probably a little time value of money stuff going on. My Engineering Econ Processor (Dr. Sullivan) would be proud! 🤣
I, for one, can never remember announcing my departure. Even at an airport. Who does that.
The hell is going on here.
Most of the posts I've seen on here have been (1) happy that we made a move that most thought needed to happen and (2) happy that even though it looked great but didn't work out, the man himself represented the university well even in extremely tough times where I'm sure even the most emotionally intelligent people would have found it challenging to maintain their professionalism.
Either way, I can support the program and associate with its advocates. As such I am not cancelling my TKP membership, nor my annual donations or ticket purchases.
I realize that this is of no concern to anyone else. But I wanted you to hear my perspective.
Justin is that you?
No. My name is Chad Bornelsen.
🤣🤣🤣. 👍👍👍. 😂😂😂.
Gawd, I can't stop laughing...
+1,dude.
Smh . Everyone in the nation knew this day was coming but we can't talk about it on here lol. You will "leave " but I guarantee you will create another account and still lurk . Good luck finding a better VT fan base website .
I'm gonna bet OP is one step ahead of us
jwithrowa0
Dude just announced he was going to stop supporting a small business from his high horse because we were being mean to a millionaire losing his job. No mention of the people that this coaching change will actually affect.
What a bizarre read? Is this real?
OP describes himself as a philosopher in the bio.
Wahoo troll?
I hope they are not in the business of molding young minds. Cause shoooooweeeee that post is an absolute doozie.
Kantian Futilitarianism?
What does OP expect? These values he talks about and How Virginia Tech is supposed to be different....does that mean we're just supposed to let Fuente keep coaching until HE decides he's not up to the task and HE decides he sucks too much?
That's not how it works anywhere, much less VT. Frank went 2-10-1 with 8 of those losses being by less than 1 score and then turned around and won the Independence Bowl, which was a much bigger deal back then. Fuente blew the streak against UVA, followed that up by blowing the bowl streak, and then had another turd of a season. T....for time to leave.
TLDR:
We all get there eventually I suppose.
Maybe the OP has a federal government job where you have a better chance of losing your job by dying, instead of being fired for performance.
HEY. As a Fed...I hate those people, too. Just gotta know how to work the system. Document and detail.
Fuente and his family are walking away with more money than my family and I will see in my lifetime, and I'm supposed to feel sorry for him?
Sit your simple, entitled ass the fuck down and get some motherfucking real world perspective.
Actually, just GTFO.
What's that? Already leaving?
Shit, son. Let me help you pack and drive your ass to the motherfucking airport post haste.
While I'm doing that, I hope Papa Joe changes the locks and the wifi password, paints over the tick marks where we marked your growth, donates all your turkey legs to the poor, cuts you out of all the family photos, *gives your original NES and all your games to your shitty cousins who promptly destroy them, gives all your baseball cards to French, and turns your room into a Hokie cave, a gameroom, study, nursery, anything under the sun other than your fucking room,
So long. Farewell. Auf wiedersehen. Goodmotherfuckingbye.
Tchuss, bitch.
Sincerely,
AssPocketFullOWhiskey
*May or may not be based on actual events.
This seems oddly specific personnel pain lol
I have no idea what you're talking about. /s
I agree 100%!! I am done too.
As of right now, I'm officially canceling my Blockbuster membership from this day forward and will no longer be associated with that company due to our so called "fans" morally reprehensible views on cheese, mayo and pie v cake v burrito.
I have only one thing to say to you all.... How dare you. How dare you force me to do this and anonymously announce it formally here in such a self-aggrandizing manner that clearly demonstrates my moral superiority.
To Blockbuster, it's been fun but, nah, we done now. It's not you, It's not me. It's them.
Wait. Just how long have you been in China?
We may need to talk about some things.
Are you trying to tell me they changed their membership policy?
Fern...my man. I don't know how to tell you this...
Can we get a grief counselor in here? Is there a grief counselor on the plane?
He might be closer to the last one than most of us. Bend Oregon.
I take it you weren't a geography major?
Anything west of Iowa is the other side of the world.
Shanghai is over 5,800 miles from Bend, Oregon. Pretty sure most of us are closer than that.
/s thought that was obvious come on man.
No offense, HF, but you're not exactly known for your sarcasm. But fair enough.
Lol Sheldon made a bazinga on you right there
wait... what in the actual....
no... no....
+1 Leg for giving me a flashback of jogging to my local Blockbuster store to return a couple of VHS movies...😅.
For a minute there, I thought I'd gone to TKP ... only to have landed in Twitter.
Some people get mad because they got sticky during sex. This person must be a lot of fun at parties.
That girl my freshman year roommate brought back one night certainly did.
Spill it. Now. Need to know the story.
Well since you asked.
I went to sleep somewhat early after pulling an all nighter the night before. A couple hours later I wake up to sounds of my drunken roommate and a girl having fun. Thankfully the lights were still off so I just kept my eyes closed praying for it to end quickly. Because there was no way I could gracefully get out of my loft, get pants on and slip out without it being majorly awkward. Thankfully it did end quickly, but then girl says "ewwww I have sticky fingers". I was both grossed out and fighting off laughter. She got out of bed and washed her hands for awhile before they both left again. I went down the hall to a buddy's room to have several beers because no way I could go back to sleep.
That was pretty good. I guess college is where many people find out that the act of intercourse usually involves some clean up afterwards.
I find most people who have and/or push strong opinions on a matter are also the same ones who refuse to listen to anything which opposes said strong opinions and is also quick to pass judgment and flex their "moral superiority" solely based on their own misguided interpretation of what other's opinions might be.
Pardon my Germanic, but fuck that guy. Let him wallow in his own created self pity. His $8 donation to the program in the form of a turkey leg purchase at the Richmond game won't be missed. And I'm pretty sure any future insight he would provide on TKP wouldn't be worth my thumbs strength to continually have to scroll past.
I'm glad that this post is at -70 at time of me writing this comment. It gives me hope that the majority of TKPers are people who celebrate and strive for excellence. Celebrating and embracing mediocrity and pretending that is the virtuous thing to do is NOT something I can ever get on board with!
I don't get to keep my job for being mediocre. I don't get an $8.75M buyout for being mediocre. I'm glad Fuente is a good human being and made good connections with a lot of the players. The players will value that relationship and the journey they had with Fu. For many of the players, that will be of greater value than winning. But not everything lasts forever, because that journey was made possible by donors. And donors believe that is possible to have a coach that is a good human, has good relationships with players, fosters young men on their collegiate journey, and can do all of that while winning the Coastal Division.
So, on with it! Next man up! Let's try to find us a coach that can do all of those things. Current players, Fuente, staff, everyone will enter next chapter and their journey's will continue. May they strive for and achieve excellence in this next chapter.
I sure don't want to engage in personal attacks, but a lap through their bio on this site, starting with how they're a Radford grad, provides some insight on the person who dropped this gem.
Acting like they're the moral gatekeeper for Hokie fandom because they were a fan in the '90s. Lol.
My family started going to Blacksburg sometime before WWII. My parents got there in '68. I graduated in '09 and lil sis in '11.
Wut?
Everyone has made appropriate comments around why the fan base is happy we are entering a new era. Also, ample comments have been made about pocketing $8.75M for sitting on your donk the next two years. My question: why vindictively announce your departure? Do you have a right to be heard in this manner? Are you hoping for constructive change based on what you posted? Or is this a rant by someone who maybe believes their own story a bit too much?
Wut.
Maybe I'm too young, but I would love to be paid millions of dollars to be mocked by internet forums and fan chants while taking a college football team to 5-7 records. Then afterwards getting paid $9 million to go away. But regardless it's not like fans haven't always been like this either. I was around forums (not TKP obviously) in the early-mid 2000s with the same vitriol and teeth-gnashing.
I mean I remember instances of actual non-sarcastic arguments about wanting to fire Beamer in the mid-late 2000s because he didn't do good enough recruiting nationally to get us to blue blood status and that we needed to go bigger. Today we are whining about a team being 5-6 every season and losing to FCS/G5 teams semi regularly. I feel the latter is a far more reasonable thing to be upset about
At the end of the day you're always going to have passionate fans in these kind of places who want to scrutinize every aspect of a program. If you don't want to deal with it find a group of fellow hokies and hang out with them in person to talk about it. Everything on the internet tends to be more blunt and scathing, partially due to the fact that everyone's comments are in text form.
you suck!
well, I gave you the internet mocking. someone else needs to cover the millions. I will give you a leg though🦃🍗
Start a YouTube channel.
*onlyfans
Nooooooo...didn't we go thru this w French previously??
OnlyFrench