Coaching changes for the #Hokies:Defensive coordinator Chris Marve, offensive line coach Ron Crook and strength coach Dwight Galt are out.— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) December 12, 2024
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File that under things I did not expect to see. Wow.
BREAKING! 🚒🚨
Okay well those were all needed.
Color me nervous to have yet another OL coach.
Me too, but the performance of the OL was so inconsistent and was trending backwards. They couldn't bring him back. I have heard some rumblings that his removal may help them retain some OL but not sure the veracity of those rumors.
Veracity is a great word
Veracity that!
Probably depends on the replacement.
Well at least there will be yet another OL to go along with it.
Be interesting to see if whoever they bring in can bring some experienced guys with him as well. Even if we can retain some of the portal dudes, we need overall/startable talent.
Wow, we did the thing. That must've been one hell of a meeting Pry and Whit had.
"Let's just pretend you're Frank Beamer, and this is 1992."
Sugar Bowl '27 here we come!
I know it's a Weaver move, but give JC a chance at DC.
He's earned it.
I want JC to have success, but this isn't the move right now. Maybe he can take that role at Marshall if the new DC doesn't want to retain him.
Sorry, but I want an experienced coordinator even if it is from a non-P4 school. Don't get me wrong, love JC, but now is the time to bring in someone that has done it before. JC promotion would just be a Hamilton redo and we deserve better.
I am willing to bet he is doing exactly what he wants to do and doesn't have aspirations to be DC.
"I'd crawl on my hands and knees to be the defensive line coach at Virginia Tech"
Let's gooooooo!
Pry sounds suspiciously like dcWilson. Coincidence? I think not.
Well, our portal makes a lot more sense now.
Perhaps this is the reason for the defense guys heading to the portal?
We are so back!!
When does the season start?!?!?
2030
Thanks for the lol
Welcome
Too bad Belichick was hired at UNC need be a great DC for us.
Maybe get Tom Coughlin to come be DC.
Seems to have Belichick's number.
If we can wait until January 26th I can ask him when he come to watch his granddaughter play flag.
The OC is still around, how'd that happen?
Because he wasn't that bad...scored enough points to win in most games minus Clemson
How can you look at this season and seriously think that Tyler Bowen isn't a bad OC? He is the reason we were in all of our games this year
Yeah he found creative ways to score behind one of the worst lines in P4
I mean, to be fair, he did have 4ish wtf games this season.
But I more/less agree
I don't think Bowen is a Rockstar or anything but I think it's too risky to overhaul the entire staff. If I had to pick which coordinator to fire I'm firing Marve 100% of the time. You know what you've got with Bowen. Roll with that while the defense gets figured out. Reevaluate next year. Unlike Marve, Bowen has shown flashes and improvements
He's also shown creativity and he can adapt his offense to get the most out of backup QB's. Not perfect but he's way ahead and more competent than Marve.
Bowen comes into a game with a game plan and that shows
He watches film and determines how to attack teams
Offensive SP+ has increased every year he's been here.
He makes half time adjustments
He did this all being hamstring with a bad oline.
Yes some times he calls a real head scratcher of a play for seemingly no reason.
Compare that to the guy that coaches the worst part of the defense, can't make halftime adjustments, has seen SP+ go down every season, all while having an 2nd team AA pass rusher seems like there's no question
Also Bowen is a major recruiter. Lose Bowen and you lose most of your QB room.
I want to see Bowen's offense with a slightly serviceable OL.
In my opinion I think we saw definite improvement over last year and as the season progressed.
He has some imagination and apparently has decent recruiting skills.
I think his seat is one of the least hot.
He also was having to deal with injured players at QB and RB. Considering he was able to get production from 3 different QBs, that seems impressive to me, especially given our OLine.
I mean, we put up at least 21 points in every game except Clemson. While not great, it's pretty consistent. And a lot of other games we had over 30. Plus, I'd love to see what he can do behind a GOOD line. Also, there were a couple games where our receivers were dropping a lot of passes. Were those some of the 4? It's gotta be hard to scheme for receivers not catching the ball (imagine me rolling my eyes so hard I'm giving myself an aneurysm).
Eight games over 30.
Yeah, I was feeling too lazy to count, but that's pretty good and fairly consistent. Like I said in above - I'd like to see what he could do with a good line, how many points he could put on the board. I mean, I remember under Fuente, there were a lot of times we'd have the ball inside the 10 and couldn't convert.
Speaking of - if I'm remembering that correctly, and Vice was our OLine coach, I'm not sure he'd be the best to get.
Edit for clarity, more specifically, we'd be on the goal line and our line couldn't get the push to cross the line. I remember that happening several times, against different teams. Maybe that's Hilgart, maybe it's Vice, but at least this year we converted on most goal line appearances.
Coach Vice is on his way to Purdue with the UNLV staff that was hired. His daughter just committed to play volleyball there. (Top 10 volleyball program).
Literally the best offense we've ever had.
1999 team would like a word: 41.4 PPG; granted some of that was D and ST scores but still...; (looked it up- O score
49 TD and 17 FG (17-22 FG and 56-57 XP for Graham); 1 punt return TD, 4 fumble return TDs and 3 pick sixes; so offense totaled 394 of 455 reg season points; or 35,8 ppg of 41.4 total ppg;
And while our 10.4 ppg allowed scoring defense, 76ypg allowed rushing defense and 171 ypg allowed passing defense undoubtedly helped give short field often, the offense did rush for over 250 ypg(5ypc avg) and throw for about 198ypg(18. 6 ypc avg)( and had positive rushing yds of 32 vs neg rushes/sacks of 309 so OL clearly did their job(opp #s were 1488 pos rushing and 653 neg rush/sack yd for net 76 ypg rushing allowed).
Didn't look up all the stats for this year but though they were best recently but certainly not all time
It's insane that our defense and special teams averaged nearly 6 points per game. Imagine having that now.
People tend to forget that it wasn't JUST the special teams play that defined Beamerball; it was that ALL THREE units SCORED; not just interceptions but pick-sixes; not just forced fumbles but scoop and scores; not just blocked kicks but blocked kicks resulting in safeties or TDs
From an old maroon effect game:
That was my favorite maroon effect shirt ever. Wore it until it fell apart.
same - I still have mine and it has holes in the pits
My favorite maroon shirt I wore from '94 until now to every game I went to finally got too shabby to continue to serve me. Well, though, it did. '95 and '99 Sugar Bowls, UVA games home and away, etc. It was sad and saggy, so away it went just the other day. It was a really nice shirt and I'll miss it bowl day.
Edit: One thing that will never, ever be retired or disposed of is my "WUCK THE FAHOOS" button I bought from a dude with a bucket full on the way to a game back in the '80s. I mean, some things never go outta style.
I miss Beamerball.
One of the best.
Yep- still have that shirt!
I remember as a freshman in 03 being excited when the defense took the field because it felt like we had a better chance of scoring than the offense.
I definitely remember that feeling.
Man '01 was worse. That Miami game was insane. I think our defense/ST outscored the offense
I saw a stat on Instagram this week that if the 2001 Miami offense never scored, that team would still have gone 8-4. I did not verify that stat, but if true, absolutely insane.
Without question the greatest collection of college football talent I have ever seen personally, and likely the best college football team of all time. They were absolutely loaded.
if I recall correctly, 2013 FSU had all starting 22 get drafted. Which is wild.
This is under debate. 2019 LSU is the most potent offense I've ever seen (yes, I know 2020 Alabama broke all of their records, but you can't tell me that Bama QB was nearly as good at Burrow)
2001 Miami, 2013 Alabama, 2019 LSU are among the greatest teams ever. 1995 Nebraska, 1974 Oklahoma are at the table as well.
1995 nebraska is the greatest team ever and its not particularly close.
2020 comes with an asterisk because of the pandemic
I hadn't heard that stat about 2013 FSU that's pretty wild.
There are certainly a lot of ways to look at it. The 2019 LSU was probably one of if not the most potent college offense I've seen as well. As far as just an assembly of dominant talent that went on to also be dominant in the NFL, I have to go with the 2001 Miami team if looking from that perspective. From that team, 17 FIRST round picks, a 38 total draft picks, and a combined 43 Pro Bowls as of 2013. That's pretty dang impressive.
And we were a dropped 2 point conversion away from OT with them
And a QB that went 4 of 16, 81 yards, 4 INTs, and one fumble. Give us some halfway decent QB play, and we win in a walk. =^/
That was Wilford wasn't it? I remember watching from the NEZ.
Not really related, but didn't Jimmy Fallon have a show at Burruss that night?
Yeah, it was Wilford - I was in the east stands, freshman year.
No idea about Fallon though
My VT brother in law was at that game and had season trickers for years and attended many a game. He said that after the blocked kic, scoop and score, it was easily the loudest moment in Lane that he ever witnessed. He said the tone was surreal. That it became this single, laser type constant noise ringing in his ear.
feel like we've all had these for years now....
VT football's big game of "tricker treat"
I agree with him
He's right. It's hard to explain just how loud it was, but it's the loudest I have ever heard a crowd be at a sporting event. And you really had to be there, it didn't translate on TV at all when I watched it back.
I could tell it was something out of this world in the way he explained it. Til this day, I wished I could have been there for first hand point of reference.
Yes. Loud. Very loud. I took a friend that was a big Ohio state fan and he remarked he had never seen such.
It was chaos, pandemonium....choose a word.
The stands shook uncomfortably and the noise was glorious.
Yeah, it was insane. It was pretty cool cause my dad ran track at Miami for 2 years, but once I got into tech he was VT all the way. I was able to get him a ticket for it too, his first live college football experience
I remember seeing Adam Sandler at VT then. I remember this because he cracked a joke about Wilford dropping that 2-pt conversion and the crowd booed Sandler for that joke. We stood up for our fellow Hokie.
I remember that joke. You sure it was Sandler? I thought it was Fallon. I remember he was late and they got a local guy to come in and he was pretty bad. I was running on high octane but I definitely remember the Wilford joke and response.
I saw Adam Sandler at VT. That was in 1997, not 2001. I tried searching to see if he ever came back and Google was not helpful.
I might be crazy, but I remember the joke and the booing, and I'm pretty sure it was Norm Macdonald.
That does fit in with Norm's typical style.
I was around then, at the game as well. But I don't remember the comedian, though I definitely remember hearing and reading about the joke, but I don't think it was any of the above, but it was a good while ago.
Same here, best I've ever seen with my own two eyes. And yes, as was pointed out right above me, that game was one of the bigger what-could've-beens in VT history
That looks right! They would've lost 21-9 to Pitt (only 3 FGs), 27-14 to FSU (pick 6 and fumble recovery TD), 24-12 to VT (that game was pain), and 14-10 to Nebraska (pick 6 and FG).
I only removed offensive TDs. FGs plus defensive and special teams TDs are counted.
That is wild. It was incredible seeing how many pick 6s, punt returns, and fumble recovery TDs that team had. I guess that's what happens when your entire defense is borderline NFL All-Pro talent.
They were also paying the entire team under the table at a time when that was very illegal.
Not illegal, just against NCAA's antiquated rules. And let's be real. Everyone was paying players. Some schools just paid more players more money than others.
It was illegal, there were no taxes paid on any of those payments. NCAA rules created a black market.
Yep- no show jobs are illegal. Tax evasion, racketeering. That's what Oklahoma and SMU were doing back in the day.
That's the student athletes not paying taxes on the money/benefits they received. What the bag men for the schools did wasn't illegal. You're allowed to give someone money or a car for whatever reason. It was just against NCAA rules.
"You're allowed to give someone money or a car for whatever reason"... no you are not. You can gift a car to a family member, yes but all states have rules around title transfers in terms of taxes, etc. If I "give" you a car worth a certain value, you must pay taxes on it. etc. Also there are laws against certain amounts of gifted money as well. Tax law.
Ha fair enough. Can you tell I've never had this is sort of money to gift/donate?
Now that I'm looking it up instead of just talking out my ass, it appears that if you donate below a certain amount then it isn't taxable (I think $15k). But that's not the case for a gold TransAm or $500k lump sums.
I always find this to be a fascinating conversation. The NCAA made this rule that student athletes couldn't be paid so schools couldn't compensate/pay them directly for their efforts (which would have been legal). So instead this black market that includes tax evasion on gifts develops.
For what it's worth, you could give $18,000 per year to someone in 2024 and it is now $19,000 for 2025 according to the IRS website.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/frequently...
"The annual exclusion applies to gifts to each donee. In other words, if you give each of your children $18,000 in 2024, the annual exclusion applies to each gift. The table below shows the annual exclusion amount applicable in the year of the gift.
Annual Exclusion per Donee for Year of Gift
2011 through 2012 $13,000
2013 through 2017 $14,000
2018 through 2021 $15,000
2022 $16,000
2023 $17,000
2024 $18,000
2025 $19,000"
I verified it, they would have lost to
Pitt 21 - 9
FSU 27 - 14
VT 24 - 12
Nebraska 14-10
These 4 teams are also the only ones to score more than once against them
I was curious about 2021 UGA because they were insane on defense. They were 6-7-2 with only a single defensive TD.
So the other 6 games they would've won they scored on special teams?
Yes FGs only
EDIT: it was a stark contrast to UM 2001 that scored every way, kick returns, blocks, interception, fumbles, passes, rushes. And the UGA is basically inside the 5 they ran it otherwise it was Bennett throwing a TD.
Drink
The challenge with filling the DC is that Pry is going to run his defense, so you have to look at similar scheme folks.
Options:
1) Anthony Poindexter is the Co-DC at PSU and was the DB coach under Pry
2) Bud Foster (not going to happen but would love for him to take a Jerry Kill type role.)
3) Pry takes over calling the defense, which requires a senior advisor to oversee and self scout the offense
Other names?
Have heard some rumblings and got a text from a friend that Bud may be returning to the staff in some capacity. Don't know if that's DC or a Jerry Kill-type role, if true.
From all I've read, I don't think we'd want him as DC anymore...not that he isn't the best to ever do it... but I don't want to see him drop dead of heart failure on the sidelines
I don't know. I've talked to him before several of the games this year and Bud is really enjoying life after coaching with the tailgating and especially the fundraisers/charity events he has been doing. I highly doubt he will back as a coach, but maybe a very part time film guy/gameplan guy.
Nobody better for that self scouting role if he wants to do it.
If we could just put Bud in charge of in-game adjustments it would be worth it.
My one gripe about Bud's "adjustments"? Mattie Ice and Bud's prevent defense in that one particular game. He was rankled about it being called that, but that's what it was and we lost a heartbreaker in no time at the end of the game because of it. That's about it, though. He's hard to criticize and I wish we could come close some day to his level of defensive coaching.
Let's be honest, while it's a fun thought, that's probably not the right call.
I don't think personally there's any way Bud comes back as DC. But I could see him in a Jerry Kill-esque advisor role. Sounds like behind the scenes there's a desire to get him more involved with the team again. But if Pry brings in an outside DC with a totally new scheme, all bets are off.
I would love to be able to get Poindexter! I could care less about the UVA ties and he would also probably be good for recruiting as well!
Hell, one of the best coaches currently on staff is a Hoo.
It would just about kill some people in Charlottesville.
Sign me up.
Steve Morrison at Bowling Green? Some Hokie connections there.
Stephen Belichick at Washington? I know.
Is there any chance he could let his system go and just hire the best available DC he can get and let him take control? Might be tough for the traditionally prideful type of person that takes up coaching and makes it to this level. But he already tried the hand picked "protege" thing. And we all know he doesn't need to be taking any more time from his game management training regiment he is hopefully implementing for himself.
I highly doubt it. His scheme was one of the best in the B1G. Scheme isn't the issue, but it was pretty clear Marve didn't have a good pulse for when to call pressures and the linebackers never seemed to be comfortable (which isn't shocking- Tisdale, Lawson, and Keller were all HS safeties that didn't have to fit blockers, and Woodson played outside.)
Pry has to find high upside recruits at WILL linebacker, and corner, and be better at safety. Poindexter makes sense because he was the DB coach and could take over safeties as a position coach (the worst position on the defense but with a couple of high upside young players in the pipeline with Reddish and Robinson), and then bring in a LB coach with some recruiting chops.
Pry takes over defense - hires assistant coach to do pesky in-game head coach duties
My completely blind, uninformed prediction is that they try to swing for a bigger name, miss, and end up picking Bob Shoop out of unemployment
Wowzers.....something that I didn't have on my Bingo card today!
Ryan Walters doesn't have a job yet. Let's make this happen.
Applaud the moves but this is only really meaningful if we bring in better replacements.
Can Pry do that...his track record hasn't been stellar in hiring so far.
#2 if we bring in another DC, more changes could be abound. While I never will root against a Hokie, Prioleau being "reassigned" wouldn't surprise me at all. Cheetah is quite replacable as well IMHO
I agree. This is only "Part A" of a two-part situation/process. Part B needs to be done right or else there will be no improvement.
Consider me surprised. I honestly didn't get the sense Pry was going to make any moves. Sounds like he must have been feeling some pressure behind the scenes, because this season was flat out unacceptable.
Well good goddamn
Scenario I would go crazy for:
Bud back with Torrian Gray as co-DC's (TG DC in waiting). Charlie Wiles back from State to work with JC on the defensive line. Then a couple other young up and coming recruiter types as well. (Bonus: Get Tapp back in the fold somehow maybe as associate head coach.)
Then more seriously, hire the best available OL coach around. Pay up for him. Don't waste time with Todd Washington or someone like that. Get the highest guy on the board and pay up
Not sure Whit will pony up the money for French
I will donate to the french coaching fund
I appreciate the sentiment, but even if I was a worthy candidate (I am not), it is much easier to know what the right thing to do at a position is versus teaching it.
I'm a Homer and went to school with him but Todd Washington did good things at University of San Diego with mediocre talent. Wouldn't write him off yet. His challenge to me wouldn't be X's and O's of blocking. His would be how is he as a recruiter. NFL experience can't hurt.
Joe Rudolph has some connections to the program.
I don't know why, but that part just once again proves Pry knows how to talk the talk. This is a step forward in walking the walk, but he needs to bring seasoned guys onto his staff for his own sake.
Also, with Marve being the LB coach, and most seemingly unhappy with the LB play, that part really makes sense.
When there were videos coming out of Pry working with the linebackers in his first season as HC, you could tell how pained he was with their practice performance. He kept saying "you are a linebacker, get up in there" when they wouldn't fit aggressively in the gap. Looks like the chickens came home to roost.
oof dont remember seeing this
WOOOO let's goooooo
Really need to get a quality experienced offensive line coach. Someone with a proven record of developing quality beef!
Randy Clements? I don't think Belichick will keep him at UNC
Definitely the right moves. Depending on the DC hired, there may be more changes to get his people in place.
Any chance Davis is the OL coach? He is currently listed as the co-OL coach. I guess that wouldn't be the solution to improving pass blocking.
So my only issue here is IF you were going to do this WHY did it take so long?
Experienced coaches have been going off the board already so losing two weeks of opportunities seems really short sighted. I am not surprised by moves being shortsighted but it is another frustration point.
You had to keep them through ESD. So I was expecting moves to happen early this week.
The other thing is Pry may have had the hard conversations already and been talking to potential hires already. Considering how the initial hires were kept very secret, my guess is everyone is very tight lipped about new hires. It's frustrating as fans since we're so eager to know everything, but it's probably for the best.
Damn you HF, what was wrong with my thread?
(/s)
BRING ME RYAN WALTERS
At least someone with any (hopefully successful) DC experience
BUT PLEASE BE RYAN WALTERS
That would be a big dick hire. He's literally the best guy on the board.
Firing underperfoming coaches is only half the battle. The real test will be how the replacements do. Pry's head coaching career is by all accounts depending on them being successful.
Considering he made the move, I assume he knows his job on the line and may be doing several things, like getting extra money for the hire from Whit, talking to prospective hires,etc. I hope his hires are "go big or go home" type hires.
Like they said in Shoresy - I hope they "back up the money truck" for a really good DC.
Isn't the saying "defense wins championships?"
Yeah, this is not the time for another first time DC experiment.
Nat thought the cure for losing was to pay a lot of money for a young flashy coach. What she really needed was veteran presence.
Except for JJ Frankie JJ. That guy was a liability for 3 seasons.
Call me sour but I don't want to see Bud as DC but if he wants to come back and advise or coach linebackers that's cool.
I'm honestly shocked we haven't had him doing this in some capacity already
He's living the good life and not having heart attacks.
Yep he is enjoying life right now.
I don't want to bring him back and jeopardize his health, but he is still around quite a bit for being retired. I'm surprised we didn't have him breaking down film after realizing the defense wasn't where it needed to be. Who knows maybe he was and it still wasn't helping Marve's game planning.
The biggest indictment on Marve was the stagnate linebacker play and the seeming inability to adjust to anything at halftime. Bud can gameplan during the week but he's not in that locker room making the adjustments.
Hell, seemed to me Bud used to make adjustments after the opening drive and lock people down.
I remember always being able to trust Bud's halftime adjustments to win us the game. I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop on a 10 point lead at halftime for 5+ years now.
Maybe Bud was the bug in Pry's ear telling him Marve wasn't cutting it?
I think Pry knows enough ball to see what's on the field. He basically called Marve out in the presser after Syracuse.
Yeah, I could see Bud being around as a mentor and providing suggestions for Marve and would do that for free. I wish Bud was younger and healthier, I'd love to have him back.
Bud as Linebacker coach would be fantastic
You're sour
lol he's the best DC to do it at the college level but with our roster the past 5 years his defenses would get torched by a modern rpo.
Now if him returning is gonna bring adibi, cam, all the fullers back through the door recruiting wise then sign me up.
Nick Sorensen, come on down!
Sorensen haters may finally get proven wrong tonight now that the Niners have some of their primary starters back for the first time this year. I don't know if he's going anywhere
I never understood the disrespect towards Sorenson from Hokie fans. Man was a jack of all trades and more than proved his worth. And as someone who is experiencing the emergence of shiny scalp where luxurious locks once grew, the man just has great hair to go with his sort of unique football talents.
Sorenson and Prioleau both stayed in the NFL long after many of the higher stars burned out. Heck look at Jeff King.
Agree with you about Sorensen, he was an exceptional defender and did the best he could as a QB
Breakin' 3: 3rd Down Stops
Not going to lie, when I first saw the headline I thought for a second that Pry was going to let them go and do this....
Could we get D Tapp from the Commanders? Coached under Saleh and Demeco Ryans before heading to DC.
1) I am surprised by this. Pleasantly surprised.
2) I have never been so happy to be so wrong. I really was convinced changes weren't going to happen if they hadn't happened yet.
3) Pry has taken a baby step in the right direction. I think he has correctly identified the biggest shortcomings in our coaching staff and these are the right folks to let go. However...
4) the next part is the hardest. Pry has to nail the replacement hires. He's a couple weeks behind the ball (unless he delayed announcing the hires until having the replacements already lined up behind the scenes)
I imagine he's going to take over the defensive duties for the bowl game. We probably aren't going to hear any solid news on the replacement hires until after bowl season (because, hopefully, the targets are coaching in January). I feel cautiously optimistic about this move. Pry needs to do better with this round of hires tho. We'll see. I think he just bought himself another year or so. Will be interesting to see how his new hires do on the recruiting front. Wild ride
I'd think he might want to get the new guy in for the bowl game. Get the players familiar with him and let him get some exposure in person rather than just watching film of our D. Plus, if there are some defensive players we want to keep from exiting via the portal, that might help keep them (I'm thinking Stroman). Plus, if he comes on board now, he might be able to get some players he wants in the portal as well.
Maybe. Seems unlikely to me tho. The amount of effort it would take to get a new coach on boarded and in the building and acclimated enough to start coaching in the next 3 weeks is insane. Plus, part of me hopes that the next DC is busy with his current team right now. If Pry is trying to get the new DC set up to coach the bowl game he needs to be announced yesterday.
Who knows, maybe we'll get a good one from a top program who doesn't mind coming early because a lot of his 5 star talent wants to sit out the bowl game to get ready for the NFL, so he doesn't feel as guilty if he leaves early. A guy can hope, right 😂
Lol. Here's a leg for hoping
I hope they're not busy with their team right now because I want it to be Ryan Walters
Wait, Ryan Walters, the Purdue head coach?
*former. Got fired a few weeks ago.
Former DCs who became a head coach and then got fired are usually really good DCs when they become DC again.
No coordinator currently coaching in the CFB playoffs is going to voluntarily leave after the season to take a step down to be DC at VT. If they were going to leave a playoff team it would be, at worst a lateral move to another playoff team that lost a coordinator or a to big name B1G/SEC team, or at best a step up to be a HC or an NFL job.
Oh no you mean we can't get *checks notes* Stacey Searels?
Next time, back load the pay.
Any OC who leaves after one year should have to pay back the year's salary.
Can we get Nic Cardwell?
Yooooo!!
Is Vice available now that Odom has moved on from UNLV?
Only bad part about firing Fuente was losing Vice imho
I was literally gonna come back here to comment "where is Vice these days?" Chaplin and Moore were Vice commits. I don't know if he's the best option, but we know he's at least decent.
Well. . . Vice is at UNLV. Who just lost Barry Odom and replaced him with Dan Mullen. So he might actually be available.
No way Vice comes back to Blacksburg.
Zero chance.
Vice is on his way to Purdue with Odom & Co
If i remember right, when Pry was assembling his staff - Galt was considered a pretty solid hire, was he not?
I think everyone was just excited that we poached someone from the PSU tree. I don't think anyone really had an informed take on it.
IIRC his dad was the big name and he had that reputation
He was an assistant s&c guy at PSU before being the head guy at ODU.
A known quantity for Pry to bring on, and good rep at the time.
Results matter though and we had DB's playing skinny and linebackers that gained zero mass 3 years into the system. Curious what the specific deficiencies/issues where that led Pry to move on.
I'm really curious about who Pry hires here. I think as a team we could use an attitude adjustment and Pry is probably feeling some heat. This is the guy that can light a fire under the players during the off-season.
Yeah, the team was clearly lacking their blue steel toughness. We need guys that will bring that back to instagram. Bring back Hilgart!
Hilgart? I want to say he did okay, but I seem to recall him not getting as much out of our players (and seemingly let all the players skip leg day). And I'm pretty sure most everyone on here was happy to see him go.
Pretty sure it's a joke
Not sure - I re-read and it's hard to tell - it seems genuine. I mean a lot of players put their bulking on Twitter or instagram and it looked impressive. But as someone said below, it didn't seem to translate on the field.
Can confirm it was a joke
Thank gawd - because I was over here like:
I think the general take was he was good at getting progress pics that looked impressive but didn't translate to the field.
Lol hilgartification was some of the weirdest stuff I've ever seen.
I just want us to set the tone. Let's get Shoresy, I think he's available.
I don't know if that's quite what we need. This isn't senior whale shit hockey.
I did not have people pining for Hilgart on my bingo card.
The man seemed to focus on adding mass. But, that mass didn't seem to translate to usable strength. Endurance and durability were also major concerns in his regime.
Beach body by Hilgart does not need to make a return.
The only thing Hilgart is fit to coach is the IFBB Pro division where they wear board shorts on stage because they don't really train legs.
Knowing we were going to lose every 3rd qtr may have been a factor
I'd say conditioning may have been part of the deal. I mean, part of the OLine deficiency may have been that we had big guys, that just weren't very strong. When our OLine is literally getting pushed around, I'd say our line needed extra leg days while lifting.
Who was the S&C coach under Beamer? He definitely seemed to get our players strong.
Edit: wrong, sorry. deleted
Believe you are mixing up your Mikes.
Mike Goforth, the athletic trainer who just retired, ran the physical therapy business.
Edit, deleted.
Yeah, it's a lot more likely the trainer would have a therapy business compared to a S&C coach.
Yep. And I lived there followed the Hokies like a religion, and I honestly can't believe I mixed them up. Still and all, I should not have brought up my personal thing and I intend to delete the post in fairness to all concerned.
Holy shit- he actually had the hard conversations we heard about.
Is it too early to start lying season?
Portal be dammed we're going undefeated next year
Always. And never. All at the same time
This is the most accurate answer tbh.
The fanbase to Pry:
Not at all surprised except in that it was 3 coaches. I was expecting 2. I also wasn't expecting this early.
Not unhappy as it's 3 areas of weakness.
Very happy with Pry right now.
Let's see who he has offered as replacements. I suspect he has 3 targets that have verbal commitments already or he wouldn't have pulled the trigger.
Plot twist, VT hires Stephen Belichick as DC!
OH FUCK WE DID SOMETHING
So I know that we want to get the best guy that we can and I know that these things normally take time, but I would assume that we would need to make a hire sooner, rather than later with it already being transfer season.
I wonder who is even available.
Pleasantly surprised and relieved to see all of the apparent biggest areas of need addressed at once (outside of possibly QB development) while maintaining some staff continuity. I'm still anxious that the replacement hires won't have enough experience to make an immediate difference on the field or help maintain excitement around the program for recruiting, but at least now there's some hope and Pry actually did what he needed to do.
Taking a moment to acknowledge the work those coaches put into the program and the fact firing people you like based on performance could not have been easy for Pry. I think whether or not he's able to make good enough staff hires remains the biggest open question for Pry as the head coach and his willingness to make changes was a very positive indicator he could still be successful at VT.
Pry had the hard conversation with Coaches and held them accountable. Nice to see Pry can make HC decisions and not just keep his buddies in a job.
Yep. Pretty refreshing. The hardest part of the job is firing guys you've built a rapport with and trying to hire replacements who will do a better job.
It gives me hope but this is only a baby step in the right direction. It's good to know that Pry has identified our biggest areas of need and made the tough decision. It's evident he's not making the same huge glaring mistake his predecessor made. I was worried it was going to be the same old story again. The story just got different.
To be fair, I think a lot of the angst on here about Pry being unwilling to make changes was based on our experiences with previous coaches, not necessarily based on Pry's actual actions. I know some people wanted everyone fired after year one, but I think that's not how you get good coaches to come work for you.
Agreed. But I also think that it was exacerbated by the firings not coming over the weekend. I know I expected coaches to be retained through signing day, but the additional few days had me worried.
Coaches want to win, too. They have resumes to build.... IF I were a coach looking to move up I'm looking at my colleagues and their ability to deliver on their assignments as well, and I'm not taking a job where my job is more difficult because I have to work harder to makeup for my colleague's ineffectiveness. Now as a potential incoming DC I'm looking at a team with 2 returning QBs and an offense capable of putting up 30+ points every week, and my job is just to keep the scoring under 4 TDs... Sounds like a decent place to land for an aggressive DC, at least on the surface.
Well at least Pry is showing that he gets it.
Now his work is cut out for him, but he's taken the first step. I'm hoping he can fix this thing, and quick.
He's going to have to write some uncomfortably big checks this year.
The size of the checks for this next round of hires will be very telling as to how committed the admin is to Pry's success at VT.
If they're saving for a rainy day, someone should tell them it's raining.
(Hopefully not) Whit:
Three crucial fires that he needed to make. While the offense and defense often traded off week to week on who would lose us a game, I do think by the end of the year the defense was the biggest issue.
I dunno man. Other than Clemson, the last time we lost a game that we didn't score at least 30 points in was way the hell back in September. If we're losing games and we scored 30 or more, I call that a problem with the defense.
Yep offense put up 27 points or more in 4 of the 6 losses. Clemson and Rutgers were the only exceptions.
Rutgers was squarely on Drones. The passes were there. He missed at least 6 or 7 balls that should've been completed.
I'm really curious to see what direction we go in for OL. Do we go and try to hire a big name OL coach, or do we promote Brent Davis? By all indications the team responded well when Davis stepped in and helped with the offense heavily in 2023. But I'm also torn because it seems like a typical lazy VT hire if we do that and don't at least interview outside candidates.
My idea would be to hire one of the best G5 O-line PFF grades coach and have him bring 60-80% of his starters/two deep.
If only it was that simple.
Can he recruit? Can he keep XC? We know he can coach so if he can, I'm in
Brent Davis was OC/OL coach for Army 2014-19. 7/9 of his Army teams were top 5 nationally rushing. Broyles award nominee. OC/OL at GA Southern 2010-13, #1 rushing FCS 2011-12 with 47pts/gm. 4 years OC at VMI, #1 Big South all 4yr. Paul Johnson triple option tree.
I honestly thought after the offensive turnaround in 2023 and Brent Davis implementing some of his option run concepts that we were going to see our offense evolve into a pretty interesting hybrid spread read option attack. But a lot of those option looks disappeared from the offense at the beginning of this year and we reverted to Bowen's preferred inside zone. I still think by design we tried to limit Drones' in the run game and showcase his drop back passing early on, and then it became evident that he just wasn't effective and the OL wasn't executing. If Davis does get the job I would be intrigued on how it impacts our run game moving forward. We know the guy can coach, no doubt.
but we essentially ran lots of this, we just called it "RPO"
Drones had as many passing attempts this season as TaQuon Marshall had in his whole QB career at GT under Johnson, yards were comparable too
pitch 5 yards in the backfield for a 5 yard gain != 10 yard slant
lane's 75 yarder last year vs wake was absolutely an "option play"
Yea of course his teams were top 5 rushing - GSU and Army both ran the wishbone those years.
$3 mil to buy those guys out? That is crazy mismanagement by Whit. That's $3 mil that could be spent on getting guys from the portal
No reason the buyout should be that high, none of those guys earned an extension after last year
Yeah extending the coordinators through 2026 after a 7-6 year was really premature. They never fully released the buyout language of these contracts, but sounds like it was 100% of remaining compensation. Marve would have been around $1.6 mil for his two remaining years.
If they get another job their salary offsets our buyout
I'm not 100% sure on that. Andy Bitter today on the TSL podcast said VT would basically just pay them out the remaining value of their contract. The assistant deals are under more simplified letters of appointment that don't have all the offsetting buyout language like the HCs. I know if the coaches themselves left for another job they owed some very small amounts back to VT, but very minimal.
My primary method of engaging with other VT fans is through (mostly observing) the conversation in these forums. Let's just say I've turned off the live chat in the YouTube press conference stream!
14 comments since 2011 but a TKPC member -- a true lurker! thanks for coming around :D
He made the decision to fire the coaches responsible for a lot of our issues. That has turned down the flame under his seat.
Now the replacements (and next year) will either turn down the flame further or light a second burner.
Pry gave a little insight into near term in his presser:
- Davis will coach OL for the bowl
- Quinn and Pry will coach defense and make decision on who calls defensive plays in the bowl closer to the game.
- Pry is "leaning on" Bud for some help through this transition
- Jarrett Ferguson will be interim S&C coach.
- There will be internal and external candidates for these positions.
He's bald and he's got a beard. He's got the S&C coach measurables down already.
He wasn't afraid to lower his shoulder then, and probably not now. Let the man teach
Xavier Adibi will be the LB coach for the bowl as well
Can he play in the bowl game?
Checking DC's eligibility standards...yes, yes he can!
I could see Quinn getting promoted to DC. He has 7 years experience as a college DC, at the FCS level, and a few years as a high school DC. If that's the case I would really like to see Pry take over linebackers full time and then hire an additional DLine coach. Price, IMO, has struggled to get a full seasons potential out of our DL and has not been as successful as he needs to be recruiting a position where talent is easily identifiable.
I don't think Pry gambles on a DC. If he thought Quin could do it from the beginning, why wouldn't he have hired him as the DC (I think Quinn was his first hire if I remember correctly).
I would be very underwhelmed if Pry goes with Quinn. I'm still hoping they back up the money truck for someone at DC. And they should do it soon so they can decide what staff they'd retain or if they'll clean house.
Idk if I agree with the first part. Hiring Quinn to be a position coach and putting a young up and comer to coordinator tracks with what he did on the offensive side with Bowen, Glenn, and Rudolph.
I'm totally with you on the second part
Put a different way, Pry thought an unproven up-and-comer would be better than Quinn as DC. To me that says something about a guy who has been a DC at multiple stops already. MAYBE he uses the bowl as an audition, but I just don't see it. Plus, we need someone that can recruit some serious talent. I don't think Quinn checks that box either.
Do we know Quinn did not want to be DC?
I didn't say he didn't want to be a DC - I'm saying Pry had more faith in an unproven guy than he had in Quinn, otherwise he would have just given the job to Quinn. Quinn has been a DC at like 4 different schools, and if Pry didn't think he'd be GOOD (again, because he thought an unproven guy would be potentially better), that doesn't make me feel like Pry has confidence in him being DC for us.
I wasn't clear.
I'm asking perhaps Quinn needed to step back into a position that required less responsibility for at least a while.
Family matters, medical. Not happy with that much responsibilities, permanent or temporary.
Ah, I see. I think I remember something along the lines of him being a position coach at Tech would pay more than his head coaching and DC gigs because the schools were so small. That and he'd get to work with his buddy.
Pry also talked about consulting with Bruce Arians. He has always won in the offseason with off-the-field things. The firings, the presser, and the things he said is a win. Would love if it could translate to winning one score games.
Pry is undefeated in the offseason. Top 5 active coach when it comes to offseason inspiration. He pushes hopium like Pusha T moves dope. Undisputed Offseason legend.
I... just need something... anything... to the keep high going once the season starts. I'll take recruits, commitments, wins, OL Pancakes, QBs hitting open targets... literally anything to keep the buzz alive through the season.
I talked to Bruce on two separate occasions right before and after the Rutgers game. Seems to be a Hokie through and through and I'm sure he could help us.
I'm almost never happy, and don't want to celebrate, when people lose their job. But sometimes you just have to get rid of terrible employees, and these changes had to be made. Let's wish them the best as they work towards their future and that they can be more successful. Let's also be optimistic that this will lead to improvements with our team going forward.
Yea... I felt that way with Stiney. But coaching salaries are different now. Marve should be set for life. He'll get an NFL job as an assistant linebackers coach, pull in 6-figures a year, throw $1.5m in some low risk index fund, and retire at 55 with $10mil in the bank.
Also, last night I was exhausted. Bedtime with the toddlers was getting difficult. I was getting discourage. One of my kids was puking an hour ago. And then I got this push notification that Marve had been let go. My mood instantly improved. I was all of a sudden in the zone.
Yes I'm ashamed someone's firing improved my mood that much but I also don't care.
The one thing about Stinespring is he could recruit. I don't know how he did it, but he brought in some really good talent for us. Would love to have him on the recruiting staff if he'd take it.
Nick Sorenson for DC
Todd Washington for OL
And anyone named Gentry for S&C
Would Sorenson step down from NFL DC to ACC DC?
Todd Washington expressed interest previously, is that same interest still there after being passed up before?
In the upside down world of college football, who knows?
We gotta stop limiting our searches to people already connected to VT
^^this^^
Thank you. Everyone is so afraid of coach turn over and wants a through and through hokie that will never leave. We need to hire the best candidate I don't care if they're from Alaska, never heard of VT, or are UVA alums, we're in a dire situation with no room for another questionably qualified candidate just because you can draw a line from them to VT.
Yup, the three new coaches have 2 years to get Pry an extension, another year at the new money to drive thee value a bit and then they can bounce, 3 years not a lifetime.
I don't think people are afraid of turnover; I think they're afraid that we can't afford someone unless they give us the hometown discount.
I also think part of it is that the fanbase doesn't know a whole lot of coaches outside of ones that played here.
Whatever the case, I expect the next DC to have a Pry and/or regional connection of some sort , but not an existing connection to VT.
One thought I'm thinking about more and more with DC - it sounds like Bud is going to be involved for the bowl game and is rumored to have a more involved role with the staff moving forward (maybe like an assistant to the HC/defensive Jerry Kill role). If we have that, I could see Pry going after Anthony Poindexter to be his DC. Dex isn't exactly a heavily experienced DC as compared with Shoop or Ash, but he has far more experience than Marve did and is familiar with Pry's system. With Bud potentially in the fold to assist with game planning that eases a lot of concerns as well. Plus, Dex could also coach safeties with PP reassigned to a more off the field role again. There were also a lot of rumors and reports that Pry was pursuing Poindexter to be his DC originally when he was hired. So there may be some smoke here if there were conversations previously.
The recruiting ties to VA keep making me think that could be a very high ceiling hire for us as well. If we can start pulling top tier regional defensive players away from PSU and Clemson, we can start to build ourselves into an ACC and CFP contender. There's certainly risk (as there is with all of these hires), but this could be a very high reward proposition. At a minimum, Dex is far more experienced and a way better recruiter than Marve, so it's an instant upgrade. And it would be a huge blow to dear old James at PSU, which hurts them and helps us. There's no way he can pay to retain Dex unless he makes him his outright DC, which he has been unwilling to do thus far.
I agree. Go get the best available. They will all have a Tech connection.... once they are hired.
Well, my comment is a bit tongue in cheek.
I just want the best for our program, insider or outsider.
Washington is the only one I know that has ever shown interest in coaching at VT.
Bill Durkin? He has coached a good OL. Probably open to the job. Probably quite affordable.
Late to the thread, but I'm just happy that Pry recognized and had the guts to make the change. That was probably the biggest concern on the boards all season in that the collective recognized the need for the change but had reservations that anything would be done about it. That first part is done and we declared we are making some changes. The bonus here is that Pry doesn't screw-up the follow through and can hire the right people to have immediate impact.
So when we expecting an announcement here? No hires before Christmas would be concerning right? And we need some high quality portal commits asap. The roster as it stands isn't winning 7 games next year
I don't think so. Get the right guy first. If that guy is coaching in the playoff, and we're waiting to announce, then so be it.
Correct. Get the right guy.
The timing is of secondary importance.
Sounds like Gunter Brewer is moving on to an in field role at Marshall. He was one of the guys that worked off the field here and was part of the recruiting squad
Director of High School Relations. Played a big part in reconnecting Tech to alot of the Virginia High Schools. Will be an important spot to replace quickly.
I know he was going to have a role with his cousin but this would be a great spot to hire Dwight Vick to fill.
I've seen a lot of people talking about Poindexter, but why no mention of Tom Allen? He's coached linebackers as well. One way or another, PSU has held SMU to 3 points and 129 yards of offense through 12 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter.
Looked up the stats on defenses and Penn State's is a top 10 defense, but we also need to recruit better to get similar results.
Edit: I probably should have said, in the vein of "defense wins championships" and "backing up the money truck" for someone, I'd hope we do pony up the cash that would make us competitive with just about any school (from a pay perspective). Producing a good defense here might be a good resume builder, and better than sharing DC with Poindexter say. And if talent can make up for scheme, at least to some extent, building a great defense here compared to a blue blood, especially if they could recruit here, seems like it could definitely be a resume builder, especially if an AD at a non-blue blood was considering a DC as a head coach. Like, can you really tell how good a recruiter someone is if all they have to say is, "we're always top 2 or 3 in our conference and in the hunt for playoffs and championships every year, we put tons of guys in the league, and, oh, by the way, here's an NiL check so big you might hurt your back carrying it out of the office."
Great DC, but we probably don't have the cash to hire him away from Penn State. The lure with Poindexter is that it would be a promotion and pay raise for him that Penn State wouldn't be able to match. Plus Dex has VA ties unlike Allen. Finally although Allen has done a good job as DC, Dex is one of the main guys bringing in all the talent for him. Allen not a recruiter.
Why would he leave PSU to have the same position at VT? One is in the playoff with NFL talent and the other may have its HC fired for mediocrity in a year.
He's probably eyeing a HC position next if he's looking to jump.
If we're going for a big dick swing, we should go for Tim Banks at Tennessee, who is was Pry's co-DC at PSU in 2016.
That would indeed be a big dick swing. I'm starting to feel like Collins or Shoop would be a medium dick, semi-flaccid swing. An internal hire like Quinn would be a tiny pee pee shake.
Dex/other big dick swing or bust for me at this point.
Give me Quinn over shoop. I know shoop is mediocre. At least I can get excited about Quinn's unknown upside.
If it would be Quinn (and/or Ferguson for S&C), is there a reason they wouldn't have already announced that?
If the bowl game would be Quinn's audition, it seems like it would be that much longer before we could really make a big dick move and start courting a DC that's in the playoffs (or other bowl, but hopefully one that's good enough to make the playoffs).
That's been my thought as well. I don't think it's as big a deal for S&C, but if you are going to do internal hires for DC and/or OL, why wait?
There are two potential reasons why a hire has not been announced:
I suppose it's possible that Pry wants to use the bowl game as an audition for someone internal but I think that's unlikely and unwise.
I tend to believe it's reason one. Dex or other surprise DC who is also in the playoffs.
If it's reason two and Pry is still making calls and lining up candidates, very disappointing. According to him he knew he would be making changes at least by midway through the season. He should have had his top group lined up and phone calls made the day after the UVA game if not feelers put out sooner. If he's just now doing interviews or vetting, then I have a hard time believing he was set on making changes for a while now. I'm more inclined to believe he was being honest when he initially said he wanted to hold the staff together, and then some big donors/Whit told him you either make changes or you're looking for a new job next year.
The longer this goes on, the more likely I think it is that Dex is the choice
Yeah same here. I think it's Dex and they may have even started telling the players and top recruits/transfers, but out of respect to dear old James, they're not going to announce until PSU is out of the playoffs. He may be only the co-DC, but make no mistake if he's the hire, that is a massive program culture and recruiting blow to PSU.
The other thing that it seems Pry/VT likes to do is have one big announcement for changes like this. They could be waiting to announce all the hires and shuffling at the same time, but again that seems unwise for portal reasons if the hires are going to be made a week or more apart due to postseason play.
They announced all Pry's original coaching staff in a rolling fashion. Doubt he'd hold all of them until later unless all are coming from other teams that are all in bowls (hopefully all in the playoffs).
Unless him and Pry are *that* close, UT to VT would be a downgrade in just about every discernable category.
Not as DC, but with the coaching changes at NC State, is Charlie Wiles looking for a job?
Might be worth a look for recruiting purposes alone.
Wiles is a better coach, recruiter and developer than Price, so we would be upgrading there. Price is a great hokie, but Wiles is a better coach in every aspect.
except he cursed at a recruit once.../s
In the realms of NIL, I imagine that there will be a lot more cursing at or about recruits.
Pry confirmed in his press conference, and Tweeted by Andy Bitter, that Bud Foster will have a role on the staff moving forward for next year (likely Jerry Kill type analyst/advisor). Also noted the DC hire is pretty far along but announcement hampered by "coaches still in games."
WIth that being said, I'm still thinking it's Dex since he's still coaching.
Gotta be Vic Fangio