West Virginia OT transfer Lucas Austin is expected to transfer to Virginia Tech, @mzenitz and I have learned for @247Sports. He rated as a top 40 tackle in the 2024 class coming out of high school. https://t.co/Ifg28ylMLj pic.twitter.com/NMf86byK1L— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 6, 2025
Matt Moore has just gutted the WVU line and bolstered ours up at the same time.
Good
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Lets Go!!
Hokies!!!!!
89-rated coming out of high school
best news i've seen is that he has 13 years of remaining eligibility (lol jk)
good one. made me lol and I rarely admit to loling
All the OTs please
Begs the question. How in the fuck does WVU sign these kids out of HS?
With all of them following Moore....i think he might be a big piece of it
Maybe we will find out when we can keep a coach onboard for 6 years. I have to believe WVU benefited from Moore's tenure to a degree. We haven't had that.
Read elsewhere that he has a history of putting guys in the NFL, and convinces recruits that he's their ticket to the NFL.
Despite all the wild NIL 'reporting' going around - outside of maybe 30 players, NFL money >>>> NIL money.
That's been a point I've tried making. NIL sounds great, but unless you're one of those really rare players, the NFL payday will eclipse NIL. If the kids are even vaguely smart, you keep in mind NIL now is nice, but what path gives you the best and most likely path to the league.
For some guys, the NIL is the most money they will ever make. Think about Pavia. That cat isn't going to make an NFL roster, but he's got the chance to make several million in NIL and set himself up for life if he's smart.
The extra years of eligibility certainly help, if you can wrangle some.
"several million in NIL" for diego pavia I will never on earth believe unless I see his tax return. Most of these NIL numbers being thrown out are horseshit. Think about it. The NFL doesn't pay lower round draft pick QBs that money- they set the market- they are pros.
My personal favorite of the NIL era is the lawsuit against the FSU BB coach from 6 former players saying they have emails and texts from him promising them NIL money (around 250k each) that they never got. So they are SUING him for the money. Not the NIL group, not the school, they are suing the coach.
1. Lower the age to enter any sports league to 13. If you are Mr. travel baseball and want money, sign with a pro team at age 13. If you are Maurice Clarett and just too good for college, enter the NFL draft at age 13. This throws the whole slavery/unpaid/uncompensated labor bullshit premise out the window. If Gunner Givens or Linn Kidd want money- turn pro after their 13th birthday. 2. If you transfer schools with your coach NOT leaving you must sit a year. Do those 2 things, and most of this gets fixed. VT can perhaps compete again in major sports and actually graduate some players and the Jay Bilas's of the world can't cry fairness when the whole Duke hoops team could just get their money from the NBA.
I think this solves a lot of problems. Messi signed his first contract at 13 or 15 or something. Easy.
I'm fine with this too. I'm all for limits on the portal.
Bingo - I promise Pavia isn't getting several million. Best case (for him) I can see a team taking a flyer on him for lowww 7 figures next year at most. I think mid-6-figures is more likely.
Okay, but how many players do you think realistically would make more from NIL than an NFL salary? Mind you, I was only talking about guys who think they have a legit shot at the NFL. Otherwise, I agree, take as much money as you can from NIL. But if someone is dumb enough to chase NIL money and potentially sacrifice a shot at an NFL salary (like taking NIL to sit on the bench at a school with deep pockets like Texas where you get zero playing time, so a team wouldn't draft you), that's an IQ test that someone failed.
"Okay, but how many players do you think realistically would make more from NIL than an NFL salary?" in any normal world/business/any other line of work, of course fucking not- answer should be zero. But there are Vandy alumns that view 7 wins as more important than their children and faith, so they pay Pavia- allegedly- more than the Tennesee Titans would pay him- which is a figure close to zero. That is what's fucked up. The market value for amateur football players is higher than professional football players in some cases. Where else in the world do you see that? where do interns get paid more than seasoned pros? where do junior developers get paid more than the CIO? nowhere. But in this world, things are so fucked up that the huge injustice- pay for play- has now gone full circle... you have kids like Arch Manning making more than he would on a rookie NFL deal. The only reason Bronny James left is because his dad got him a contract from the make a wish foundation that he would not have gotten close to from any other NBA team. This bullshit going unchecked will kill college sports.
Brent Pry coaches amateurs and makes more than a number of pro coaches. Nick Saban made more than all but 2 pro coaches, yet they are at the amateur level. You don't see high school coaches getting paid to coach amatuers, they get a stipend that doesn't cover the extra gas they spend much less the time. In what world is Brent Pry more valuable than a guy that coaches pro athletes in the most profitable sports league in the world?
I've watched more VT games per year with Pry and Fuente as the coach than when Beamer was there. So the coach isn't bringing in my money.
What NFL head coach does Brent Pry make more than? And I watch the same amount of games as when Beamer was coach and Pry is signing D2 kids to replace ACC kids and ticket prices have raised and we don't win. How valuable/replaceable are the players?
From sportico, Top 20 Highest Paid NFL coaches. Brent Pry is set to make 4.25mil this year.
Fair enough. Since thousands of players enter the portal and find no home, it does seem Brent Pry is the one less replaceable and more valuable.
Best job in the whole world is a former college HC that got dismissed early.
It might be embarrassing and all, but it's lucrative and they can do that job at home, before coming back as some kind of coordinator, coach, or consultant.
Best? Maybe - I used to joke something similar, but I'd argue dismissed CEO pays more and you get the same end result of being able to sit at home.
But those don't pay as well as being successful, and if you like coaching and helping kids be better and follow pro dreams and win, being a successful coach that gets paid a lot is a much better job.
Dismissed college coach is a lot like dismissed CEO, in a lot of ways.
How lucky are the Cowboys' that the Bears want to interview McCarthy?
Brent Pry should be making $4.75M this year according to USA today and a number of other sources. This puts him 13th in NFL coaching and 44th in colleges that report pay.
turns out the market for college football players is different than for NFL players
There's two sets of guys:
You have it all backwards - if you go sit on the bench at UGA, you're getting less NIL than you would as a starter at a VT or similar program. If you choose to sit on the bench at UGA, you're banking on the ability to get coached up in order to get drafted after 4+ years.
This was Nick Saban's strategy - his bama teams barely payed players, but he sent so many guys to the league, that recruits didn't care.
I agree with you - it just seems like some people think that teams like Texas (and other blue bloods, but especially Texas) can pay their bench players more than starters at almost every other school, so they could theoretically take a lot of the competing talent off the board and have them on their bench (which I don't buy, but from what I've read on here, seems to be what people think).
But SOME bench players, who are more "in waiting" type players would probably make more than starters at most places, like if GA recruits a new 5 star QB who would follow after their current guy uses his last year of eligibility type scenario. I mean, would a team pay a bunch of guys who may not start, but essentially rotate heavily during games to always throw fresh legs (like O and D lines) at the other team?
I mean texas could, they have multiple millions more than most other school
There are at least two collective groups that distort the free market for how much players earn in both the NFL and college.
1) The NFL players have a union. That has at least three effects on player wages.
a) The players collectively negotiate for a larger pot of the money than the owners really want to give them. This likely increases combined total compensation of all players, and reduces the compensation of coaches. This is part of what lets college coaches make more than NFL coaches.
b) The players have set both minimum salary limits and fixed rookie contract wages. This limits the early earning potential, and total earning potential, of star players. However, it provides a significant boost to the wages of replacement level players.
c) The NFL won't take players under a minimum age, and allows players to play for as long as they're good enough. This means players under this age can potentially make more in non-union college roles than their union NFL roles.
2) The NCAA ostensibly has limited eligibility for players. This means that teams CAN NOT just pick the best players it can afford in a free market. The best young college players MUST pick a college team, and can't go to the NFL, who could theoretically pay more. Additionally, there is incentive for colleges to pay younger players to sit on the team for a year or two because they won't be able to just pay their best talent to stick around and play longer. However, there are no salary caps or requirements for spreading the wealth. This should theoretically distort the "wages" for college players by:
a) Letting the best young NFL quality players who are not yet eligible for the NFL demand wages above what they could make in a price constrained NFL rookie contract.
b) Allowing rich teams to increase the pay for developmental NFL quality players so they'll be available when currently better players are out of eligibility.
c) Because there are fewer NFL spots available than NCAA spots, and a larger total pool of players available to fill them, a college-eligible replacement-level NFL quality player will be a star college player (Pavia). This means they can potentially demand a higher wage in college due to the term-limited supply of players at that level. If players could play as long as they want in college, then Pavia would not be able to demand as much money, because he'd still be competing for a job with Tyrod Taylor.
Right, and many guys were also the first in their families to have access to a VT degree, and would not have gotten into the school if not for football. It was the opportunity of a lifetime all things considered and something people take on crimpling debt to do and go to community colleges to gain admission later etc. There is a wait list to get into VT for regular students. That opportunity of a lifetime for many wasn't enough for ballers though.
His name is not Kirby.
This is a big phucking deal - 3 OL coming our way with a coach these players believe in.
This is a heavy foundation that should, in theory, keep Moore around for a number of years that finally gives us some OL continuity.
Another one (likely) incoming as well.
Does Austin arriving mean TX2VT is a thing again?
Austin - Rimac - Altuner - Ghannam - Terry
The All-West Virginia Offensive Line. Hell yeah Moore.
If anyone is on the West Virginia boards like some people here like to peek at The Sabre, I'd be curious to hear what the WVA fans are saying right about now.
They are puffing chests, saying these guys don't have the "Hard Edge" and good riddance. I think they assume the freshmen will stay on.
Terry removed his name from the portal today
Spring Portal hopefully we get Round Two of gutting the Cousins.
Moore just signed four into their Freshmen Class.
That would be a thing of beauty from both the standpoint of jumpstarting our much needed OL development and pissing off the WVU fan base. I (as I am sure a lot of other TKPers) work with a fair amount of fellow VT grads but also way too many WVU and PSU grads 🙄🙄.
Any and all things that might hurt Rich Rod, I fully support, yes.
One of my new directors is a Mountaineer. Gonna need some more goodness out of this whole OL situation so I can shove it down his throat
Seems to me you can get a lot of passive goodness out of this, without raising any animosity at all. You can even look surprised if he even brings it up when you're wearing your VT gear. Even better if you get some NIL merch of one of these players.
All those things I may have said about Mountaineers and their cousins...I take it all back (just for the OL transfers, still applies to the rest of them)
via GIPHY
This is great! VT will definitely have an inexperienced line next year, but a lot of young talent for Moore to develop. Honestly, probably better that it's mostly young talent following him.
Rimac the only player with extensive playing experience. Oh, Schick and Cunningham too, I guess. Did Cunningham play in the bowl game?
One of the other linemen we are targeting retweeting this.
I am loving the "Lets go" in his retweet. Or perhaps I am just reading too much into that.
Huge. Ok feet, but he has some work to do to get into a starting role. Very strong upper body, but he does have a tendency to briefly plant and then recover when delivering a blow, and for me that is really difficult to get out of his game. Defensive players worth a grain of salt will run through that contact and that brief stoppage of the feet causes you to lose the angle.
However, I think Rimac and Altuner are day one starters.