I've been going through all the writers that I trust for the layout of what went wrong at VT and what the new market and search will look like over the past few days like many folks I suspect. Steven Godfrey mentioned something that made me think about the fumbling replacement coordinator and S&C search that was conducted over the off-season: Agents reported to him that there were multiple coaches that were contacted who didn't want to uproot and move to Blacksburg for just a year. That's why the Siefkies hire came weeks after Marve was let go. Some posters suspected we were taking swings at Knowles before Penn State landed him even then. The market knew that we were likely going to face a complete rebuild after 2024.
I wonder if that's also what took so long to get Ferguson named as the permanent S&C hire; that delay was odd to me because Ferguson seemed to fit the bill pretty well and we still flailed around for a month before it was a done deal.
And then you have Bowen seeing the water coming in over the transom and hitting life raft for a demotion in title, though one that probably pays better too.
And now all these things are obvious in hindsight but I want to file this experience away for the future. Sometimes hope will make you think someone is playing 4D chess when it really is just checkers.
Comments
There's a reason for the saying "hindsight is always 20/20"...
For those who recognize this, you're welcome for the earworm. ;^)
Yup, multiple national people who are usually on top of things saying the same thing about coordinator candidates turning us down.
There was ALWAYS a decent chance that this was the way things were going to go.
I'd say that the way this would go for Pry was pretty obvious from the start.
Most telling moment for me was early in his tenure. I went up to Chapel Hill for the Carolina game. The body language and how the team and staff looked on the sideline did not at all resemble a team trying to get better and compete. It looked like a team who knew they were going to get beat and didn't know how to respond. The staff was totally passive, not teaching, not trying to energize the team. It's like they had penciled in a loss and were waiting until they had better players to try and win
I really wanted him to be our football "Mike Young" coach and it would have been great if it worked. But there were alarm bells and red flags almost from the start. I was immediately concerned when both coordinators were first timers but that was tempered with Rudolph being on-staff. O-line has been a tough spot for VT since Jake Grove graduated and FINALLY we were getting that addressed with a top 10 coach for the position. But none of the parts worked together. The first year departures of everyone on the offensive staff with experience was the point of no return.
My big question for the future is what Avatar am I going to use now that the fresh hired Pry with mutton chops and digitally added protruding Wolverine claws isn't applicable.
If things go poorly
AI conference patch looks like the SEC, AI confirms VT-> SEC
Maybe stay away from any avatar of the coach.
Didn't work out so well last time.