The other thread is up to almost 700 comments, so I figured I'd start a new one.
Also, I was wrong the past four days. But I'm positive that today is the day!
Edit: Adding an interesting piece of information from the first thread, courtesy of BraggHokie
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
when will they be posting the official state employee job req so that I can apply? On a related note, anyone know how to export their NCAA CFB 25 dynasty stats?
New coach thread #2- electric boogaloo!
I like that it rhymes
In reading the tea leaves with Arkansas' reported strong interest we will be pivoting to the second candidate because imo
I don't think that's changed...its been the case for the better part of two weeks and some of it (read all of it) is likely Sexton leaking leverage.
If anything I'm starting to lean towards the field if my options are VT, Arkansas, or field.
You could be right, especially if the field includes Franklin cooling his jets and waiting on what he may view as other more desirable jobs to open up. And as mentioned earlier by others he could simply sit out a year and see who is shopping next year, although if I had to bet he won't take that option. I believe he really wants to coach next year and prove something.
I think he is gone because (as others have and will state) we won't (and maybe shouldn't want to) fare well in a bidding war with an SEC program.
Edit: Although I do agree that the recruiting boost discussed below is a very strong incentive to right the ship quickly.
I can see Penn State not paying him next year if he doesn't have a coaching job and a court siding with them. If he was offered multiple jobs, and turned them down he didn't meet the obligations of his buyout.
It was already assumed, but it sounds like wherever Franklin lands is going to get an immediate crooting boost
C'mon.
Why can't we be surprised for once when Franklin to VT becomes the first domino?
announcements like this always happen on Wednesdays - for some reason
HUMP DAAAAAAAAY!!!!
Take the TexAgs guy at his word: who do we think his source is? Apparently it's An offensive minded assistant who does not work at Texas A&M, would be a potential OC for Franklin, AND a candidate for the UNT Head Coaching Position if that opens up.
There's only one man who is an offensive mind with knowledge of both Texas and Virginia football.
Franklin HC. Fuente OC. Pry DC. Beamer Special Teams.
I could pretty much go along with that if they all could.
Honestly, I know a lot of people who still have nothing but respect for Fuente and would love to see him back.
hear me out
how funny would it be if VT hired Fuente (again) but the sequel turned out to be waaaaay better than the first?
Like, the fanbase would go absolutely apeshit (ftr, I would 10000% be one of them) at first but then when he wins 10 games in year one with an exciting offense NOT run by Brad Cornelsen and gets us into the playoffs in year 2 I think he could become a legend in Blacksburg - took a few years away from the game to evaluate his mistakes - has hard conversations with the VT BOV and AD leadership to get the funding he needs for his vision and hires a superstar staff that actually knows ball. I didn't actually think JF was that bad of a ball coach - I just thought he was tied to Brad Corny and that anchor was too heavy around his neck. I think he could actually be kind of successful if he surrounds himself with the right coaches.
ohh I would lose my shit if VT hired Fuente again..don't get me wrong
but wouldn't it be funny if they did, gave him everything, and then he went and won a ton of games and got us into the playoffs? You can't tell me that wouldn't be funny. I'd be pissed if we hired him but if it played out that way I'd respect it
Live look at VPIhokieME:
/s
NO
While Fuente did have some good qualities as a coach, his downfall was greater than his staff allegiance.
Some other concerns now:
- He also has fallen behind in the NIL era experience
- He isn't going to attract top-end coordinators
- He had culture issues before money was a big factor. It's harder to build culture in the NIL world
Ummm....because in this scenario, he would be the coordinator.
That's not how I read the post by VPIHokieME, but wouldn't be the first time I was wrong!
I think you're right. I was conflating ME's post with the post about Franklin HC / Fuente OC / Pry DC.
Corny was coaching at SHSU. Maybe it was him
Godfrey on his single wing today said Arkansas seems to be focusing on young, dynamic head coaches mentioned Golesh (edit: and I think silverfield which tracks with the TexAgs post) and didn't mention Franklin. He did say that the Franklin to VT thing is "hot" and even went so far to say he's not sure how he feels about the optics of that because he'd essentially be taking the job of his longest tenured assistant and wondered "whether he'll be asked that at his introductory press conference."
He also said the same thing about Lane that's in the TexAgs post, as the wind blows right now it seems like he's staying at Ole Miss and if he leaves it's for Florida.
Filling a vacant position that is vacant bc your longest tenured assistant didn't do a job and got fired is very different than "taking his job"
Oh I agree, and it's just one persons opinion. I was honestly including it just because the way he phrased "I wonder if he'll get asked that in the introductory press conference" caught my ear and wondered if he knew more than he was letting on or he was just playing out a hypothetical.
I honestly think if Florida is just offering 1 million more than Ole Miss, Kiffin is better off staying where he is. House and family are settled, less worry about hurricanes, insurance, etc.
what's jim mcelwain up to?
Probably doing a little deep sea fishing.
Investing in his passion projects i see
Has a role similar to Frank at Central Michigan University after retiring at the end of last year.
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
In Soviet Russia, court is in your ball!!
So many VT boards being featured on MessageBoardGeniuses
There are VT boards other than this one?
Not in my internet
based off of this week the collective IQ of those board members might be a bit lower than this one.
The Facebook groups are an utter sh*tshow
Facebook writ large is a shit show
As opposed to when?
Well, you've got time to work on that pool....
Franklin is soon going to be up there with Drew Harris in Hokie lore, isn't he?
I FIGURED OUT THE DELAY. Franklin is negotiating to bring Drew Harris onto his staff because he knows he needs to win over the TKP message boards. Natty inbound.
So we're saying we hired the right coaches but just in the wrong positions......lol
This is definitely the 4* recruit that we got in early with that's keeping his verbal commitment to VT unless something better come along before signing day. Historically we're 0/128 on that front.
Franklin plz
Should we give him a ride in a Lamborghini? Oh wait, that was Florida State
I didn't get to say this in the other thread when we were talking about Owens, but I can still taste those Owens burritos in my dreams
I miss those super cheap Dietrich express cheeseburgers at like midnight right before they closed
The DX wrap went crazy too
Even though I worked there a bit, I still miss the Mac n cheese at DX. Kinda miss being able to snack on the corn dog nugs while I worked despite how many calories they were (1 nug = 100 calories)
Corn dog nuggets are one of the things we try to get still when we go down to Blacksburg. They're just so amazing.
The DX wraps were unbelievable. I never lived on campus so I never took full advantage of them.
I spent my first year in Pritchard, so DX was s common late night occurrence
The DX chicken sandwiches were primarily responsible for my Freshman 30. Well, that and Natural Light.
I miss the build-your-own stirfry spot where you paid by the pound. Loved that spot.
And the General Tso's right next to it.
The dining experience at Tech is light years different than when I was in school. Ate at Owens most of the time (lived in Vawter, it was in my back yard). We had black jello. There were some things I ate and I'm still not sure of their origin. I ate a lot of peanut butter. The chocolate milk was on-point, though.
Preach. Dietrich in the mid-'80s was nothing like what y'all are fondly remembering.
Did y'all still experience the D2 dash after eating there?
I think I recall telling this story on here before, but do y'all remember the Dietrick chili challenge? My buddy made it all the way through the week, day 5 and got his t shirt I think. Right after that last day he was in the shower in O'shag down in a 3 point stance with the cold water blasting on his b-hole. This was spring semester, 1996.
I think we've all been there, one time or another.
Sounds like Sharkys Wing Challenge
The all you could eat wing buffet at Sharkys on Wednesday and Sunday nights (I think it was like 7 bucks) was a staple for me and my friends late 90's.
I was one of the original bartenders at Sharkey's. Went on to be part of a 3 person management team while a student. My nickname was Goose.
I witnessed many a folk die trying to finish the 911 chicken wing challenge. That sauce was so brutal, it could be used for mortaring bricks.
I loved their food. Wings were money.
I made it through three times. Last time I made the mistake of touching the corner of my eye with a finger even after washing my hands thoroughly. Last time I did it as my eye burned for like two days.
That's impressive indeed. It was rare but dudes would do it. As I'm sure you are aware, at least 3 times over, the folks that could do it just had an incredible "appetite for ultimately hot food. They always seems to be in control.
The ones who couldn't struggled mightily, snotty noses, water filled eyes, heavy breathing. Some threw up.
I worked in the kitchen for a few years. I hated tossing wings in that sauce.
I did it in 01, got my sweet t shirt
Re: the black jello....you might think it was just grape (purple), but if you sliced it thin enough to see the color, it was gray, not purple. I don't know anyone who actually ate it, so not really sure what flavor it was supposed to be. We did find ways to utilize it for our amusement, though. Owens had what I'd call an "egg crate" ceiling....suspended white plastic grid, with fluorescent lights above the grid. We would take turns trying to fling jello squares into the plastic grid hard enough to get it to stick into the spaces in the grid. Usually, the jello was firm enough to just bounce off, but occasionally we'd get one to wedge itself in there. My apologies to anyone who happened to get hit by falling jello in Owens while they were eating.
Campus dining hall food in the early 80's was, well, not good. I kept you alive, but you never looked forward to it. We all celebrated in the Corps dorms at the beginning of the month when the $100 checks arrived and we could afford better food for a few days.
Truth.
The turkey tetrachloride (tetrazini) at Schultz was good, if you put enough hot sauce on it.
Don't recall eating much in Dietrich. But I worked one quarter in Owens, washing dishes, etc. I will never forget the smell of the silverware washing machines. Distinctive, and indescribable.
I washed dishes at Owen's my sophomore year (spring '97) before I started working as a line cook at Boudreaux's. I'm shocked at how much better everything is now on campus. I didn't really think it was bad back then though.
Maybe they had franklin eat at d2 and he dashed into the bathroom and hasnt been seen since
Should've brought him to West End obviously. That's where football coaches actually eat on campus if they're not at Merryman.
DX was the best for late night but Shultz breakfast biscuits were my favorite.
I do miss some late night DX.
Shutlz breakfast was exceptional. Current students don't realize what they're missing.
$1.20 for how much you can cram into a box and two drinks, yum!
Yeah, Shultz building is now an art museum
I was fortunate to have Schultz breakfast my freshman year before it was demo'd. It was amazing!
However the Moss Arts Center provided a much needed space for Communications Journalism etc majors like myself to thrive, and Bill Roth has elevated the program even higher, fwiw
When I was there eating a Schultz in the late 60's, the scrambled eggs were rumored to be laced with saltpeter to control the "hormonal urges" of the cadets.
Came for Franklin news, found more dining hall discussion, but not even mad cause I had forgotten all about Shultz breakfast...forgot how good that was!
Mentioning breakfast reminded me of another Owens experience. I forget the exact reason or which year it happend, but my Dad had come to Blacksburg, I think to bring me home (maybe at Thanksgiving?) because my car was in the shop. It was early, so he said he'd go to the dining hall with me for breakfast. My dad loved eggs, so that's what he got. Said he thought he was through with powdered eggs after the Army.
Oh yeah, Navy here. I've got similar stories, just not from VT.
It's funny how you can spot powdered eggs from orbit once you've got an enlistment past your belt.
I think most places use liquid eggs now
Thanks for the confirmation of my advanced age...
via GIPHY
No, they are still using powdered as they are cheaper to transport and require no refrigeration and lighter and smaller to store.
Ships make their own water.
The upside of this consideration for transport and storage is that it is more efficient to store the ingredients to make bread than it is to store bread. Even small ships have a baker to make the daily bread.
"Most places" didn't mean military lol
I was just on a Celebrity cruise a couple weeks ago and can confirm they still use powdered eggs for scrambled at the buffet. One bite and I couldn't finish. They did have a made to order station that used real eggs, though.
But yeah, if one of the higher end mass cruise lines still do it that way, I don't think its going away anytime soon.
If there's one thing Uncle Sammy taught me, it's that it doesn't matter where the eggs come from if you have enough Texas Pete.
You could cram a few biscuits, some oatmeal, some eggs and salsa all into a to-go container for like $3.00 or something. It was awesome. The sandwich of the day at Shultz also went pretty hard. With those stupid fried apple nugget things? So good. Pretty sure either meal I'm describing would destroy my 35 year old self, but 18 year old me loved it.
All right, y'all.
No source other than my gut, but I'm calling it. If it doesn't happen today, it's not gonna happen at all. It's been ten days since this first got serious smoke. The longer it goes, the worse our chances get. If some exquisitely-timed breaking news doesn't drop during Gameday, he ain't coming here.
That's pretty much the conclusion I've come to, based on nothing but a hunch
The silence is deafening. TKP is going to go crazy while we wait for a coach to be announced after the season is over (I hope I'm wrong).
Some people on Twitter have been mentioning another week or two but don't really provide much reason why other than maybe Sexton/Franklin wanting to see if anything else comes open they can leverage.
There's also been some references to a BOV meeting the Monday after the Florida state game being significant but that seems like a regularly planned meeting.
The meeting was planned over a year ago and is routine business. There's nothing on the agenda about athletics, other than the BOV proposing the formation of a standing committee on athletics.
Yeah that's what I gathered from the stuff I saw as well, seemed like grasping at straws
Honestly if it takes this much arm bending to get him here id rather drop 6-7M on someone else and have an extra 5M for NIL
I would as well.
Franklin clearly in the drivers seat here. No need to rush when you have 4 prom dates competing to see who will show the most cleavage.
what's jimmye laycock up to?
Something I found interesting from Splitzone Duo's most recent episode "Big Coach Carousel Mailbag":
Talking about Lane Kiffin, Richard Johnson really drove home that Jimmy Sexton likes to use time as leverage. That's why we haven't seen any movement from Lane Kiffin. Makes me think that Franklin may not just be leveraging future jobs, but trying to make Virginia Tech (and other schools) feel the burn just from no commitment being made. I have a feeling we won't see a resolution related to James Franklin for at least another couple weeks.
A couple more weeks of rapidly refreshing X and discussions of VT dining halls it is then.
Should we talk about Turner chicken & dumplings
Newer phenomenon but WOW
I'm sorry what? I am extremely intrigued, for sure.
Turner hibachi lunch was one of my go-to's.
I had the same thought listening to that episode
#Sauce My buddy who's a Tulane booster is close friends/former roommate (insert spaceballs meme) with one of LSU's Board of Supervisors (aka BOV). The BoS member told him Sumrall isn't on LSUs list at all.
He said [sic] "they are after kiffin. also gov would loom stupid inserting himself and then picking an instate school coach. that would piss people off. I'm more concerned about auburn bc sumrall is from Bama."
So I am convinced that at least part of the texags post in OP is complete bullshit
Yeah I never really believed that part. Plenty of reporters have outlined the history of LSU not wanting to hire Tulane coaches.
Yall... Franklin isn't coming to VT. Best to just chill out and move on
I actually think there's a good chance.
1) We are a football school that needs help. One of the more famous football schools that are not SEC.
2) He's good at rebuilds, we'd be easy to please and forgiving as a fanbase.
3) Recently committed to spend the money it takes to get to top 15.
4) Recruited the same area as previous team.
5) Facilities are good. May need some upgrades, already started with additional money committed, so he can add input there
6) Good relationship with ESPN. We can get Thursday nights anytime we want.
7) Sports writers and video would have us the talk of the town with a hire like this.
8) We did not throw the previous failed coach out of town on a rail - tarred and feathered. We told him we really liked him but need to win more and invited him to the divorce party.
9) We are a relatively easy path to the CFP. Han be famously back to where he was in a few years and have the receipts to show his skills.
Careful.
Your O&M glasses are showing.
Which is why I agree, 100%.
The sooner both parties sign, the sooner they get my upgraded donation for the year.
I'm not sure how you think we are one of the more famous schools outside of the SEC... anOSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, ND, PSU (which might be moot in this argument), USC, Oregon, MSU (players were alive for the Dantonio era), Miami, Clemson, FSU are all more famous for their football.
Because we can debate about the number of schools are included in that and which audience is included in that.
My inclusive audience would be college football fans as opposed to women like my Mom that only knows schools where he close relatives went and whom she saw us watch that weekend. It would be mitigated by the past 10 years,
When I talk to relatives and friends from other parts of the country, they know VT for various reasons, some for sports, some are engineers, some see lots of people in other parts of the world wearing VT gear.
Ain't nobody has a 'relationship' with ESPN. ESPN has a relationship with ratings. They haven't viewed us as driving ratings for a long time.
Also, Thursday night ain't what it was. Ever since the NFL started scheduling it regularly, that slot for college has mostly been mediocre G5 games.
All ya gotta do is win your games.
Then get back to us.
If you win your games, suddenly watching you play becomes more interesting.
And 99% of them have been a better matchup than whatever nonsense is being played on NFL network
The matchup doesn't matter, the NFL is king when it comes to viewership ratings no matter who is playing. It's why CFB gave up on premium Thursday night games, most of their good weeknight matchups are on Friday nights now to avoid the NFL
It's not even the NFL Network...it's the ridiculousness of the NFL whoring themselves out to the highest bidders. In this case, Amazon Prime (insert vomit GIF here).
That's just like uh, your opinion man
Soon we'll have to go to a new thread:
James Franklin - Ball is in your court
Tokyo Drift
Or electric boogaloo
Nah that's this one https://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/1329896#comment-1329896
Doh!
this post should go to plaid
#2James2Franklin2VT
Number 4 will be "Franklin and James" followed by "Franklin 5"
I thought it was Franklin and Bash
🎶Franklin's furiouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus🎶
There's white smoke coming from the top of Lewis Gale this morning..... today is the day
"So say we all!"
Or
Auto leg for any Braveheart reference
what's chris ault up to?
Out of college coaching since 2012, couple years as a consultant with Kansas City Chiefs and then two years coaching in the Italian Football League where he won a championship as coach of the Rhinos Milanos. Out of coaching since 2017. He is now a member of the CFP Selection Committee.
What about jimmye laycock, you skipped him
I can't help but to think I'd be stuck in a bad '80's movie if the guys name is Laycock. Kinda a dealbreaker for me.
Dirk Diggler
as
Jimmye Laycock
Retired after 2018 season after 38 years coaching William and Mary. His wife is still a consultant at W&M so appears he is enjoying retirement near campus, where they named the Football Facility after him.
I say we hire him with the caveat that he ensures we get in the playoffs every year
Rhinos Milanos
Epic name. Now I need one of those cookies
At this point I think there's a 0% chance we hear anything before the end of the season.
So that triggers the announcement for during the FSU game.
"We have exciting news coming out of the halftime break. FSU has just announced James Franklin as their new head coach, we have him here in the booth actually..."
More likely they announce he's coaching for a third school and interview him over a close game in the third quarter.
Is Evan G. Watkins (247 crystal ball guy) a legit insider?
I saw he said there's a "new coach welcome" scheduled for the 17th, and that if that date holds, there would be a leak and announcement beforehand. So we could hear something official by the weekend.
And if there's a new coach welcome on Monday, in all likelihood it would have to be Franklin considering all our other candidates are still coaching. (Do not mention Brian Kelly, I will not have it.)
I think Evan's job title is literally 'Insider' lol. But I always think of him as State Media. He's not some rando message board poster if that's what you're asking.
He's one of the few who would know if there was any truth to it.
If this is true, I would expect leaks to start happening over the next few days. It is very interesting that Evan has gone complete radio silence on Twitter regarding the coaching search the last few weeks.
It's also interesting that seemingly everyone has gone radio silent since the weekend. Granted, I haven't been uber focused on it, and maybe it's just dragged on so long it's washing out in the news cycle, but it feels like the last thing I heard about it was McAfee on Gameday saying he thinks Tech hires first and how much smoke there is around Franklin.
Not only silent on Franklin to VT, but there's no noise about Franklin with anyone else. Certainly seems if he was still on the market, there would be more reports of negotiations with others.
Last I heard, there was some rumblings of Arkansas being interested, but that seemed to die down quickly. You might be onto something, seems like Jimmy Sexton should be still trying to drum up interest to increase an offer given that LSU is now in the market as well.
Where's VTGuitarMan? We need some truth
Probably reading our threads with that NDA in his hand
Trying my best. Haven't heard anything in a few days that I would hang my hat on. I have seen some general financial things but none of it tied to a specific coach. It's a generic plan that's subject to change. And most of the documents are public anyway as part of earlier auditing. If I know something substantive, you'll know haha
Insert "Excellent" gif...
Can you believe we just had the wrong Monday penciled in for the big decision? /s
Lots of contacts.
Ugh doing it on a Monday seems like wasted opportunity to be in the Saturday football cycle.
If there is a presser on Monday, its incredibly likely news breaks on Saturday
Still would be better to announce on Wednesday, get Franklin on Gameday on Saturday. Having presser on Monday it will lose steam by the next Saturday.
Normally, yes, but since basically no other coaches can be hired until end of season, this might get prolonged attention.
Maybe we already hired and fired Franklin and the NDA prevents anyone from sharing. /s
one of my mantras is "expectations are premeditated resentments". but with UF looking elsewhere, Norvell still employed in Tally, and LOTS of smoke, I'll be very surprised if we don't hire Franklin.
Two other ones come to mind :
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and
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I am 800% trusting bro right now
All of this will be anti climactic when we hire Steve Pendleton, Equipment Manager from a random college. /s
what's Bo Pelini up to these days
Appears to have been out of football since being the LSU DC in 2020. Last HC gig was Youngstown State from 2015 to 2019.
That was already asked i believe
Yeah, you've capitalized on the asking about mid coaches market. ;^)
Two of my sauces say Franklin is in town house shopping today. I hope he buys my old place at 206 Harding.
Why does he need to shop when he's going to end up in Pry's house?
Haven't you heard? Pry is staying in that house to be the new DC.
A REAL head coach would make his subordinate move, not find a different location for himself. I'm not sure that this will work out.
Not Beamers house? Frank still owns the house on Mountainside Drive. Is that reason Fuente and Pry failed? They failed to take over the big dogs house that was literally built to entertain.
Might be awkward if Pry is still living there through the end of the school year!
Franklin is just going to buy the Duck Pond and build his home as an underwater lair below it with a series of subterranean tunnels leading directly to Claytor lake
There's already a series of tunnels underneath campus.
Yep been there.....
Not even Lane Kiffin is making enough money for those tunnels to Claytor Lake.
That's exactly what the man wants you to think.
He will be after his next contract, whether with Ole Miss or UF
VTs new coach during the week
That's hilarious.
Hey theMattBoard, you are in Chattanooga, right? So am I. I am an i&C engineering manger for the Nuke plants. Nice to know there's more Hokies marooned in Big Orange country.
Yeah, got here this summer. Not a lot of Hokie gear on Riverwalk
I'm doing documentation over at Astec
There is a Chattanooga Hokie Club. They do watch parties in town. Welcome to SEC hell!
I have been in Chattanooga for 20 yrs since I graduated with my MSEE degree in 2004. I work for Sequoyah Nuclear in Soddy Daisy.
I remember that from living in Huntsville, AL.
Sunday sports pages:
- two page spread on Alabama football
- two page spread on Auburn football
- half a page on rest of the state football
- half a page on the rest of the nation football
Ugh. Thank God for the internet.
I see what you did there......
what's tavien feaster up to these days?
Working as a District Sales Manager for Coca Cola while moonlighting as a football "coach"...sounds like he is offering night time group sessions or individual training.
This season on Fansville...
I am starting to be concerned by how much info the ol Lt can drum up on anyone. Who has the spreadsheet these days?
Don't let it on the net if you don't want it found.
I love this bit that you're doing, for the record
thanks me too
We can do this all day...
What's Gene Chizik up to these days?
What's Phillip Fulmer up to these days?
What's Tommy Tuberville up to these days?What's Rick Neuheisel up to these days?
What's Mark Dantonio up to these days?
What's Barry Alvarez up to these days?
Waiting for Lt Rob answers for all of these in.....
1
2
3
....
Sorry on the delay, was working the basketball write up for tomorrow.
What's Gene Chizik up to these days?
Last in coaching in 22-23 as UNCheat's DC. Only lasted a year after a six year hiatus in TV after being.....UNCheat's DC in 2016. That one season was enough to send him back to TV for the SEC Network.
What's Phillip Fulmer up to these days?
Fulmer was last in coaching in 2008, then had four disastrous years as Tennessee AD. He was just selected as the Paul " Bear" Bryant Lifetime Award for 2026. His grandson just committed to the 2027 Class at Tennessee.
What's Tommy Tuberville up to these days?
Tuberville we already did. Bum is a ROYAL PITA to the military and Veteran's. F the state of Alabama.
What's Mark Dantonio up to these days?
Dantonio was the Associate Head Coach at Michigan St due to the HC getting suspended in 2023 after retiring in 2019. In June was named to Michigan State Hall of Fame and is also a member of the CFP Selection Committee.
What's Barry Alvarez up to these days?
Alvarez was last head coach at Wisconsin in 2005 but had two stints as Interim HC (2012 and 2014) after coaches left for new jobs. He was the Athletic Director from 2004-2021. In 2021, Wisconsin named their field after him. He was an original member of CFP Selection Committee but does not appear to still be one. In recent months he has made several media appearances slamming Wisconsin fans for being "spoiled rotten" about their desire to fire Luke Fickell. He basically said either pony up or shut up.
Dude!!
I was just kidding, but I KNEW you would do this.
You are SO The Man!!
No worries, kind of fun to go down the old coaches rabbit holes. Not ever sure what I am going to find. On a couple of these was expecting to find: Died on xx date.
These aren't even hard questions, the answers isn't what is impressive it's just the time to Google and type it out.
This!^^^
I already asked about Tommy Tuberville -- the others arent niche enough imo
Neuheisel last coached in college in 2011 at UCLA. He did a stint as head coach of the Arizona Hotshots in the Alliance of American Football. The league folded after a single season. His son is the Interim OC at UCLA who sparked several upsets after the season got off to a dreadful start. He has been doing television with CBS off and on since leaving coaching.
Smh yall not a single "tavien pls"........ NOT EVEN A SINGLE TAVIEN PLS
I promise we are 800% committed!!!
Tavien pls
I am still downvoting that curse of a post!
The fact that you haven't posted a "James Franklin pls" yet leads me to believe that even you are starting to suspect that it's a cursed phrase.
coldblood4vt, pls
What if i really just want to know what ruffin mcneill is up to these days?
what about Mike Mahoney? What's he been up to since coaching a young scrappy linebacker that became the best DC to ever exist
Mike Kruczek? Bob Davie? Frank Solich? Gary Darnell? We could go on and on
Mike Kruczek?
Been out of college coaching since he was OC at UMass in 2012. Currently is the OC at a high school in Florida where his son is the head coach.
Bob Davie?
Last college job was at New Mexico as HC until 2019. Primarily doing TV work with ESPN but seems like its not consistent work.
Frank Solich?
Spent 16 years as head coach at Ohio and finished there in 2020. Was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last year. Outside of that he has a role similar to Frank at Ohio. Glad handing, showing his face at events, etc.
Gary Darnell?
Last role as a coach was as a consultant at Nebraska in 2017 after a 10 year hiatus from coaching. Last real coaching was as DC and then Interim HC in 2007 at Texas A&M. He has stayed involved in football by being an executive with the American Football Coaches Association.
Bob Davie also did not leave New Mexico under good terms. Definitely had a scandal on the way out the door
Leg for actually doing the, uh...legwork.
Been out of college coaching since 1997 ... his work was done by 1992 but came back for one year as an assistant coach at Southern Illinois. Outside of that he decided to step back to high school coaching to coach his son's. He coached high school ball in Texas, Mississippi, Iowa and Tennessee. Last reference I can find is him resigning from Wahlert HS in 2012.
Still around though which surprised me.
Muffin is the Special Assistant to the Head Coach at NC State. Been in that role since 2020. Seems like he is in a player counselor/provide younger coaches a sounding post role.
Like where I work in the banking world, there are a gazillion 'vice president' titles- Asst VP, VP, Group VP, SR VP, Executive VP. SR Executive VP...couldn't give a crap about my job TITLE- what are you paying me-salary? Bonuses? what benefits do I get? THAT'S what matters to me. And do I have the respect of those below, on , and above me on the hierarchy as someone who is easy to work with/for and is knowledgable about their work area(and others as a bonus)
Oh man so much this.
I'm actually going through this right now, going from a consulting role to being brought in full time, and the one thing I have told them is that as long as the compensation is right, I really don't care what my title is, but that they need to keep in mind that the leaders I need to work with and those I need to influence within the company do care, and if they want me to have the impact they are looking for, then it needs to be at a level where I can at least speak eye to eye with them, because it has been an issue this year.
Yeah I've been working for my company for almost 33 years now-almost all in the mortgage side and have actually DONE most every job in those years except Loss Mitigation(collections/foreclosure) and the accounting/finance/trades side); I've done origination, processing, underwriting, post closing, customer service rep, assumptions, escrow analysis, cashiering, loss draft(ins claim mgt), payoffs, IT development and troubleshooting, data quality, ad hoc research.
Basically acknowledged as the most broadly based expert on mortgage and the corporate history/tribal knowledge, where the bodies are buried stuff. Few people argue with me and most that do lose, lol. As such, I'm not hesitant to offer my opinion, question why something is done (worst answer ever - 'cause we've ALWAYS done it that way'! To which there are many replies, but one that JUST came to mind that I've never thought of before would be 'So...when you were a baby you peed and crapped in a diaper, so are you still doing THAT that way too?').
That said, the title costs them nothing, so they might as well give you a good one, and they usually have no problem doing that.
You would think so, but you wouldn't believe the amount of shit I have caught when trying to change a job title (from lock desk assistant to lock desk analyst becuase I thought it sounded better, same duties and pay). HR guy was like no I have to do a study on the pay and all sorts of crap.
Oh, yeah.
You can usually only do it if you are in a negotiating position (being hired, they're trying to retain you). Otherwise, expect potential pushback. Sounds like in that case it was an equivalent title, but work for the HR guy. You have to convince management, not the HR guy.
Depending on the size of the company. In large companies it might be a different pay scale which means that even if your pay doesn't change your position relative to the mean changes which means either work to bring you inline with the mean which isn't right now but would be at your recurring reviews.
Small company might not have market data to what that title should get paid.
Not sure if typo or term of endearment
Muffin man on meds...
Likely not caught autocorrect but have you seen the man standing on the sideline.
Apparently has lost a ton of weight though after gastric bypass surgery.
If I remember correctly, Fat Ralph Freidgen was better than skinny one... jury is out on this one.
What's John Madden up to these days?
Oh, never mind
Announcement will happen Thursday or Friday at the latest.
Source: Pulled it outta my butt.
What's Ron Mexico up to these days?
Head Football Coach at Norfolk State
Like, duh! Am I right?!
scuttlebutt I'm hearing is the JF deal is very nearly done, with some dependency on the PSU side with his buyout piece. If it all falls apart at the 11th hour Chesney is the first "next man up" but there seems to be some confidence that Franklin is, in fact, taking the VT job.
I guess time will tell
Finally, some sauces.
I'm hearing the same thing.
Granted, I'm hearing it on TKP, after fine folks like yourself come here and post it.
I laughed out loud. This is my kind of joke. I too am hearing the same scuttlebutt.
That's so funny, cuz I've been hearing all this here on TKP too
I gotta do updates or somefink, I have to read it.
I too am hearing this from my sauces. Basically PSU is holding up the deal because of the buyout, or some details in it.
It's almost like they've got Franklin trapped in the shower.
oooof
Is that worse or better than being trapped in an ODU elevator?
800% worse.
Not sure how "inside" this guy is, but he seems to be a pretty plugged in PSU fan, and seems to be one that was not happy about the Franklin firing (JF's burner???)
Yeah, backloading the contract is the only solution that ever made sense. Obviously PSU will hate the idea, but the nature of the offset demands that it be handled that way. They can take it to court obviously, but anyone who understands calendars is going to see that Franklin, Sexton and VT (or other university) basically has to structure a deal that way or anyone associated with them will poopoo the deal.
Penn State is looking dumber and dumber by the day. First they swing and miss on Cignetti and Rhule, now Brohm is about to stay at Louisville, so this incredibly delusional fanbase has set its sights on Mike Elko and Marcus Freeman. Who do they think they are? Why would either of those guys leave A&M / Notre Dame for PSU?
They're going to overpay for a worse coach than James Franklin. Their new coach still won't beat OSU or Michigan, but he also won't lose any "big games" because they will no longer be playing in them.
Tweeted 15 minutes ago...I'm starting to like this character
My question is: what's the significance of 7.4 quake? Is that 7.4mil/year?
if so, doing the math on this based on his tweets, the terms would be as follows:
6 year deal
$5.1m per year for 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029
$12m per year for 2030 and 2031.
Average would be exactly $7.4m per year
Still means PSU gets out from under for about $16M which is a far cry from $49M. It gets them completely out two years early too.
True, but on the plus side, we get a head football coach and they are pissing money.
Man this guy has been all over this ordeal from the start, and to date I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe he isn't plugged in.
If this is true, there is one goal of the Franklin hire - Get us into the SEC or Big Ten. $12m per year starting in 2030 is right around the time the ACC is expected to crack, and right around the time we would need to be operating at our peak, and if it pays off, we'll more than be able to afford the increased salary.
Let's start with something a bit more "now", like having a winning record in '26
This guy is 1000% completely full of shit and I am so here for it
Let me believe it's real for a while, please.
--VPIhokieME
--VTSnake
Seems like that could drag out for some time, hopefully they just settle in court and we can get on with it.
The weird part of this is how confident the Arkansas boards are that they just hired Franklin
My source is in Blacksburg tonight.
Should have more info later.
Leg for the Scarlet Pimpernel
What about the Scarlet Pumpernickel
Where we at 07?
Saw the JF and immediately thought Justin Fuente......oh no
Or maybe Jimbo Fisher?
what's dave wannstedt up to these days
I don't know, but there's a thread for that. ;^)
Commercials for mustache wax?
he's a spokesperson for Spurtle.
Last college coaching job was HC at Pitt, last NFL job in 2013 was as Special Teams Coach for Greg Schiano at Tampa Bay.
Since leaving coaching he has done TV primarily for Fox on NFL Kickoff, He also does Pro Football Weekly for NBC Chicago.
He's constantly on ads on my TV for his Chicago Bears recap show
Interviewing for Penn State's self-inflicted head coaching vacancy.
What's James Franklin up to these days?
TKPC (Not sure you know of them) seem to think he's coming to VT.
Dag nabbit I've been setting this up for the announcement thread smh smh i oversaturated my own joke and got robbed of my own punchline
Just post it anyways with this gif:
Just use your mod powers to delete the comment and post it as your own. If anyone calls you out, deny/ban
no
See? You already got the deny part down
Your slow play was too slow Evan......
Me? Or James Franklin? What is he even up to these days
Two words - Cliff Kingsbury
Ummm.... Guys, is it happening?
Ain't falling for Mike McDaniel tweets again.
That looks like noise. it doesn't actually say anything.
My money is on the name leaking today and getting fully ramped into media cycle into the weekend
I'd feel more confident in that if I hadn't thought the exact same thing each of the previous two Thursdays.
now about 20,000 minutes into thinking 'any minute now'
IMHO it comes down to if there is really the meeting on Monday that Evan was supposedly reporting on 247. If there is, its incredibly likely we're timing some leaks to overwhelm CFB coverage on Saturday, especially with us having the 7:30 game, so you'd expect some leaks to happen today or tomorrow.
If there isn't that meeting, nothing is going to happen.
the 247 thread names also indicate we signed him last night... but I can't see behind paywall so maybe like 5 people posted troll threads for us plebes.
To be fair, we officially signed Bo Bassett yesterday, the #1 recruit in the country in wrestling. Those thread titles are probably talking about him.
i have a 247 sub. One was a troll post, one was basically a bait and switch about the wrestling recruit like the other replier mentioned. If you go to Kolby Crawford's stream on youtube about Franklin that he did last night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdBbpwbR4aY you can pretty much get the gist of where the 247 insiders are at currently with this
Man if that 3x this year's NIL figure is true I'm more excited about that than who we bring in as a HC
Materials for the BOV meeting have been posted on bov.vt.edu so everyone can see the agenda. There is a closed session lunch meeting of the executive committee regarding a "personnel matter" that probably has everyone buzzing. From what I hear, I would highly doubt it's related to football in any way. I've been wrong before, but I don't think that's the topic.
I hope they're giving you a raise!
They were just waiting for the government to get back to work so surely its happening this weekend. /Ssss
I got a feeling.
In a world, where every day might be Christmas.
Or Festivus.
" target="_blank">
Odds plummeted on Kalshi, but I still want to believe. Tempted to buy some shared with all the smoke in the air!
Seeing that the odd on that site for Franklin to be the next coach at Arkansas skyrocketed overnight, I have come to the conclusion that they don't know what they're talking about and are just manipulating the market to scam people out of their money.
https://kalshi.com/markets/kxarkcoach/arkansas-next-coach/kxarkcoach-26
Stock for Franklin to Arkansas on Kalshi shot through the roof, from 0 a few days ago to 53% today
Beat to the punch. See above
Man, if this thing falls apart in the 11th hour and lose out to Arkysaw for Franklin, that will be a huge blow to our look as a program.
Can we short this bet somehow? Asking for a friend.
Same site has the odds of the new VT coach being Franklin over Chesney.
https://kalshi.com/markets/kxvtcoach/virginia-tech-next-coach/kxvtcoach-26
I mean ESPN does own the rights to the ACC and SEC. Maybe they would let Franklin coach both. /s
I saw an article earlier today that had Chesney as a 25% chance of being the next head coach.
I think it's fairly safe to assume from rumors and rumblings that Chesney is the next in line if Franklin falls through. But from the sound of things, looks like Franklin is pretty close to being finalized.
Is Chesney going to be where Penn State lands?
I think they are honestly striking out on most of their top candidates...it's hard to say where they might land. Some smoke that they tried to go after Cignetti but that was shut down quickly, Rhule was extended by Nebraska, Brohm also extended. Elko I don't think is realistic. Chesney could be in play but I think he would be down the board quite a bit from where they started.
Chesney to me is a long-term build option. I don't think he's going to generate anywhere near the same splash or buzz as far as recruiting/donor interest, but he is a very good coach I think. Will be interesting to watch wherever he does ultimately land up.
Richard Johnson said that Chesney would be a fantastic hire for PSU but they won't do it because you can sell that to the fanbase.
Not sure if this is the one you are referring to, but if it isn't its pretty darn close.
Rising college football head coach emerging as top candidate for Virginia Tech job
Kalshi and other sites are also just crowd-sourced betting markets right? So there's usually a correlation between those odds and what happens but not necessarily causation.
Also just gambling sense that the heavier of a favorite something becomes, there's not a lot of value in betting that, so you take a flyer on something with a high return.
So IDK what's going to happen, but that's just a general grain of salt I have with those sites.
Franklin is at the ODU game tonight so I'm gonna make some leaps and say that we got him.
Seriously? Doing what, recruiting?
I wonder if he's there supporting Rahne
In his quest to become the highest paid OC in Virginia Tech history?
Lmao I can't believe I'm asking this but ... future OC? (ducks)
I think you might be on to something here. Hanging around his new digs here in VA, supporting a friend and trying to hire an OC. 🤔
Not far away, makes sense to come support him if he's in town kissing hands and shaking babies for 757 targets
He's there recruiting! This is a team that kicked the shit out of the current roster, so why not bring half of them over and take Ricky with 'em
Their QB was pretty good.
Trying to figure out how the hell VT loses to them more than they do to UVA.
HYFY
He got out of being trapped in the shower at PSU and now is trapped in the elevator at ODU.
Let's maybe drop the Penn St shower thing. Just wildly bad taste. Once was not great, didn't need a second one, definitely don't need a third.
🤔 🤔 🤔
Not to be a pessimist, but he's going to need an OC if he goes to Arkansas too
Well then he'd obviously be at a football game in Arkansas
Depends if he is there to connect with Rahne specifically
I tend to agree with your read, just trying to not count unhatched chickens
Is Rahne's job in jeopardy?
Do G5 HCs leave willingly to be a coordinator often?
He's not been great, though this year is looking better. The Tech win was big and this season is a big improvement overall.
His seat was probably warm in August, not so much now
My thinking is if he isn't on the hot seat, Franklin really is there just to support him
(and maybe recruiting some players)
They will be 7-3 after tonight and face two teams with losing records to close out. In 12 years at D1 level, ODU had one magical season in 2016 at 10-3. Other than that, the other 10 seasons are 6-6 or worse. I don't think he is at risk.
I agree, I think he's safe now, but if they hadn't made bowl eligibility this year I think there would be a lot of rumbling
If so that would be pretty bold with their poor history especially since they have only been in Sun Belt for 4 years. He will have taken them bowling in three out of five seasons as head coach. They have only one other bowl appearance.
They brought him in for more consistent results than Wilder could deliver. 5-7 this year wouldnt have cost him his job, but I think it would have made next year make or break for him.
It's turning into a pretty decent season for them though so all of that falls by the wayside anyway
Edit: and Wilder got a lot of leeway because he brought the program back and got them into Conference USA from FCS. Rahne won't get nearly as much slack
If they finish 10-3 ranked or high up in RV, Rahne will probably get a long look from some lower P4 schools. Not saying that's right because their schedule wasnt exactly murderer's row but its the reality of the environment with 12-15 openings potentially at P4.
ACC could have 4 positions open for firing and if Wake wins out an opening if Dickert gets hired away.
Big12 has one OkSt with two more hot seats. Crazy how the wheels fell off the bus at UCF and Colorado has to be looking. May have a couple get picked off for P2 jobs with all the SEC openings.
Big 10 you have UCLA and Penn St open and five other schools that have 5-7 conference losses already with 2-3 games to go.
SEC could have as many as six or seven jobs change over but four are already open with Florida/Auburn/LSU/Arkansas. Kentucky is one to watch.
Hell even SCAR has to be thinking about it with the EPIC collapse of the Gamecocks. From preseason #13 to 3-6 (1-6). Shane has to beat Klempson or his seat heat gets turned on high. They likely get destroyed on the road this weekend by #3 A&M. They close with CCU and Klempson. 5-7 maybe not as hot but 4-8 with a loss to the Tigers is not a good place to be.
UCF was expecting a drop off from last year to this year. Frost has a runway.
These days? Yes.
Kane wammack, Sean Lewis, Dan Enos, Pete Lembo
So 4...wouldnt call that often.
Guess it all depends on the person and the situation. If I'm HC, doing alright, not about to be fired, I'm not taking a job as a coordinator
But who knows where his head is at, maybe a few years into this HC gig he decides he likes being a coordinator better, we'll see
It also may simply come down to paycheck. Some of the P2 coordinators now make more than G5 head coaches.
Heck, even 5 years ago, Bud made more than Chesney does now.
Not G5, but Chip Kelly. UCLA-> Ohio St.
It's sounding like this is a done deal? Can someone who's in the know please confirm that this is a done deal?
Didn't realize Parker worked for him too.
Maybe he's doing a twofer
Edit: or maybe he is just enjoying seeing two of his former colleagues coach, it isnt like he gets to go to a lot of football games where he isn't working
Sounds like someone who's made up his mind and is waiting on his agent & attorney to hammer-out the details.
Maybe he's there recruiting Seller
What's Dabo Swinney doing up to these days?
No good
Stuck in the past
Probably bullshit, but here's this
Deal done?
Don't see any record of a Paul Collins at any of the 247 sites and the profile image comes back as 95% likely AI generated.
It's complete bullshit
Also, I don't think Thamel is directly calling 247 insiders to leak info. He'll just twiX it when told to by Sexton or VT.
Totally agree. My friend that has more heart than brains sent it. My response was the Anchorman "I don't believe you" gif.
It's 100% a fake account.
I would think that if this wasn't true, Pete Thamel would probably tweet that in response. The dude @ed him.
Pete is getting hit with dozens of @s every day from Hokie fans begging him for a Franklin update, and he has not once engaged in it, yet.
I bet he's just ignoring it all
Today's the day, folks! I was wrong the last seven times I called this, but I just know I'm right today.
James Franklin looks pretty good with the beard here
well I can't not leg this
This is when being a hokie the past 20 years I have the heebie jeebies. If it's gonna happen it "should" be today to set up a college gameday segment etc. If it isn't today, we prob beat FSU and they end up finding the $50M+ for the buyout and this drags another 3-4 weeks and we end up glad we've kept talking to other coaches. I'm just a broken fan lol. Good things don't happen to us. Hope I'm dead wrong.
that dude is a murderer with a fake finger
ooooooh fuuuuuuuuuuuck
I'm only halfway through the season and dammit, that just spoiled it
He didn't rip his puffy coat off to reveal a Virginia Tech shirt?
Lame
AI is getting too good
prepared for this to cause hysteria across the internet shortly
The logo on the shirt is clearly fake, otherwise it would be pretty convincing.
Also, the zip up vest is simply pulled apart as if it were held together with the world's weakest magnets/velcro.
Also zipper pulls on the bottom of both sides
The maroon lining on the inside of the black vest is nice touch.
Clearly.
Amateurs.
We all know what the REAL logo looks like.
Must not downvote.... Must not....
Franklin was on the sidelines at ODU game in Norfolk last night....I don't know if TV noticed him or not.
They mentioned him shortly before halftime, but just in passing. I went to bed at halftime though
Per the Arkansas version of Bill Roth, James Franklin to Arkansas is not happening.
Voice of Razorbacks shuts down talk of James Franklin replacing Pittman
Franklin to Arkansas confirmed.
woof, that's one way to start to set expectations to the fans when they know something isn't going to happen.
this sounds like most VT fans
My favorite part about this whole thing is that Barrett implies that VT is a school that can say "this is our guy" and then just pony up and buy him haha. #BigDogs
That bowl game defeat to Fuente really did a number on them, huh?
Bruce Feldman notes this morning that industry sources "indicate that Virginia Tech seems ready to move on from waiting for Franklin."
Franklin Pls. Also that article is paywalled but your quote seems to contradict his tweet
"Virginia Tech's search about to wrap up"
Meh, that's just a rehash of what was said last night....
VT is still in on Franklin and appears to be nearing completion, but Franklin is still holding out for the possibility FSU comes open. VT has Chesney as next in line if Frankin falls through.
At this point, if FSU was going to come open, it probably would have happened already. All signs are pointing to him signing with VT.
Regardless of public perception, F$U does not have the kind of money needed to fire Norvell, and hire Franklin plus coordinators, etc.
FSU just got done paying Taggart's buyout less than a year ago.
They'd owe about 59 million to Norvell
Plus what they owe the coordinators. They just replaced both last year.
So they'd be on the hook for over 100 million, mostly in salaries of people not employed by them anymore.
We are definitely not Chesney's only potential suitor. Chesney is likely not going to make his decision based on Franklin's timeline.
If Sexton is still dragging this out for a better gig or more money, it's time to move on and get Chesney before he gets scooped up elsewhere
Yeah, but if he is dragging things out for a better gig or more money, the same things will be true for Chesney
Especially when I'm seeing Chesney linked to jobs like Penn St lately (because they seem to not be able to get any of their top candidates to even be interested).
Our best bet right now is to remain patient with Franklin and be prepared to pivot immediately when it needs to happen. Its not like we're watching guys get hired left and right, everyone is waiting for that first domino to fall, and hoping its them.
This right here. We are still in the early Christmas shopping period. The fanbase doesn't need to move on because essentially no one in the fanbase has any impact on the ongoing discussions nor has any real insight into them. The majority of information out there is speculation or leaked by agents to drum up hype for their guy.
We are all anxious to get someone, but if it isn't Franklin, it is going to be December before we hire them and if it is Franklin, it might be December before we hire him.
Take a deep breath, post some gifs and be patient.
To be fair, we really don't know. None of the candidates who are currently employed as a HC are going to announce they're moving on to a new school until after the season is over.
Right this is why I'll still be surprised if we here anything before the end of the season there's just too many moving pieces to all of this for every party involved that isn't VT.
I hit the point (about two weeks ago, I think) of thinking that it's highly unlikely we land Franklin. I think as a fan base we need to move on. I'll be surprised if Franklin is named head coach of VT. My hope is that the committee has done their due diligence and we'll be naming someone we can get excited about in about a month.
The longer this goes on, and the more JMU games I watch, the more excited I'm getting about the possibility of Chesney.
I've been on the Chesney train pretty much since Pry was fired. I think he'd be a risky hire but I believe he has great upside and I'm here for that.
You haven't been on the Chesney train, you ARE the Chesney train
My stance the whole time has been that Chesney is the only G5 coach I'd be positive about, but now that's turning into excitement
if all this has been because of him and Sexton dawdling then yeah, we should move on honestly. Shit or get off the pot.
That said, the past 17 days have taught me that we here on TKP really don't know what's actually going on. I welcome our new head coach, whoever they are. And whenever they are too, apparently.
Not only the people on TKP. Anyone claiming to be an insider on any site has been proven to be full of shit.
We say a lot about Whit (some of it deserved and some not), but in three coaching searches now, info out of VT has been locked down tight.
5 if you count both basketball hires
wouldn't it be 7 if you include WBB hires too
Saw this on X.....Anybody know anything about this guy?
200 followers and less pixels in his profile picture, yeah more noise
Saw that tweet. His profile says he hosts a show in Cleveland that I cannot find another mention of in a Google search. I also cannot find another mention of someone by that name working for ESPN or any of their affiliates.
Looks to be a troll account.
Looking at his other tweets there's no way it's anything but a troll account.
He didn't say which Saturday.
We're all forgetting to the most important question...
Have there been any flights from Hampton Roads to Blacksburg since the end of the ODU game last night?
I did see someone tweet about one lol. Another single prop charter.
But it was a nice plane....PC12, as I recall.
Michael Vick the new coach, confirmed.
From 1-9 to National Championship confirmed
Pilatus PC12s are indeed very nice planes. I've seen the same one at the VT Exec Airport multiple times over the past few years w a 2 person crew.
The flight tracking from the VT fanbase for this search has been unparalleled. Somebody on 247 even went after class outside the airport and was taking pictures of planes landing lmao.
Fit check
looks like someone who knows how to dress on the sidelines of a football field located in the Appalachian mountains
Guess we find out tomorrow how plugged in this guy is
Edit: obviously not a Barstool guy had no idea what the King of the South reference was to
This guy either has had the scoop long before conventional media or is a complete troll.
I've been at a work event all evening, did we hire Franklin while is was away?
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a98cde
Could mean nothing, could mean something*
*no I'm not the degenerate looking at flight aware. Just sharing a degenerates link of flight aware
Not that close to Lake Oconee or would say it could just be bringing Frank in for tomorrow's game.
I think they are referring to a stop in Burnham, PA Friday night. Burnham is a 40 min drive from State College. So maybe there is some sort of Penn St buyout/duty to mitigate contract language that's being cleared up? It's due to return to Blacksburg on Saturday.
Seems like a stretch.
not sure what I'm looking at with this link, but Bud Foster flew to State College
Stationand back earlier today (Friday).Wow, so Franklin is going to get Elko as his DC
oops, drinking
I was really wondering what to make of that.
Sounds like someone on VTscoop literally took a pic w Bud after this plane landed.
Freaking epic thread last night on 247. Most epic message board/plane tracking fiasco ever lol. People are live tracking a flight from Blacksburg to just outside of State College last night speculating, rumor gets started that Bud among others might be on that plane. This student drives to the airport when the plane is scheduled to land back in Blacksburg and walks up to the gate. Bud Foster himself steps off the plane and walks out, kid goes up and takes a selfie with him and talks to him lmao. Boots on the freaking ground!
Saw someone tweeting this morning that plane picked up Arians in GA before stopping in Blacksburg to snag Bud (on northbound leg)?
this is what happens when it takes this long. Not surprised haha
Yep....
What if! Here me out! What if, Bud is talking to Franklin about being the DC? Does he want to coach again after a 10 year break? ....
Man.... I had the same thought..... what if
Buds face lol
He doesn't look happy to be intercepted there....
Imagine Bud getting off a plane 4 Wild Turkeys deep to find a 247 poster waiting for him on the tarmac
I still can't believe anyone can just walk onto the tarmac in Blacksburg
Franklin was clearly just waiting for the Disney/YoutubeTV deal to be reached before having it announced for maximum attention
I would certainly tune into Gameday this morning if you're a VT fan...
My reaction if tech defies all odds by pulling this off AND announces it strategically
👀
If you're pulling a Mike McDaniel, so help me...
Would be wrong to say that kind of thing without good really sauces...
Any specific time or just watch the whole thing? Bc it's Pitt and I don't want to watch that lol
I think the announcement was already made:
"James Franklin in early stages of talks to become Virginia Tech Head Coach"
At least they did that early, so you don't have to watch all three hours of College Gameday.
I may have been wrong about the last eight times I said this, but I'm not going to be wrong this time.
Edit: I'm in town for Open House sessions with my 16yo, so I'm looking forward to seeing the reactions. How nice of them to wait until I'm in Blacksburg to announce this!
Also here at the Open House. Scrolling while sitting through the Engineering session.
There it is. Gameday official!
"Early stage talks. Should wrap up early next week."
Breaking News:
Most non committal statement ever
That's like telling everyone you just met this girl. And you're getting married next week.
I mean you don't go house hunting on a first date!
Wait, was THAT the announcement????
"James Franklin in early stages of talks to become Virginia Tech Head Coach"
They're talking it up among all the talking heads on Game Day, but no announcement just yet...
(My) translation:
Gameday was told by the agent/etc: 'leak a little bit to peak the interest, but we want to announce it when it's our right time.'
Gameday: 'if we say anything, it better be right b/c we dont want egg on our face. .'
Agent: 'oh, it's done, but we'll officially announce it when we're ready '
That is a carefully worded message....
Its like: "In breaking news...and then: Its Groundhog Day Again"
At least everyone on set was like "they've been in the early stages since two weeks ago". 😆
Just making what we all knew was happening official.
Hopefully the timeline adds up though and we can get some resolution next week.
Please Lord, let today be like that day a few years ago when I was surprised to see Buzz Williams wearing VT gear on TV and I thought I'd slipped into a parallel universe. Do the same thing today, just with football and James Franklin. Amen.
Starting to wonder if this is JFs burner
This guy has been all over this the whole time.
I'm thinking it could be a family friend or relative.
He tweeted that he used to work at PSU and knew the BOB hire before it happened there. He's definitely connected in some way though
Get this man an honorary TKPC membership. He's been on the money throughout the entire thing.
I'm personally torn on whether he's truly an insider or he just has a 247 subscription and has simply been following along lol.
Can you imagine how epic this would be (if true) and Franklin were to go all 'hell hath no fury' to penn state football?
He would single-handedly impose the death penalty that the NCAA should have.
oh, I think that's the idea
What a baller move if true. "Don't announce me yet cuz I can tamper till "x" date. That's the kinda shadiness I want.
I'm curious when the 5 day window starts, is it when it's announced or when the contract officially is signed? If it gets announced there's an agreement in principle, but the contract is not signed yet, is that considered the start of the portal window opening or can he continue to tamper?
We are finally playing big boy football.
could be wrong (and not that it matters much) but I don't think our portal window opens again with a new hiring since our separation occurred under the old rules and we already did that. players probably have to wait for the regular opening
We're the headline video on ESPN app right now. While the message itself may be lackluster to us who talk about this in real time.
Big deal for public perception. Something we've had zero of for years except for a blip on the radar before last season.
Hey that's not fair.
We were the face of the "Top Coaches on the Hot Seat" article at the beginning of the year.
I got text from an old coworker this morning from michigan regarding the hire...its getting attention
I need a Photoshop gif of James Franklin's head on Steve Urkel's body while Urkel is pouring the Stefan juice into the machine saying "Shhhh... Not while I'm tampering"
He said James Franklin, not Rick Moranis 😅
Announcing our next football coach
Can't wait for our big upset thanks to the annexation of Puerto Rico
IYKYK
This hire would satisfy all the "we need to do more with less" people
Technically, he's undefeated...
Reddit asking the important questions https://www.reddit.com/r/VirginiaTech/s/C1FyNqWmOf
LET'S GO....
KROGERING!
That's funny, however the correct answer is neither. He puts it in his contract that they build him a new Harris Teeter so it can start feeling like the 90s again in Blacksburg.
Harris Teeter is owned by Kroger now
Just another thing wrong with this country...
The new Harris Teeter gets nicknamed as Prada Kroger
Okay, so now I'm curious. Which one is which? I've only ever been to the one on south main across from cookout
When I was in school south main was Gucci. Unsure if still true
Hasn't changed
That's Gucci. UCB is Ghetto
I had a feeling but wanted to be sure. thanks
This. When they finished the Christiansburg Kroger upgrade, we call it "Gucci South". But it's mgmt is really bad.
When I was there the one across from Cookout was Gucci Kroger
Edit: drinking
james franklin has it in his contract that theres a wegmans in bburg by the start of the 2026 season
Feeling better and better about this if we can land the plane and get JF. The talent influx is going to be so night and day, and it feels like we could be instantly competitive in the ACC
For real. Acc is rubbish. If Franklin is hired I think 9 wins is in the cards next year
Been away from the inside info all day. Was a bit surprised when it wasn't announced as a done deal this morning. Is there no worry that we beat FSU Norvell gets fired and Franklin takes that job? Or is this really a "done deal"?
My (unpopular) opinion is that it's not a done deal until it's officially announced. I won't root for us to lose tonight because I don't think norvel gets fired. Even if he does, I don't see how fsu could afford Franklin
Yes
Someone close to me has family on the BOV and was told this:
As of tonight it's a done deal. $11 million per year, building a new building just for him and staff, and 25 million NIL.
Announcement likely Monday.
Average 11 or back loaded?
I didn't get those specifics. What I posted was literally all the info I got in the text sent to me.
A new building? That seems insane (not that college football isn't insane all over today). I guess he plans to be here for the long haul because that thing is not getting built any time soon lol
Halftime of the game they were talking about it and Clawson said he knows Franklin and he wouldn't go to VT unless he knows they are all in on the program.
I mean Merryman could use a massive overhaul. If Franklin gets that done, that's a huge bonus.
Maybe they'll start by demoing Ballein's office
As many legs in a photo as I could find
gross
You say that, but I just spent the weekend with my daughter doing open house, where I learned that what she *really* wants to do is Wildlife Conservation with a minor in Entomology. Don't get me wrong, I was impressed as hell with the CNRE presentation, and their job placement numbers are outstanding. But Entomology? *Shudders*
Sitting at a BWW with her in Richmond right now, and I just asked her, "So you want to be the bug girl?" And she's like yeah.
At least she's going to do it at Tech. ❤️
F & WC was my original major. Not a ton of high paying jobs but you have lots of fun
Had a 43 year career in wildlife conservation...extremely rewarding. She should plan on a Masters to be competitive in the job market. I also strongly recommend taking some public policy courses (I think it should be mandatory for a Masters) because if you plan to make a positive impact of any substance, you'll either be working for or with the public sector. Entomology wasn't my thing but pollinator issues aren't going away anytime soon. Understanding ecological relationships is also critically important in problem solving...systems ecology is boring as hell but extremely useful.
edit: recommend a broad undergrad curriculum...get specific in grad school. in the 70's the options at VT for a natural resources degree were much more narrow than today and had way too much forestry for my liking. So I have a degree in biology and took all of the electives I could get in wildlife management, botany, and ecology. Went to LSU for grad school in wildlife management (and duck hunting, lol). If she sticks with it, start looking for coop opportunities and/or meaningful summer jobs nlt year 2...best way to crack the code for a job.
Great advice right here!
I think we need more bug girls.
Chris Coleman on his Friday Mailbag podcast basically said he anticipates Franklin to come in and shake the athletics department to the core. Wouldn't be surprised if it's an enormous culture shock to most everyone working there. Not only going to get a football-only facility built, but will likely push for and demand total overhaul in so many regards. Franklin is extremely detail-oriented and high energy from what he was saying. I can't wait honestly. If VT wants to compete, they need to get onboard.
This is exactly what we need and why I want him with the whistle.
Agreed. Dave Clawson said it best last night on the ACC huddle. Franklin walks in the door at VT and brings instant credibility and relevance back to the program. It will finally feel like we have a big time dude leading the program, who has accomplished a lot and is highly regarded in the industry and by players and the media, for the first time since Frank's heyday.
Me likey
I've heard similar with regards to an announcement on Monday. As of right now, I've heard everything is on track. We will see what happens.
New flight tracker is live for those who partake.
Edit: it took a turn near Franklin, WV and looks like it might be headed towards DC
Saw this on X, and it flew into Dulles, likely for the BOV meeting tomorrow. This likely wouldn't be the plane they send for Franklin anyway. This was N51VT, the smaller of the two planes. Watch for N80FW, which is the Citation Sovereign.
Way too green for a November photo...
It's the photo tied to the plane on ADSB from planespotters.net. I prefer to think of all planes as flying into and out of airports surrounded by lush green landscaping and warm temps. Not reality, obviously.
For those so inclined to flight track today, keep an eye on exec jets arriving at KBCB from other locations, and staying for a short time. This is what happened Friday with the flight that Bud hopped to PA. I thought we might have something this morning, when a Citation popped up to the airport from Statesville NC, but as soon as it lifted off, it turned back toward points south. Currently headed SW near Asheville NC, around 40000 ft., so it's likely not related to our search. This is the kind of traffic we'd be interested in watching.....nicer exec jet, no filed public flight plan, into the burg and out quickly. Otherwise, keep an eye out for Tech's two planes. N51VT is, as far as we know, still sitting on the tarmac at Dulles. N80FW is likely still at the Bburg airport. There's always the possibility that a plane could go directly to State College without originating at KBCB too.
Or CJF could just an offer over zoom, no?
DocuSign
A PSU commit decommitting and subsequently committing to VT on the Pat Mcafee show would be incredible (cinema).
Crystal balls are WVU but one can dream.
PSU decommit
Editing to add context, Was tweeted by Joe Rogers (like him or not) on Twitter. It was the potential James Franklin intro picture from the VT Athletics creative team.
Zach Lantz is the Senior Creative Director for Hokies FB and was part of the group chat the picture was in. This looks like it was taken by someone at the basketball game, which would also kind of make sense. Not sure how legit, but just showing the class
redacted names version posted in place of the other one
The first message asks for an image "in case there is an announcement in the next day or so"
Doesn't mean anything at all, really. Just the media team being proactive about a high profile job candidate. I also see that it was just deleted, so not worth reading into, to be honest. It's not like those 'This is HOME' graphics just create themselves.
aaaaaaand it's been taken down, adding to the sign that it was a real thing.
I mean it's absolutely real, but not sure why it's newsworthy. It's just being prepared in case it's announced, leading me to believe the media team knows as much as us.
And here I was thinking we were just in "early talks." 😂
Did anyone screencap this?
Yeah I'm on my phone but it's a slack convo between who I'm guessing people on the creative team asking for and providing drafts of Franklin images 'in case there's news in the next day or so'
Another tweeter screen capped and reposted https://x.com/talkin_football/status/1990190291182362664?s=46
It was a few mockups of the This is HOME graphic with Franklin in preparation for the event there is an announcement in the coming days.
Nothing super newsworthy. Just a stock photo of Franklin superimposed on our typical marooned out background of Lane Stadium
A few moments later....
The Key memes must flow as long as Franklin is our head coach.
Hell, bring the Peele memes too. He portrayed the greatest player in VT football history, after all (Cartoons Plural).
I was wrong the previous nine times I called this, but I will not be wrong today!
"Even a broken watch is right
twice a dayonce every 9 days."/s
And, I know it seemed crazy LAST TIME, but...
I baked pies to celebrate (and not at all because it is November and one should bake as many pies as humanly possible for reasons)
Edit: pictured - cranberry curd in shortbread crust and peanut butter banana cream topped with peanut butter whipped cream and peanut brittle
Damn right you made pie to celebrate! Cake is for funerals!
Wow, you nailed it! Were you Joe's source?
Read an article on The Athletic today stating today should be the day if it happens. Here's to hoping lol. Also said VT has been talking with Tulane and JMU head coaches too.
800% trusting bro right now. Maybe even 900%.
Let me know when it gets to 100%, because that's when it gets announced.
The Athletic also said we were ready to move on from Franklin just 3 days ago. They don't have a clue what's going on.
the "reporters" are just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks
I think these are part of the same "leak", encouraging Franklin to speed up his thought process, and indicating that VT may consider other options.
I think they're reading TKP and using the info we are discussing to toss into chatGPT to produce an article.
"The fast food restaurants driving the Virginia Tech coaching search" by Bruce Feldman
Virginia Tech using ancient tradition to select its next coach -- SI
AI Follow-up Links: What is Virginia Tech football? How are popes selected? What is the college of cardinals?
Louisville is the college of Cardinals (as opposed to Stanford, the college of Cardinal)
Kicking myself for not taking this additional step. My large ornate hat is off to you
To be fair, The Athletic reported that VT is ready to move on if a deal cannot be finalized soon, which seems pretty normal imo.
First time I've heard Sumrall's name linked to us. I think I'm 750% trusting bro
If Sumrall is considering VT, it means that UF and PSU aren't interested, and LSU/Auburn are in complete disarray.
So not impossible.
Really hoping we get Franklin - I think not even so much just for his coaching and recruiting ability. As others have noted, is Franklin the only coach out there that can win at VT? No.
BUT
What we know about Franklin - if we hire him, we're not just hiring a new coach. We're signing up for a complete overhaul of the football program and how it function from the ground up. Something VT football desperately needs.
Lots of guys can coach. We need more than a new coach if we want to get back to our former glory.
You know, I used to think that lots of guys can coach, but after seeing our last two coaches I'm not so sure I believe that anymore lol.
I agree though, the overhaul is desperately needed if VT is going to get back to being relevant in college football.
Thinking about this last night... should VT actually hire Franklin, which I'm ready to be Big Dogged at this point, does this totally redeem Whit?
Its in spite of whit and likely the changes required to get him include pushing whit out i assume
If Franklin comes in, it'll be to completely own and run the football program. He would install his own guy to be GM of the football program, and its likely that role would report to Sands to separate it away from the rest of the athletic department.
Whit would be allowed to stay but not be in control of anything football related. And honestly, that's probably a good working arrangement going forward.
Kinda like a GM AND coach in one.....
I don't see the bolded part happening. To my knowledge this has never been done at the college level. I don't see that changing.
IMO either whit needs to be all in or all out. I don't see the point of keeping him around in a limited capacity beyond onboarding someone new.
Normally I'd agree, but part of the previous BoV meeting it sounded like he was exploring options to set up an oversight committee for just the football program. That makes me believe we are pivoting to operating football completely separate from the rest of the AD and set it up to report to Sands directly rather than through Whit.
I think its important right now for VT football to operate separately from VT athletics and have someone involved to just run football and allow Whit to run everything else. Simply put, VT football and how strong it is over the next 5-10 years will determine the long term health of VT athletics as a whole, and possibly the health of the school. We need to nail it and get into the P2, else the financial hit we will see cannot be overstated.
Also, reading the overall tea leaves of college sports, there seems to be a growing push to separate football from the rest of sports and have it operate independently of the NCAA model. This would indicate we are trying to get ahead of those changes to be prepared and operating in that mindset before the shift, which would be a major improvement to our reactionary tendencies in the past.
I'm a huge believer in football separating from the ncaa and I think we'll see it by the early 2030s at latest.
I'm less convinced that football teams should report to the school president instead of the AD.
I'm even less convinced that VT is going to be the school to start the new trend here.
I think this depends on how things play out. I'm sure a lot of people will say no regardless, but I think moderate success probably balances things for him, sweeping success redeems him. (I'm sure there will be a lot of disagreement with my take though)
Regardless I think this is the last coach Whit hires. due to his comments at the BOV meeting earlier this year about funding I think he's looking to retire in the next few years.
Gets Franklin, does 2-3 years with him and then retires.
I think it'll buy him a pass until his retirement, but it won't cement him as one of the greatest ADs ever. Getting oneself out of a really sticky situation doesn't redeem for the fact you got yourself in that position to begin with, IMO.
When the dust settles, I'd be really curious to know how things have worked out between the BoV, the search committee, & Whit. Has Whit been a 100% team player? Has he tried to claw back all of his power? Did he step aside and let things play out the way the BoV wanted?
Every 24 hours or so I go from thinking "omg it's really happening, we're getting Franklin" to "Franklin is going to blow us off through thanksgiving, but lead us on just enough that we don't get anywhere with Chesney or Sumrall or Huff, and then we're going to panic hire someone like Brent Pry."
If we end up panic hiring some P4 coordinator with no head coaching experience, I'll help Whit pack his bags myself.
I think it's still pretty damning that fundraising has just now come through (allegedly after Sands has gotten involved).
I'm not a Whit hater by any stretch, but the mismanagement of the Hokie Club is pretty damning. It's just a bad look that Whit has been unable to fundraise for a decade, and then Sands drops in a raises $50m in 3 weeks.
From what i've read on 247/TSL Whit isn't in charge of the search/hiring, it's being spearheaded by Roc and the committee that was formed. He's basically been relegated to just the rubber stamp guy at this point, so no i don't think it redeems him
should we wrap this puppy up and start Part III?
Yeah, making my browser freeze up at this point 😅
Makes sense to do it - I'll open one up
Nope, we got the email the deal is done.