Now that we have a head coach in place, it's time to start building out who his staff will be!
I have seen rumblings (probably on TKP) that Brooks and Mines could be retained for recruiting purposes... but I feel like our WRs haven't developed very well. I have been happy with RB turnover and improvement.
Postion Current
Head Coach James Franklin
DC Brent Pry
DL [RUMORED] Sean Spencer
LB ????
Corners ????
Safeties [RUMORED] Anthony Poindexter
Special Teams Matt Colangelo
OC Ty Howle
QB Danny O'Brian
WR Fontell Mines
RB Norval McKenzie
OL Matt Moore
TE David Rocco
S&C Chuck Losey
Forums:
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Comments
The rumor is he has almost all his coaching staff identified and most ready to announce.
Per Chris Coleman on the TSL podcast last night, Franklin has already formed his staff and it is known who it will be.
I wouldn't be shocked to see most of the PSU staff join him here. Also an outside chance we see Pry join him as well, as he and his wife were supposedly very influential to get this decision over the line behind the scenes.
If Pry wants to stay in Bburg I feel like it needs to be as an analyst or as a partner in crime for whatever it is Bud does. I know a lot of this roster is getting flipped, but it seems like a pretty big conflict of interest to have the former HC as a coach on the new staff.
out of left field, good guy pry becomes a general manager
You know what, that actually might be a great fit.
I'd be in for that, hell, why not?
He wins every single soft-skill category with flying colors. He is clearly passionate about VT and he's genuinely a great guy. HC wasn't it for him and I think he knows that and is fine with it. He can still add a ton of value off the field and he'd be nothing but a great ambassador for VT.
The issue is did the team quit on him? If so, and it seems they kinda did, he probably can't be in the room with players as long as there are still players from this roster on the team. The only way that would work is if the players who are retained really really love him and weren't ones who quit or lost focus.
This is my concern with Pry. Did they quit and if so why did they quit? I think keeping Pry in any capacity may send the wrong message to the players that are staying.
Agreed
Honestly, only coach I 100% want him to keep on is JC. The guy has been our biggest cheerleader at every corner and his defensive lines have been pretty stellar. Also I'd like to see us pick up Eddie Whitley from JMU, his DB's are always ballhawks and solid tacklers. I've been one that doesn't think a head coach has to have ties to a program but a few assistant coaches with ties to the program helps sell the vision.
I'd like Brooks to stay. Our RBs have been doing okay.
Wouldn't mind Mines in some capacity
Would welcome Pry somewhere on staff
For me, there is no sentimental pick.
So it's totally up to Franklin. That said, I think JC is an excellent coach.
Ultimately, this is where I'm at. Doesn't mean we can't cross our fingers for JC (I'm also crossing them for Jarrett), though.
I wouldn't mind seeing Matt Morris hang around either. Continuity with o- line could be helpful.
Of course, Im hoping that most of the line can be upgraded (Altuner aside), so it might not be the benefit Im predicting.
WWFD ( What would @Frenchwasp Do)
Matt Moore*
I 100% agree with OL continuity, and Moore has a track record of good lines once he gets his guys and develops. The question is, does his scheme fit what we're trying to do offensively (depends on OC) and does Franklin want to bring in his guy from PSU Trautwein?
Oh, there must have been some kinda nicknames for Trautwein.... the obvious one in particular, LOL
I'll be happy with a complete churn of coaches, operations, and staff. That said, I think every team needs someone on staff that loves the school like JC loves Tech. That's the person you want at fundraisers and alumni events. So if Franklin keeps JC in some capacity I'm good with it.
Granted take this for the mountain of salt that it's worth, but I saw a little post from a random poster a few days ago on 247 mentioning that he knew the Texas A&M DL coach's family (Sean Spencer) and they had apparently been reached out to by Franklin/VT and was very interested.
Spencer hired by Franklin at Vanderbilt 2011, followed JF to PSU in 2014.
Pretty impressive bio: DL coach Sean Spencer
like everyone else on here, i love JC Price. but if he is retained, franklin better be able to recruit some better players for him to coach up. has he recruited anyone that has been a difference-maker? abbey, hanchuck, johnson, stevens, dandy...are all just kind of there.
i do think he can coach them up, and he can get the most of his players...we just need better players!
He's done decent in the portal.
But there's definitely been some misses out of high school. There's also been some hits -- Laws, Dandy seems like a diamond in the rough IMO, and Hanchuk if he ever gets healthy. I'm with vtwuzzidsp, I've been underwhelmed with recruiting at a position where there's a lot of high school talent and it's easily identified. The play has been mostly good, but it's been inconsistent at times and Burgos, who seemed like he was destined for big things, has fallen off dramatically.
I wouldn't mind JC staying, but I'd like to see another DL coach come in, especially since that's something Franklin excelled at during his time at PSU.
I saw first hand how good a DB coach he was at Bridgewater. It was no surprise when he left for JMU. I was able to cheer him on during the Bridgewater games in a personal way as the "stadium" holds ~ 3,000. He and I made eye contact a few times when I would cheer him on as a fellow Hokie. It was awesome.
JC, Brooks, Moore, Fines
I don't want Franklin bringing Poindexter
Gotta think Mines stays. Franklin has reportedly tried to get Mines to State College in the past.
I wouldn't mind bumping him to TEs coach and finding another WR coach though. He's a good recruiter but haven't been overly impressed with the development of that room. Granted maybe an unfair eval given Drones can't throw the ball with any consistency
Yeah, but who outside of Heath and maybe Ayden get any separation? Even when he had crazy talent like the last two years it didn't seem like he was getting the most out of them. WR has occasionally been a problem for Franklin so I'd like to see someone better than Mines come in. You replace the position recruiting with the HC recruiting, so it's worth it to get a good coach there.
Helps to have a qb who can pass accurately and on time
I don't know if he'll retain them in their current roles, but I hope he finds a place for JC Price and Jarrett Ferguson. I know they don't want to be anywhere else.
I'm good with Mines and Brooks staying. A floating rumor was that he also reached out to Sean Spencer (DL Coach at A&M) which would be huge. The only thing that matters is ensuring that Stu Holt is sent to the sun.
Yes-he has been besmirching the good name of Skippy! May the fires of the sun purify that good name.
I would assume most of his PSU staff, but I would not be averse to Ricky Rahne as OC, Tyler Bowen as OL, and Poindexter as DC
Poindexter won't be coming. He is very dedicated to the 'hoos. He won't come to tech.
When Franklin spent Friday at ODU, my immediate reaction was that he was recruiting Rahne for OC.
The other coach for Troy was one of his as well
TBH I'm kinda relieved. He wasn't a great OC at PSU. If we're looking through the JMFF coaching tree, I'd really hope for Joe Moorhead (there have been some talking heads hinting at this). Or even the ODU OC + QB package deal.
Kevin Decker would be great imo but I don't think Franklin was there to visit Rahne and be like "by the way I'm going to hamstring you by stealing your best coordinator"
Or to poach his players while standing next him on the sideline. (I don't think he's above recruiting those guys but doing it while you shake hands with their current coach seems a little too brazen)
I think he may have just been enjoying a game with two of his previous guys since he doesn't really get that opportunity often. Wouldn't be surprised to be wrong though.
Both could be true...they get/got added to the list later after their visit.
I dunno, if I was an ODU player or fan seeing that delivery, I'm not necessarily convinced by the words themselves.
Pictured: the grain of salt every coach statement made in November should be taken with
800% committed
He never said no. He said he has great appreciation for his job. He got defensive about the question being asked (typical sign he is considering it). He said it is "his intention" to coach at ODU for the rest of his life. Clearly, it is his intention until a better opportunity comes around. The question is whether he takes double salary to be a ln OC.
I don't know if Franklin and him have discussed the OC job, if Franklin will offer him the job or if he would take the job, but this answer does not put an end to any speculation. The fact he gets defensive about the question, in my mind, suggests he is actually considering the possibility.
I dunno - not trying to defend these guys that make astronomical amounts of money, but those questions do suck for coaches even if they're 100% fair for a journalist to ask.
Even if he has zero interest in leaving, his agent will want to use the buzz to get him an extension or raise, but Rahne still has games to coach and wants to avoid any outside distractions.
I'm not sure what the heck a coach is supposed to do when asked those questions, no matter their long term intentions. Deflect and people will assume you're leaving. Deny and leave later? You lied. Answer honestly about keeping your options open? You're not committed enough to your current job.
I think you say something to the effect of: I am focused on preparing for *name upcoming opponent* and ensuring that I am fully present and committed to those players out there who wear the ODU emblem on their chest every Saturday. I have heard the rumors swirling and I understand that you have to ask the question; I trust you'll give me the same latitude with a non-answer. The rumors, and questions surrounding it, are distracting and disruptive to the task that we, the players and coaches, have as we prepare for *name upcoming opponent*. We can discuss off-season topics in the off-season. Next question.
So give the Bill Belichek answer?
While I like the idea, I still think that leads to headlines of: "VPIhokieME refuses to dismiss rumors about his interest in coaching at XYZ!"
No matter what you say, headlines will be designed to drive interest. I still think that's the lesser of the evils
real nick saban "im not leaving miami" vibes
Assuming Pry may be a defensive analyst.
There are people associated with the program that love Tech, but I'm not offended if Franklin turns the whole thing over. I don't think you can lay our systematic issues over the last decade at the feet of a position coach or any single person, but the idea of starting fresh is appealing. Thank the guys who are on the current staff for their hard work, put in a good word for them at the next place and build out the staff that is going to be the next iteration of Hokie football.
As far as new coaches, I have no idea. Franklin was able to pry Knowles away from Ohio State. Not saying he gets someone at that level, but it does show he has some serious influence.
Brooks and Mines seem likely logical choices to remain. Mines more for recruitment than development.
J.C. has done a great job with the line. I would figure he would get some consideration.
I do wonder what this hire means for guys like Adibi, Prioleau, Ferguson, and Phillips.
I want franklin to blow this shitshow up. It's a new day in Blacksburg
You still standing by that Jeff King for GM report?
At this point the one thing I am most looking forward to is hearing the Ballein family is no longer officially affiliated with the Virginia Tech Athletic Department
Add Babcock, at least from having any input on football
Unfortunately even if John goes, I think his wife will continue to haunt the halls of Cassell.
Need cloudflare to get fixed this morning so the presser can be live on twitter.
The announcement press conference is tomorrow I believe. I'm assuming they're still doing the usual game week presser with Monty today.
Ah. I thought it was today for some reason.
The DLine has done well I'm good with JC staying. The RBs have been fantastic, I'm fine with Brooks staying. Our receivers cant run clean routes, our QB can't throw. Our oline can't pass block (though not blaming Moore) Our DBs stink and we o lt have 1 LB who is a frosh (though props to Adibi getting him ready).
I am fine with Franklin blowing it all up.
I know Mines has been a great recruiter, but if he's staying please hire him an assistant that get our receivers on the JUGS.
I would say it's almost a 100% lock for Mines to be retained. Franklin tried to hire him away from VT many times the last few years. He's an ace recruiter and Franklin really likes him. Whether he stays at WR or moves maybe to TE where he's coached previously TBD. But I would say lock Mines is retained.
OC could be really interesting. We have cash and Franklin has the network to make huge hires. Could we go after Joe Moorhead? Or Ricky Rahne (Franklin was at the ODU game last Thursday). Rahne and Decker plus their QB at ODU? That could be pretty exciting.
Would be really interested to see if Anthony Poindexter would follow him for Safeties/co DC type role. Some say Poindexter would never coach at VT being a Wahoo, but others say that's not the case. Also an excellent recruiter and heavily connected in VA.
Have seen some rumblings that Sean Spencer (currently at TAMU) could be the choice for DL coach.
Mines has been boom or bust on the receivers. The great ones ended up in the NFL or transferred to better programs. We're seeing now what the busts look like. I wouldn't lose any sleep if he was moved away from coaching the WRs.
Who transferred?
If I'm remembering correctly, Kaleb Smith had a strong year after the first year with Mines. And ended up transferring to ND but had to medically retire.
That's true, and Kaleb was good and it was definitely a loss. But I wouldn't say he's great and I wonder if that's who HokieRif is referring to. I wouldn't really count that one because he was leftover from the Fuente regime.
Caleb was the only WR on WR on the team, he had a strong year because there was no one else's to throw to.
Well yes but you could make a similar argument this year and I don't think any of these guys look as good this year as Kaleb did. He was an afterthought with Fuente's staff and turned in a decent year.
Overall though, I've been underwhelmed with WR play/development with Mines and would not mind to see him go.
Wasn't Caleb a transfer from Wake that had the benefit of wide receiver coaching before he came here?
No, Kaleb was a VT walk-on
Yes, but we would've been a better team if he had stayed and been able to play. Notre Dame wanted him because he was a good 2nd or 3rd option for a team competing for the playoffs. It's too bad he had to retire.
I'd much rather have Rahne's OC at ODU than him. Kevin Decker's offense averaged 600+ yards at Fordham, now he's been killing it at an underfunded ODU. So much so they carved us up this year, despite the talent deficit
The dream is Joe Moorhead at OC.
I'd like to see JC retained - his work in the portal and developing DL talent has been exceptional IMO.
I'm good with brooks/Mines being retained.
Pretty indifferent to the rest of the position coaches.
I've seen on twitter some smoke around Kentuckys DC I believe.
I did read some smoke that JC remaining on staff in some capacity could be on the table.
Josh Gattis? Recently fired from Syracuse which I think was a bit of a head scratcher since the WR's seemed to be a lone bright spot for them. Good WR coach and very solid recruiter.
For a position coach, sure. Not as an OC.
Josh Gattis was only good as a Playcaller when he had Connor Stalions giving him the Defensive playcall before every play. He rode blatant cheating to a Broyles Award.
Since that he has failed quickly and been fired just as quickly at Miami and Maryland.
Zero interest.
Franklin always had churn at OC (they changed every couple of years at Penn State.) DC churn started when Pry left (Diaz, Allen, Knowles.)
I'm very excited about this hire because of Franklin's program building. From a macro perspective, the program will be healthy and better off. But we are probably going to hate the offense. I get the impression that Franklin, a former OC, tampers with the OC's game planning and play calls. It will be fascinating to see who comes in as the OC and how long they last.
It fits with the mo in Blacksburg. We're never going to have good offense, so we hired a guy who wins but doesn't have good offense. Great culture fit IMO
In almost every case, those people left for better jobs though:
I think The only coordinator who got fired was the ex-Texas OC (Yercich?)
Ciarrocca was fired after one year, he came from Minn and PJ Fleck and is now at Rutgers. Yurcich followed him and was fired in his third year. Franklin has struggled to find the OC magic he had with Moorhead.
I forgot about Ciarrocca - I think he was there for just the Covid year?
Agreed
Yeah he was just there for the Covid year which probably impacted his production. PSU had a rough two years playing through Covid.
Ciarrocca isn't anything extraordinary. But he's really solid and puts guys in positions to win. I think this year Rutgers is doing pretty good. I'm having trouble finding a success rate table (not a graph)
As much as it's fun to see Mines recruiting, and JC loving on VT...I'm kind of in the mindset of whoever Franklin wants to keep is cool, but if he says here's the door for all of you, then whatever. Nothing wrong with a full reset at this point and whatever that looks like.
Just. Win. Baby.
This.
Agreed. He has to sink or swim, so they have to empower him to do it with the people he believes he can be successful with.
I don't think he would have signed on if he didn't have full control.
This, 100%.
If I was him I'd keep Mines in some fashion for recruiting purposes and JC in some role for alumni type events. Outside of those two, I'm good with whatever he wants. He's the dude.
But I'm also definitely not a program rebuilding coach, nor am I making $multi million$, so wtf do I know😂
All I know is that there are few remaining PSU guys that came with Pry that are still on staff. They have incredibly big heads and are trying to throw weight around now that Franklin is coming. Most of the rest of staff wants them shit canned so fast it won't be funny.
Michael Hazel and Jan Johnson? Anybody else?
I would love to have a coach who does not need to feel heat from the fans and administration to realize or get rid of coaches that are not performing. Start with who he wants, and whoever does not chop wood gets the axe. If he does not know or can't quickly figure out who should be there faster than TKP, even including the awesome and insightful French, he should not be our head coach. But is it fun to read the speculation, so carry on.
I know there are people who think this coach or that coach is ok and should/could be kept. However this team may only win 3 freaking games this year. And short of the place kicker, I don't think there is a single other player, much less position group who has been consistently good.
My vote is wipe the slate clean. We don't need the stench of a 3-9 season being carried into 2026.
Player-wise, we've got three pretty good running backs
We still have 2 games to go on what is shaping up to be the single worst season of VT football in 33 years, but I am genuinely more excited for the short term future of VT football than I have been since probably 2005 or so.
Crazy times
Don't get me wrong, I am excited for the future, I just want this season to be like the 3 balls I fired out of bounds when I wrote bogey on the scorecard.
2022 would like a word.....
Brooks has not only been really good with RB production, but has recruited well both in high school and the portal. Even with a weak OL, there's still a lot of rushing yards.
His connection to DeMatha is paying dividends, two of our best young talented players, Laws and Chambers, are DeMatha products. Franklin at PSU recruited heavily out of DeMatha too and has an existing relationship with him from when Brooks was HC at DeMatha. I think we would regret letting Brooks go, he was eating our lunch when he was at UMD. Seider was Saquon's coach but is now at ND. PSU's RB coach has been there 1 year.
Other than that, if the scheme fits, keeping Moore would be good. Our OL has struggled with development with so much turnover, Moore has a really track record of productive lines, and he brought a bunch of talent with him. The future of the OL is bright, but it depends if Franklin really wants to bring Trautwein with him.
Looking at past PSU staffs
-Spencer as DL coach (currently at aTm) makes a lot of sense, he left PSU for the NFL, so that will be about relationships and moving back to the East Coast.
-Obviously pulling Rahne or Moorhead from HC positions would be cool. Kotelnicki runs a good offense if the QB can run, but if Franklin wants to bring in Allar, it'll be better to go with a more pro-style offense. I really like Ciarrocca who Franklin has hired and fired before. I think he'd fit well with Allar.
-Gattis at WR could be interesting, but has struggled at OC and seemingly can only operate in a Harbaugh run heavy offense (Stalions or not)
-There were rumors last year about bringing in DC Tim Banks from Tennessee who used to be on Franklin's staff
-Bob Shoop is currently a defensive analyst at Vandy
-I hope Ryan Smith gets a call. He was a good safeties coach when he was here before. He's still CBs for the Cardinals
-If Shane's staff falls apart, Torrian would be available. Other former Hokies/coaches who seem to be talented coaches and I wouldn't mind seeing come back into the fold include Jack Tyler (currently DC @ East Texas A&M), Zohn Burden (@ Duke since 2022), Holmon Wiggins (currently co-OC @ aTm, previously at Bama, could be possible OC), Stiney at least in a recruiting capacity.
Overall, I think Franklin is good about trying to get the best guys on his staff and holds them to a high standard. He's also good about identifying coaching talent and giving them a shot. I trust him to put together a good staff, even if some of those are people we haven't heard of.
Shoop would be a let down.
As a position coach?
No. Bring neither of these guys
Allar is almost certainly coming
Allar is out of eligibility from what I've seen
You might be right. I was under the impression he was a Junior or RS-Junior.
But what even is eligibility anymore in the eyes of the NCAA?
For a VT player it means 4 years and not a single play more.
Before we became a big time program it would have meant that....
Just getting carried away
Personally, I would love to see Stiney back in a recruiting position. The man loved Tech and was a great recruiter.
I want the best coaches we can get. I love Stiney, but I can't imagine any other school would hire him for a D1 job
As a recruiting coordinator he would rock.
He might, but would any other school feel that way? My point is that I want the BEST we can get and I don't think he is that
I still have nightmares of the recruit that recorded him whining and crying. hard pass from me.
I think that was Wiles not Stiney
was it? if so I stand corrected
If it's the incident I'm thinking about when the kid chose Miami over us yes that was Wiles
it was. you're right. It was Wiles. I mixed the two up in my rush to hard pass.
I still don't want Stiney in 2025. LOVE him. He's an all-time Hokie. But is he truly the best we could hire for a recruiting coordinator? Or is he just a name that people remember fondly.
That's going to be a huge difference under Franklin: he will be relentless and he DOES NOT CARE about how things have been done in the past. He will be respectful of tradition like he was at Vandy and PSU but he will absolutely run things 100% his way which is what we have needed since Frank retired.
I don't need him as a recruiting coordinator. But he should be on the recruiting team. He's an asset we should use.
Disagree. He was great for VT in his era, but that was almost 20 years ago.
I do not think he has the experience recruiting at the level and intensity that James Franklin is going to expect. And if he wasn't a name that Hokie fans were familiar with, he wouldn't be on your radar.
What I ultimately mean is that we have never seen the level of recruiting that is coming to Blacksburg, and we have got to stop trying to tie in names we know just because they are associated with VT.
Funny Wiles story. I was at Moss for a wrestling dual some years ago and Wiles came up to me and shook my hand and said "nice seeing you again.". That was the first and only time I ever met him. Not sure who he thought I was or looked like.
I'll make sure to say that the first time I meet you. ;^)
Lol. Thing is, you and I may have met before...
Just saying it's possible we've met before, won't know for sure until we meet (again).
Never a bad time for some Ella!
Where or When
Speaking of Fitzgeralds, last week was the 50th anniversary of the sinking...
I shook Stiney's hand last Friday night when he was recruiting for Roanoke College at the game I was at. I just don't see it...I think he's got a good thing going at RoCo, and I'm not sure he's still got the fastball needed for the big leagues, so to speak.
There is an interesting dynamic here with Pry being his immediate predecessor and likely can vouch for some of his staff to Franklin. I don't know whether any current coaches stay, but I agree Mines and Brooks are the most likely to be given an offer to stay in their position or similar. Of the defensive staff, Price has been the best position coach and has also served as the premier "VT-alumnus coach." There is value to having some continuity in that regard. Other current coaches that might be retained because they are talented are Furgeson, Moore, amd Davis. With the size of coaching staffs, assistant position coaches are not as critical and alums can add value by enhancing relationships with player alums and fans. Some current coaches that have a little extra value as VT alumni are Prioleau, Adibi, JGW, and Phillips.
Knowles is an interesting concept for DC. He was coveted by Pry last year but ultimately VT couldn't match his price. He has a 3-year contract and a new PSU coach may want to keep him as the DC. If he ends up available, it is hard to determine what his market will be like or even if Franklin would be interested. I think the likelihood of Knowles being Vt's next DC is low.
Is Poindexter too UVA-proud to join VT? I doubt it. I think he follows Franklin and at a minimum coaching safeties and is an Associate/Assistant HC. And I am guessing he gets his chance to be the primary DC to scheme and call plays. Franklin won't have the pressure of the PSU administration and fanbase to make a splash DC hire, so it seems ripe for him to give his longterm assistant the reins of his defense.
For OC, Rahne or Moorhead just makes a lot of sense. With a fully supportive NIL, they can reestablish their offensive schemes at a high level, which would lead to better coaching opportunities than if they stay at their current universities. My guess is Rahne is the next OC.
Rahne as OC would be such a hilarious outcome. They dominate us on the field, leading to Pry's firing. Then we hire Franklin and big dog their HC to be our OC lol
During the press conference, James talked in generality about the staff and it definitely sounded like he intends to keep some coaches on, as well as bring in some new.
As much as I loved Adibi as a player, our LB core is pathetic and haven't really gotten better under him.
It's hard to judge Adibi because he hasn't had any highly rated players, but Woodson has developed well. I'm more thinking Adibi would be good in Asst. LBs coach, if he's willing to move back after 1 year as being the LBs coach.
Davis hasn't recruited well. TE recruiting is hard, but it's not this hard.
Davis's value is as a scheme guy. Not a recruiting guy. He's been a major part of VT's run production the last several years, incredibly without having a good OL.
Not a lot of love for Knowles up here, I think we could pass on him.
My in laws are OSU fans and they don't love Knowles either. Their opinion is that his scheme was too complicated for players to learn and that Matt Patricia was a significant step up.
Similar sentiment from what I've heard. Knowles seems to be the guy who brings his scheme and then tries to force fit his talent into it, instead of maximizing the efficacy of his guys by designing a system around them.
My guess is that Franklin isn't either. It was an arranged marriage that failed.
Poindexter just makes a whole lot of sense to me, but we'll see.
If Terry Smith is retained at PSU then Poindexter likely stays
I wonder if Ferguson would be retained.
I know the guys seemed to get a little tired from time to time this year, but they have looked light years better than they have in the last decade almost. It does take time to re-establish a S&C program, especially after the gross neglect of it since Fuente arrived, and to see its full effects. I, for one, thought our team looked much bigger, more physical, and a little faster than in years past.
Penn State's strength coach has been with Franklin since Vandy. Guessing he comes along https://gopsusports.com/staff/chuck-losey-iii
And that would make perfect sense.
I think Ferguson definitely lands on his feet somewhere.
Kevin Threlkel and Andy Frank are following James Franklin to Virginia Tech as expected, and they aren't the only Penn State staffers moving on before the end of the regular season.
Threkel was Chief of Staff, Frank was GM of personnel and recruitment
Sounds like penn state fans have been considering Andy Frank as someone playing moneyball with their roster - which they view as a negative thing and I see that as something we will have to do as well; even with more NIL and funding we are playing catchup with so much less media money.
I've always thought that football is the hardest sport to money ball. baseball was easy because it has the fewest moving parts so you can isolate what works. Basketball got more analytical and you can roughly judge players at different position the sane because they largely do the same things (not exactly). But football is 11 guys all having to work together at the sane tone that isolating what makes a play successful is difficult so it's harder to find players that excel for cheap because grading them is harder. It will be interesting to see how moneyball works in football.
Look at the busts form the NFL draft vs NBA. The largest non-injury bust was Kwame Brown until Anthony Bennett took that spot. Brown played for more than a decade.
always thought this was exactly what every non-blueblood does every year. Do more with less, find the diamonds in the rough.
to me a diamond in the rough is a kid that guy over looked for what ever reason. Dorian Strong was a 2 star and came in and played as a frosh because he was that good. Once he played he was no longer a diamond in the rough from an NIL perspective because his value shot up.
Money-ball is looking for inequities in worth vs output. Its hard to know output of a high school player so your really looking at transfers and finding players that cost less per there production is hard in a uncapped 130+ team division. OSU feels they can't afford to compete. CFP teams were being extorted by backups that were transferring. Teams are overpaying all over the place because limited product and predicting how good a player will be is hard (look at the top QBs this off season, they all aren't doing well).
A lot of the non blue bloods try to scheme their way around not having 11 good players on the field at once. They are just trying to put something together and then hope.
Yeah I can see that. In the world of portals and NIL thats a great distinction.
But I do think non-bluebloods are all about crunching the numbers of the worth v output equation without considering the portal and NIL. you're still working on a budget and your budget is significantly less than those you are competing against. the time and money you can put into recruiting means every dollar is worth more to you. So you're looking for players that ypu can pay less more and get more out of. thats moneyball baby. I think the distinction between Oakland As moneyball and what college football does is that its not working pure statistics. Their is still an eye test that coaches and recruiters have to run which makes the success rate much lower.
IMO there's three ways you can 'outkick your coverage' so to speak:
Find guys that can be developed up and write an NIL contract that requires them to stay.
The negative aspect of the portal is that it disincentivizes teams to take on high potential projects as once those guys are improved they move to the highest bidder.
I think point #3 is where the Moneyball idea really applies. Which positions do you absolutely have to spend more NIL money on to succeed? Year to year that may be constant for some positions but variable for others based on what players are actually out there in the portal. Like, everyone knows you need good OL and lots of them, but there aren't usually a ton of them available. On the other hand, even though a good QB is vital for success, there are usually quite a few potentially good QBs out there and you really only need one to hit.
Roster construction now involves balancing a budget so you absolutely should have some analytics and statistics people crunching numbers to find the best use of your money.
And I think the analysis and statistics in football are a lot harder than other sports. Its harder to find what works. Tuten worked because he broke tackles like no other but Hawkins and Stewart have much better line play, so they rely more on the line. But how much is tough to quantify.
I think in football it's more about scheme fit and game theory/market dynamics
Phantom Island did a good pod about this with Parker Fleming (Statsofwar on twitter). They talk about the analytics that front offices use in college, and how different the mythology is from the NFL.
Agree and disagree here.
Baseball is a lot of isolated 1v1 with a lot of statistical data in each match up. Every pitch has dozens of useful data points. Moneyball is now harder with baseball because the rich teams have as much if not more analytics than the low-budget teams. And when used correctly, teams like the Dodgers end up dominating every facet of the game.
Football has not had it's moneyball moment, tbh. But I do think there is opportunity. Machine-learning models are great at detecting signal and patterns where humans cannot. And they can handle a crap-ton of data. I think, for instance, that optimal allocation of money can be easily learned by models. I also think that models can learn which player attributes are best for schemes and learn how to get more value out of schemes on a budget.
If I was VT's football operations, I would really see if we could take advantage of the well ranked academic statistics and CS programs in the country and leverage it into improving the operation.
Sounds like a series of Masters projects and doctorate thesis papers opportunity to me.
100% agree.
Similar to VT's research on helmet ratings, I think there is an opportunity for a multidisciplinary research into athletic operations, combining CS, stats, business, and the atheletic department. Could be funded by industry.
Ok hear me out. New offensive line coach Sam Pittman, former Arkansas head coach who had previously been an OL coach for almost 30 years and is regarded as a top recruiter of offensive line talent. And he's available. And his buyout apparently doesn't have an offset clause
I would love that, but he just negotiated his buyout down to remove the duty to mitigate clause. That man is going to enjoy beers on a lake for a while. If he's still working in any capacity it's probably as a hand shaker for Arkansas or something.
Makes sense. That would be too bad but hey he's earned it
Yeah, the PitBoss has said once he left Arkansas he wasn't going to get another job. I don't blame the guy- he got his bag and go chill with his grandkids.
I almost want this just to watch the Arkansas fans reaction to us taking Franklin and Pit boss
He's one of the best OL coaches in the country, but he's retiring. Doubt he coaches again.
Does this guy have sauces, or fan speculation?
https://x.com/nathangray_1/status/1991555557841682513
Would love to have pry on staff but not really as a DC unless there aren't better options. Talking to people up here there are mixed feelings about whether Rahne is actually good or not.
to be fair, people up there also think Franklin isnt good enough and that seems to be working out great for us so far.
How does that work exactly? Pry had a significant buyout IIRC. Does this mean we negotiate his offset with....ourselves?
Actually, yes.
Some South Carolina social media places are saying that James Franklin is trying to bring Torrian Gray back to Blacksburg
Wouldn't mind that one bit
Please god yes. The DBs have been on a steady decline into the depths of despair since he left.
That would be a "win".
OMFG!!! If that happens, Franklin's official moniker will be Pedro because he's making all my wildest dreams come true!
Sekrah seems pretty plugged in.
I think Sekrah is/was a Franklin staffer in the same way JUGS was for Frost (I think that's the right TKP user to coach). Or in the same way Bruce (you would know his face if you watch any basketball since Buzz was hired) was to Beamer, then Buzz, and now Mike Young
LMAO to raid PSU and ODU of coaches and players would be glorious
I think this depends on Rahne and what he wants in a job. If he enjoys being a head coach, i think he stays at ODU. This season earned him a lot of good will on campus, but he's going to keep losing his best players year-over-year barring some change in how transfers work. He'd also make more money as the VT OC. But if he goes back to being an OC, who knows when a chance at HC will come up for him again?
Like I said in the other thread, I don't hate this for VT.
Sucks on the ODU side though.
Just imagine the monkey's paw from that game if this ends up happening.
ODU whips our ass in Lane causing Brent Pry to get fired.
The added prep for the search allows VT the time to get everyone aligned to swing big with a major influx of funding which allows VT to immediately stand out when they approach James Franklin immediately after Penn St foolishly fires him. James Franklin, head coach of VT, then hires away the ODU head coach to be OC.
They might have won that battle, but goddamn we would have burnt their village and salted the earth during the war.
I know quite a few ODU people. They are.... delirious?
They think Ricky Rahne is not doing a good enough job to stay around. They fail to see the sate of their own program in the broader climate of college football. They wouldn't see it quite the way you are painting it, although I do think you are correct.
They are pretty delusional. A couple weeks ago i seen something (it was either on linkedin or one of the alumni emails) released from the university/athletic department saying they were only a couple years out from overtaking JMU as the premier football program in Virginia.
Reminds me of when ECU fired Ruffin
Oh they think they can do better? By all means, fuck yourselves
My BIL went to ECU and he thought the AD was absolutely nuts for firing him. It was as delusional as UMD firing Friedgen.
Both these moves were beyond head scratching.
I'll be honest, I think we are going to look back on Penn State firing James Franklin the exact same way. Foundationally program altering moves in the absolute worst way.
A very plausible scenario. Agreed wholeheartedly.
I will be shocked if PSU falls off the way VT did after Beamer. They will be fine long term.
Yeah, but for the next decade will they be consistently in the top 10 like they have been for the past 10 years? Will they have top 15 recruiting classes and raid Maryland and Virginia? Will they be making regular playoff appearances? I don't think so.
Probably? Their NIL is strong.
if I recall correctly, Franklin has finished the regular season in the top 12 seven times since being at PSU.
I'm not sure they keep that clip up, but I don't think Franklin could have maintained that level of success there either (due to increased investment at Indiana, Nebraska, and Illinois plus Oregon and etc... the B10 just got better).
We'll see who they hire
I'm hoping VT puts up more recruiting competition in the DMV with Franklin at the helm.
Illinois isn't the the recruiting power people outside the Midwest seem to think it is
Have you seen FSU? It could happen
PSU is a significantly better financial position than FSU. More NIL, better alignment, more revenue, etc
doesn't mean they don't hire a Willie taggart type
Sure, but they can recover much faster.
Also, FSU - for all their shit - is still a top 15 job. It was (allegedly) Franklin's preference (over VT).
According to who?
Tbh, I don't think any P4 will come knocking based on his ODU resume. I think he has a better chance at becoming a P4 HC with a second successful stint as a P4 OC than sticking with ODU.
Joining Franklin, he would double his salary, get on the "winning side" of the portal, run an offense with much better talent, win championships, without the headache of recruiting to a G5 school in the NIL era.
idk, seems like OC for Franklin is a better job, but maybe he just loves being in charge.
I think he actually increases in value if he comes and helps rebuild VT football.
Pls bring Decker
Can't, he already ascended
Now that is a good old movie pull.
Yarn.co strikes again! But I found it and take the leg.
Hopefully new recruiting and staff news keeps flooding in within days, "by the book," as Lt. Saavik would say.
Apparently Bud Foster has a podcast "Foster and Friends" and his most recent episode is about the franklin search and has some interesting tidbits in it. They talked about Pry coming back as DC and Bud implied its something that may be in the works.
Listening to this now... I'm kind of convinced that Brent Price is going to be our defensive coordinator. I feel like everyone is buttering up the fan base to be OK with it.
I might be okay with it for the right price. If he agrees for a low rate so the rest of the coaching pool can be utilized to get a fantastic OC and elite recruiters, then I'll listen. But if we're wasting salary when we already have to pay his buyout then this feels really dumb.
From a scheme perspective - I have no idea if the LB corps has been awful because of coaching (and is that the fault of Marve? Adibi? Pry?) or has it been a talent issue? And that makes me worried if he takes over the defense.
We actually have offset language in his contract. So whatever we pay him for DC duties is subtracted from his buyout.
Yea that's what I meant. What's the point of dropping $2 million on salary for him if he's getting the buyout money no matter what? Are we really that badly off that we need to save that money? I think we should utilize the staff poll for the best staff possible.
The point for Pry is that he can say for his next job that his salary was 2 million and ask for more. The point for us is we can take it out of the current coaching staff budget.
If Pry comes back in any capacity, he should be given a hero's welcome.
I want it to work, but I am also nervous about how much we have heard that the ties to the old need to be broken to succeed and worry this would be holding onto things we shouldn't.
I feel like Prys ties are more Franklin bound than VT despite him being the most recent HC.
Franklin seems too "business" to just hire his good ol' boys if they weren't qualified at the job he's looking to fill.
I have a similar feeling, but if Franklin is the one who wants him, then I'm here for it.
The recruiting upside could be large in the Commonwealth:
"Im so invested in VT, that I'd take that hit and STILL come out and sell it....."
I wonder if that has happened before?
My problem with Pry is simple. Guy's bread and butter was as an LB coach.
And during his tenure, the LBs were arguably the worst position group year over year.
I wouldn't have a problem as an analyst but I would not feel good about having him back as DC.
I'm with you on not being crazy about him as DC, but not because or LBs sucked. He wasn't responsible (directly) for developing LBs in his role as HC.
I'm more concerned that players soured on him when he was HC and that negativity will still remain if he's DC.
Something went wrong in that locker room. That's definitely the biggest concern and why I think if he's around it should be as an analyst or ambassador.
Edit: It would also be the most Tech thing ever to have this slam dunk and and follow it up with one of the strangest coordinator hires of all time.
True, but many of those same players may not be around next year!
Even so, he never made any changes to those whose responsibility it was. After year 2, it was clear progress wasn't being made.
Even as HC, you should have a keen eye for your position of expertise. Brent Key has GTs OL playing excellent, Saban would have never tolerated subpar Secondary play.
At best, Pry was complacent. I'm just not ready to see him back on a VT sideline.
I get this, but I dont think he was complacent at all.
I just think it wasn't his skill set to manage and hire coordinators.
i can't see any situation where him sticking around, in any capacity, works out. i understand the relationship there, but i hope they both agree he needs a fresh start somewhere else. i am against keeping him here, in any capacity...especially anything involving LB's!
On one hand, I have only had one good experience "retaining" an employee who was fired from their job and then given a chance to "rediscover" themselves. So, retaining Pry as a DC leaves some rumbles in the belly.
However, I don't view Pry as part of the product of the Old Guard, but an adversely impacted, bi-product of the Old Guard. And now, with the understanding of his role in VT landing JMMF, I have nothing but mad respect for him. Thus, having him as our DC also gives me that little tingling feeling when I was a kid when mom drove fast over a short hill.....
But if Franklin hires him, it will be for a different job - one he has the skills for.
That would be the most appropriate way if he is hired.
Eh, I'll take a shot here:
DC/LB - Tim Banks
co-DC/S - Dex
CB - Torrian Gray
co-DL - Price & Spencer
LB Coach - X
Senior Defensive Analysts - Bud & Pry
OC/QB - Rahne
co-OC/RB - Ja'Juan Seider
AHC/TE - Mines
OL - Moore & Ty Howie
WR - Marques Hagans (just to fuck with the Hoos)
QB - Billy Fessler
Senior Offensive Analyst - Trace McSorley
I will bust my load if this is accurate, all-star coaching staff
I don't plan on busting my load to an all male coaching staff (no judgement, just not my thing), but I will be quite pleased with this lineup.
LOADS WILL BE BUSTED
there is no way Adibi is retained at LB Coach with the way our LB's have played lately
that's 13 coaches so 3 can't recruit. Also no special teams coach
Is that better or worse than our current special teams coach?
don't know but id have no qualms teting this theory by firing him now.
I really do like Brookes as a coach and Overton is a player to keep
I am ALL IN on this
He gave us a significant big whistle discount so we could swing a lot of big little whistles.
I'm not sure how to embed stuff but Aeneas Hawkins is definitely on staff in some capacity. Former Penn St. defensive lineman. Probably some recruiting position.
https://x.com/AeneasHawkins yeah his twitter banner is VT stuff now. He was Assistant director of player development at PSU
He also listed his location "Blacksburg, VA"
Kraft (PSU AD) doesn't want to hire Terry Smith, but the obsessive JoePa fans want him to, and will riot if he doesn't. We need him to drop one of the last two, so that brings Terry here (presumably), as well as a few more recruits.
That would cause a greater and longer lasting collapse than the fallout of the Sandusky scandal actually did.
Is anyone following the hirings close enough to start an Officially Hired Staff thread and keep it up to date as Franklin fills out the whole group?
Not really, I've seen three profiles with new Hokie banners, all three are probably related to recruiting. "FatRat" Brown's OV tweet had a new @ in it, but the profile was locked so no information on him.
Is the locked @ Mahon?
It was
Can we identify everyone here?
Also, is that 1872 on the room door?
Believe so. It appears to be one of the side rooms in Preston's (is it still called that? Used to serve and then bartend there at the Inn).
I count only 2 clean plates. Guys need to start putting in the work
So far we have Mines from current staff and Aeneas Hawkins and Rashad Elby and a few others from PSU.
What's Mines be Mines...
This phrase is common around my thanksgiving table
Not sure how meaningful or if it's just for the press and from working on getting these croots in the boat
i wouldn't read too much into it. half those guys are alumni, so of course they are interested, franklin tried to hire mines at one point, so there is a relationship there, i don't think any of us would be disappointed if brooks sticks around...plus, the coaching profession is all about networking...can't hurt to stick around, show support, and get to know franklin a little bit.
plus, even though most (if not all) probably won't be around next year, they have invested a lot of time and effort into VT, and want to see us do well, i would assume
Relationship maintenance, for coaches who will probably have other jobs next year, includes staying on the radar of any of these guys who don't make it through '26 with Franklin.
1) its there job, they are paid to fo this.
2) you can show potentisl employers that you did your job when your future is unclear which happens all the time in football
Could just be Franklin extending a courtesy and letting them finish what they started.
JGW will be back next year
Cue a DC tirade about eligibility limits...
/s
Should be plaid. I had class with JGW senior year. Solid dude.
He mentioned on the PodCast Holt too...
Don't know how common it is for outgoing staff to stay to welcome kids they recruited, but I was surprised quite a bit.
It may be a unique situation here in that the outgoing and incoming coaches are friends.
I hope with all of my being Holt is not coaching ST here ever again.
Reading this, my first thought was Corey Holt.
"That's a random name to hang around and be involved....". 🤦🏻♂️
I would take Corey Holt over Stu Holt every day of the week and twice on 4th down.
Especially for his right hand jab
I think it is a unique situation. I think that JMMF/Sexton have the reach/pull to help someone find a good landing place. So I bet there's a little quid pro quo here.
Hell yea my tweet made it on the board.
All of those guys are part of the Franklin coaching tree via Pry. If Pry vouches for them, Franklin is going to take them in...whether its getting them a job on our staff or vouching for them at another school.
What are the rumblings? Are there any? Announcements expected after championship games? I'm getting antsy
Seems like we're waiting for championship games to wrap up and psu to eventually hire someone. I'm getting antsy too.
I don't know about staff, but can we adopt Ben Franklin? I mean we could unofficially be the Fighting Franklins, the man loved turkeys and inventing, and had a reputation for his ways with the ladies. Sounds pretty VT to me!
he's dead.
Ben dead
Poor Richard Lives On!
Spoiler alert
Ben Franklin >>>>> Tom Jefferson, and it's not even close.
It is all about the Benjamins baby
Let me be Frank, don't start beef with B Franks, who hangs with THE Frank, giving ladies Beef Franks.
this reads like a lil wayne lyric
Epic Rap Battles of History
gregarious, witty, pragmatic, engineer, drinker...sounds like a Hokie to me
I tell you what. A person i wouldn't mind at OC is John David Baker (Current OC at ECU and in 2022 and 2023 he was the Co-OC and TE coach at Ole Miss. I feel like he is going to be a really good up and coming OC. And the ECU offense in terms of YPG is very explosive. If they scored a little bit more they probably a ten win team this season.
What happened to go from Ole Miss to ECU? Kiffin was there at that time correct? Did he find someone else? Or did ECU really hire him away?
Mike Houston offered him a chance to become a Sole Offensive coordinator and play caller at ECU. He also took a 80'000 dollar pay cut to do so. I think he really wanted the opportunity to run a offense on his own
Isn't Baker set to go to SCar with Shane?
But I too would be hype about that hire.
I haven't heard anything on JDB to USCjr
It was mentioned as a possibility on Split Zone Duo recently.
I'm much more conflicted than I thought I would be reading that headline
That's one way to avoid a buyout
At the same time, why not. Pry was very good at Penn St as DC and very good with the whole VT-ness of the job. Seems like a logical fit for someone who should probably never look for a HC job again for a while
i don't think this is a logical fit at all. his players quit on him this year. he failed to recruit well here, and he failed to coach well here.
and i REALLY hope this does not mean cheetah and quinn stick around. those guys were horrible.
this is a little too corn/fu for me, and i understand the differences in the situations, with pry previously having led good defenses, corn never having done so.
I'd imagine a lot of those players aren't going to be around next season
Well that's fine because I don't really want many if any of those players coming back anyway
Does New Players + Same Disorganized Coach = Different Results???
Reports were Pry wasn't even getting Practices started on-time. While DC vs. Head Coach duties are certainly different, I find it hard to imagine that Pry is a drastically different person as a Coordinator...
Maybe he was a great DC who just didn't have HC skills or maybe he just got by on superior talent..??
If Pry doesn't do any of the organizing (since he'd be the DC, not HC), does it matter? As DC, there's less decision making around how your time is spent, much more 'show up at this time' and much less 'figure out how to cram these 7 things into your day'
While I have many of the concerns you have... imagine this was Will Muschamp right after he was fired at SCar. Would you be worried? Or if it was Joe Moorhead on the offensive side of the ball.
This isn't weird because Pry is a failed head coach; it's weird because he was our failed head coach (a freshly failed head coach at that)
I mean there's a reason Saban continually rolled through fired head coaches to build out his coordinator roles.
I am nervous about this hire for all the reasons mentioned in this thread, but this is an interesting point that you're making here.
I have to imagine that even though Pry struggled to manage games as a HC, he (and other failed HCs) probably learned some things about game management as a HC that may assist him in game planning as a DC.
That's probably a plus to CEO-type head coaches who are trying to manage the whole operation like it's a corporation.
Corn actually made a lot of defenses look good!
My primary concern is this prevents us from a clean break. I want entire staff turnover and I worry this would prevent us from seeing the defensive staff changes I think are needed.
I think where I am is JMMF has said several times "You just gotta trust me." Alright coach, I'll follow your lead
Don't love it, but I'll go along with this take. In Franklin we trust....
If Pry is back as DC and Quinn, Cheetah, Priloeau, or Holt are back, I'm officially going from excited to openly pessimistic about the future.
All those guys need to be gone.
Sorry, truth hurts. Tired of making excuses for VT Football.
Holt and Cheetah specifically better not be anywhere near Blacksburg since the UVA game ended.
Saw on Reddit that we interviewed John David Baker from ECU as OC. Don't know much about him but it sounds like it could be a solid hire.
Might be between us and Ole Miss for him
He has Primus' vote! Sounded like he'd be a great hire. Also someone said he was possibly going to USCeast with Beamer
Missed all that 😅
If we want him we're going to have to beat out Ole Miss, USCe, or possibly GT.
With Pry being free we should be able to outbid anyone
Big fan of JDB. Fun offense to watch.
Just make offense fun plz. I've been going to VT games since 2008 and I've watched at most 2 total fun offenses (2016, half of 2019, half of 2023).
Holt better not be around
Cheetah just posted a nice thank you to Hokie Nation on Instagram and confirmed that his time in Blacksburg is at an end.
Wish him well. I hope it was a good ride for him.
Im thinking this means JMFF is having the 'hard talks' and we'll know a lot more soon about the coaching roster.
Gotta make room for poindexter
Gotta upgrade in the secondary
It's a shame, I feel like his character was very solid and he put some guys in the league at Duke, so was really pulling for him to work out at Tech, but just never seemed like his group excelled.
Trautwein is interviewing @ UF. He is a former Gator.
Looking less likely he will end up in Blacksburg.
TSL video suggested moore staying is likely
And after watching their video, I'm okay with that.
Moore had a horrific first year in terms of personnel. The top 5 OL from the previous year left. Then 3 of the top 7 this year were injured, 2 for the season. He's had good OL in previous jobs. Kudos to JMFF for recognizing that and trying to see if the guy he already has is as good as he's shown to be in previous stops. Otherwise, we'd be on our 5th OL coach in 6 years.
Yeah pass pro was miserable but we also ran block pretty well at times with a patchwork OL. I have belief that Moore could be a legit OL coach if we can get any sort of consistency with personnel (which is hilarious because I've been begging for consistency for a coach there for the past 5+ years)
The line got better as the year went on.
The line wasnt great as pass protection but we had a freshman center, was he calling protections? Would another year benefit him? Was Drones calling protections?
how sure are we that we had protections to call?
Um greater than 0% but I would not bet much on it
If you watched the preseason interviews, Moore was quite bearish on the OL, acknowledging that there was talent but lacking experience and depth.
So I don't think last year was an indictment of him
That makes me feel better about keeping him around.
Kolby has suggested yesterday that he's hearing Moore and Mines are likely to be retained. Also, there's some smoke around Sean Spencer coming back to join Franklin's staff (currently at TexA&M). There's smoke around Dex too. The defensive coaches could be the best of the best from Pry's DC days at PSU.
Please Lord let JMFF be able to bring Coach Caos and Buster Poindexter to the Good Guys.
Did he say anything about Dan Connor? Looked like a few days ago he was coming to VT since he started following a bunch of Tech related accounts but I'm seeing stuff today from Chris Coleman that says Pry will be coaching LBs.Maybe Connor fell thru
I don't recall. Notably, Adibi posted that he is not coming back (not long after you posted). I personally hope it wont be Pry so he can focus on the D as a whole, depth chart, and on the scheme.
CC (TSL) is reporting that Pry will also be LB coach.
Edit: I believe the thought is that he will be more effective as LB coach with better Jimmies and Joes. He was DC/LB at PSU, and their LBs were pretty good back then, IIRC.
You've got to be kidding me.
What are we doing here
ugh
Yeah lets again remember that Brent Pry was our head coach and not the DC or the Linebackers coach....
Agreed - this is where I'm at.
Again, pretend it wasn't Brent Pry failed VT headcoach... pretend it was Brent Pry failed Oklahoma state coach or something. We'd all be like "oh yea, he was James Franklin's DC/LB coach, it makes sense that he would do the same thing now"
I agree with both you and heulpek here.
That said, I get the anxiety. You'd think a good DC/LB coach would know good and bad dc/lb coaching when he saw it. The fact our lbs regressed under his DC for 4 years is troublesome for some. I don't necessarily agree with the hottake there but I get it.
I get the anxiety too. Given how close we were to it, It's easy to imagine how Brent Pry fails as a DC.
It may have been part of the reason Marve was let go. And he may have taken the view that it should be the DC who was responsible for making a decision to let Quinn go if the DC felt the position group wasn't performing adequately. The fact that Quinn is not staying seems like a good sign that he recognized that LB play wasn't good, and wasn't just keeping a buddy around.
I still feel like it was likely more a head coaching failure than anything else. Also, from a HC perspective, how long do you give a coordinator to turn things around and succeed, especially where we were when Fuente was fired? He DID fire Marve. We don't know why Quinn was kept on, but he did move to outside LBs his last year.
I don't know, going back to doing something he (Pry) has already been successful doing feels far less risky than keeping someone from the current staff on or even hiring someone from another program.
I do not care if Mickey Mouse is calling plays, defensively or offensively, as long as we are winning and recruiting at a high level.
There is no reason in this new era of football, see Indiana, why a team in sleepy SW Virginia can't play with the big boys.
Open up that BAG!!!
I haven't seen BAG on here in a minute
Build a culture of discipline and attention to details with a lots of 4 star talent and we will be back on top the ACC within 3 years. Hire whoever can get the players to Blacksburg and keep them there.
Tech fans have this tendency to make every single decision/play/hire into a referendum on the entire program. It can be exhausting.
We hired James Franklin. He is, without question, one of the 5-10 best coaches in college football over the last 15 years. We have to let him build the program the way he wants. You don't hire a coach and then immediately dictate every decision to him.
Plus, if he makes us Penn State 2.0 that is a massive win. I yearn for the days when I can complain about the playcalling in a tough loss to #8 Miami that knocks us down to 10-2 instead of 11-1.
I would be so happy if we had PSU's last 10 years as our next 10 years. So let the man do what he wants.
I don't think you understand how many people on this board (and all the others as well) that have built and fielded national championship caliber teams at the P4 FBS level.
We only have a top 10 coach (over the last 15 years) who has no idea what it takes to build a staff that can win. The only thing he's proven is making underwhelming hires so that he gets shitcanned in year 3 for that huge buyout so he can just retire and not have to worry about working.
I wish only message board posters with 100k upvotes would be allowed to make the hires, at least they're proven with all those likes.
/s
🤣🤣🤣
Sekrah has spoken
imagine the Sabre meltdowns if he comes to Blacksburg
Imagine Poindexter's inner turmoil when Franklin offers him a job. This gif pretty much nails it.
Adibi has said his goodbye on Twitter
https://x.com/coach_adibi/status/1999234830006124719?s=46
Not shocked but still sad. I hope he lands somewhere and really shines
I mean heck, go to Norfolk St with Vick and get a lot of learning done there
Just saw that the head S&C coach, Chuck Losey, from PSU was coming here. Hopefully Jarrett Ferguson finds a good spot.
I feel like we need a staff thread with one of those pretty tables now that OC and DC are announced. Where's our resident pretty table maker
OMG, does this mean we're not going to have an OL coach?
/s
Beat me to it. Have a leg.
Thanks, this could get long for a subthread but:
TE: Howle + David Rocco (we can move him to confirmed his entire tweeter is VT) https://x.com/CoachRocco
S&C: Chuck Losey
Additional info - 2026 VT FB Staff - [Rumored Hires]
I'm assuming Pry will also be taking over LB coaching as well.
I read in a couple spots that Elijah Brooks will be staying as RB Coach
Matt Colangelo Special Teams
https://x.com/CoachLang22
Skippy will be happy I will stop besmirching his name for STU-pid
FTFY :)
If he doesn't have a relative named Mike, that's a huge missed opportunity. Cowabunga!
I've seen it alluded to of tweeter that Jarrett will still be at VT with S&C, just not the head guy.
No idea if there is any truth to it
I'd love that for him if it works out
Trautwein to Florida per Nakos, so he's officially not coming here. Former PSU OL coach
And former Florida football player
I am surprised we haven't seen any smoke that Brooks will be retained. I think he's done a good job getting good RB talent through recruiting and the portal. He was my only "must keep" from the current staff.
Drayton to USCe might be a signal that Brooks is staying. The current trend looks a lot like whoever isn't coming from PSU is being retained. DL being a possible exception
Same, was my only must keep as well. Not just because he does a good job but because he would definitely compete directly with us and has beaten both VT and Franklin for recruits before.
Brooks, Moore, and Mines have been rumored. Also some are guessing Quinn in some capacity. So 0 to 4 of those?
Kinda off topic, but with potentially so little changeover in staff (for a new Hc) it will be really interesting to see how much play improves. It's an interesting case study in how much a cash injection can improve a program.
Along with a talent injection. ;^)
Well that's kinda what I was getting at. How much of the Pry failure was due to resourcing vs Pry?
I think, coaching success ultimately comes down to recruiting, OL development, and QB play. Pry improved recruiting but could not outcompete Franklin, S. Beamer, and the random plucking by UGA, UM, and other bluebloods. OL development was f'ed by the Rudolph/Crook experience. And Drones was the 2nd coming of Logan Thomas (but less talented).
Examining those three factors, I think resources definitely played a large role, but Pry was also deficient and bears some of the responsibility.
These factors also give me optimism for 2026 and beyond because VT will have the resources to support CJMFF and he has a track record of elite recruiting, NFL-draft-worthy OL development, and QB play that has been better than anything VT has done since Jerod Evans.
The resources will be major and luckily CJMFF will know how to make use of them. Miami, Duke, and GT are examples of how greater investment into football yields tangible improvements on the field. UNC and FSU are examples on how to waste investment.
Last tangential thought: I think Miami is the current blueprint on how to succeed in the ACC. Get elite QB play, intensely focus on OL development, and sign top 10 recruiting classes. If CJMFF can get VT back, that Miami-VT rivalry will be for ACC title, CFP entries, and must-see TV.
This spot on. I feel like QB play comes down more to picking the right QB than coaching development. Playcalling plays a part as well, but I'm starting to think that "QB whisperer" is BS and it's more on lucking into a QB who "gets it". You can recruit that position with all highly ranked guys and they still could bust.
OL is the opposite for me. It's all about development. You need to find guys with size and athleticism, but I care about OL recruiting rankings significantly less than any other position, unless you're a consensus 5*
We obsess over a lot, but elite QB play trumps most everything else. Dabo is considered one of the most successful coaches in all of college football in recent years, and he won his championships with Watson and Lawrence, two heisman-caliber QBs. Everything else mattered, but those 2 mattered more than the rest. His teams have made it to the playoffs with good-but-not-elite QBs and haven't sniffed a title. Without those elite QBs, not championships for Dabo.
Lamar Jackson elevated Louisville to a top 5 team for 2 years, then they went back to being good but not great.
Hell the same thing happened to us with Vick and then again to a lesser degree with Tyrod.
If Justin Fuente had Lamar Jackson instead of Josh Jackson he's probably still our coach based on how much he would have won for those couple of years
Paraphrasing here, but I recall Bobby Bowden a bit before his retirement that they were just one elite quarterback away from a championship team. That's true more often than not. The great ones just find a way to make it happen.
I can't locate the quote at the moment, but I believe Frank Beamer used to say something like "Give me a good quarterback and a kicker," and he could have a great season.
Andy Bitter said he does not anticipate any of the defensive coaches to be back as on field coaches including Price.
That's a positive note for sure
100% good with this
The BIGGEST question I haven't seen anything about - have we heard if Holt is leaving? I don't even care as much about rumors of who we might be bringing in as long as he is leaving. For all the concerns people have expressed about the coordinators, I feel like the absolute shit coverage that allowed a ST touchdown on us and bad starting field position from bad decision making and poor blocking/tackling by our ST may have been a bigger negative impact than either offensive or defensive play.
Unless you hear something about someone staying, the safe bet is they are not being retained. There's been no chatter about Holt being kept on
I thought they hired Matt Colangelo
https://x.com/CoachLang22
His Twitter Profile says Special Teams
I hadn't heard until your post! Thanks!!!
His Penn State page doesn't have much, but his Villanova profile sounds pretty good. Thoughts anybody?
First thought is he isn't STU
This made me laugh, and is a great point. It's hard to imagine our ST not being drastically improved based on that fact alone!
some of how he teaches ST
Note what is on that page is a small subset of the 44min video that I did not watch.
I agree, he's one of the coaches that needs to go. Boneheaded special teams plays are the norm every game. He's been pissing on Beamerball's grave.
Maybe now our guys will learn the kickoff fair catch rule.
I may jump out a window if he stays
I did see something on Twitter (can't find the tweet anymore) suggesting that Franklin is bringing his guys with him for now because he thinks speed is more important right now then perfection.
Nothing unnecessarily agree with that thing, but it's certainly an interesting thought
So we keep the OL coach but Brooks is leaving?
Doesn't make sense to me unless Brooks is getting paid to go somewhere else but if that's the case I'd be even more disappointed
Too many Hoos
Agreed
but, if he can coach and he can recruit, I'll forgive him
Think of it this way, after going to LOLUVA he has chosen to coach everywhere else for a reason.
If he helps us beat them, I'll allow it.
Seems like Franklin puts more emphases on recruiting ability inn his coaches than we are used to.
Holmon Wiggins is the new OC at A&M. Has been the co-OC but Collin Klein was playcaller.
And bringing Cornelson on as senior support staff.
Ol Corny
HW: Hey Corn, what would you do here?
BC: Jet sweep or QB up the gut
HW: Thanks. Four verts it is
We can haz Spenser nao?
We're getting close.
James Franklin to all his former coaches the last 60 days
Will miss him but I understand the decision. I was actually in a class with him years ago.
You can put Pry down as the LB coach. We are looking for Cornerback coach. A Safeties Coach. And a Special teams coordinator
ST coordinator has already been hired, as discussed in this thread: https://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/1341824#comment-1341824
That's special teams analyst. Not Coordinator. There's also going to be a SPC
He was an analyst for Penn St. I guess we'll see if he's a coordinator or analyst here. His bio just says "Virginia Tech Special Teams"
A TSL article called him an analyst for us. Thought I had gone back and clarified that but must of missed this one. Sorry for the confusion and his Twitter profile is misleading in that regard.
Maybe he is the special teams. Kicker, punter, gunner, blocker, long snapper, ball holder. He wears a lot of hats.
Like those modded madden games with a team of peytons against a team of bradys
Trying to picture a Peyton CB chasing down a Brady WR 🤣
We have pt 2 so locking this up