I know Whit is great, and his promise to fill the Coaching by the end of the year seems to have made him even better. So lets see how other fared. From a reply to a comment I went full in to detail
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Looks like they already had a coach ready to go before firing any of those guys. I guess that makes perfect sense and shows that the firing wasn't just a knee jerk reaction, but rather a well thought out process. Never thought to look at the process like this. Thanks for sharing.
2 key observations about this:
1. No head coach replacement was announced before 11/30/14.
2. Most of the ADs already had a list of potential candidates and made a hire within 2 weeks of learning of the vacancy.
The only school that fired their coach in December and waited more than 10 days to name a replacement was Michigan, who had to wait until the NFL season ended on 12/28 to announce Harbaugh. Most of them took a week or less.
I think the announcement will be around the date of the ACC championship game, maybe the week after it.
It will likely depend on the last game of the new coach.
This might make me an unpopular person but if the new head coach is going to a bowl game I hope he announces and opts to come here prior to the bowl game. Otherwise we have very little time for a new recruiting class
Unless it's a coach on a playoff team, I think you can count on him coming prior to a bowl game.
Don't think we have to worry about that, aside from maybe Kirby Smart.
Bobby Bowden coached his bowl game...would have been awkward since it was all setup for him.
But, from last year Wisconsin Head coach Gary Andersen left the Badgers to accept the head coaching position at Oregon State prior to this game. Wisconsin was coached in the 2015 Outback Bowl by University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez.
I seriously doubt this is a closed deal right now. Way too many things could happen between now and early December for either side lock up a deal -- unless the VT job is someone's dream job AND that same coach is Whit's dream hire. And that's not very likely.
The first 2 weeks of December will be very interesting in the coaching carousel
We aren't going to announce until our season and the new HC's season are over. That is the respectful thing to do for both teams.
Assuming that the eventual hire is currently employed we'll hear an announcement within 48 hours of that guy's final regular season game/conference championship game. If he's currently unemployed, or becomes so before the regular season ends, we'll probably see an announcement very shortly after that termination.
So, looking at the top names floating around now and their final games:
Fuente (Memphis) - November 28 or December 5
Herman (Houston) - November 27 or December 5
Morris (SMU) - November 28
Rhule (Temple) - November 28 or December 5
Rodriguez (Arizona) - November 21
Richt (Georgia) - November 28
So, what you're saying is, starting 11/29...
Yeah, because even if it's RichRod (or anyone who might end their season before Thanksgiving), I still don't see them announcing until after the UVA game.
But if we don't have a coach during that first week, it increases the likelihood that we're looking at one of the AAC divisional champs.
My birthday is December 6 so maybe Whit will give me a great present this year
If, and it's a big if, we are fortunate enough to make a bowl game, who coaches it? I think the new staff will be coming together in December. The old staff will be leaving. We will want Frank to coach it but he might not have a staff around to do it.
Could be an awkward situation.
yeah that's tough. On the one hand, you want your existing staff to coach through the bowl game for continuity's sake, but then you also want your new staff to get the benefit of being in charge for those extra bowl practices to transition better. It's a catch-22. LOLUVa will have it so much easier.
I don't think enough of the current staff would be gone by Christmas to cause an issue here.
Obviously, Frank's still the head coach if we get a bowl. I'm sure Shane and Bud are staying with him regardless of their employment for next year.
Do we think Lefty's going to get a high profile gig next year? Probably not. Besides, when we got him, it was after our bowl game that year.
I don't think the assistant coaching positions are filled as fast as HCs.
Worst case scenario, Shane or Stinespring is OC for the bowl game.
If the new VT HC is a seasoned vet (and not a new one 1-2 years as HC) I am willing to bet 90% of his offensive staff would follow him to VT and that would be done very quickly.
I was thinking in terms of our current staff leaving. They're going to be hired away piecemeal. Meaning, they would still be around in December.
yeah that makes sense!
It'll almost certainly be Frank. I think it's pretty rare for newly-hired coaches to participate in the bowl game. In addition to lacking familiarity with the players and the system already in place, they usually have a lot on their plates between assembling a staff, relocating the family, wooing recruits and all the other things that come along with starting a new job. Unless his health prevents it, I don't see any way that anyone other than Frank coaches the bowl game for VT.
ACC Championship game is Dec. 5th. We will know who the new coach is by Dec. 12th.
What he said. ^^^^
Don't you mean AAC championship game?