Article explains that he fits the VT DNA that beamer built. Says Chad Morris #2.
Article isn't behind pay wall.
http://virginiatech.247sports.com/Bolt/Leading-candidates-at-Virginia-Te...
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Same information was reported earlier today elsewhere:
http://gridironnow.com/is-justin-fuente-the-top-candidate-at-virginia-tech/
With the same conclusion:
I wasn't sure of the veracity of information on Gridiron Now (never heard of them), but if JC is on record about it, I'm more inclined to think it has legs at this point. Hard to know what to believe, with how closely we know Whit likes to keep information.
I was miffed at first too, take a look at their masthead though. There are reputable, veteran reporters listed. Two things: 1) It seems like JC is playing catchup, and 2) It's an odd coincidence that the reports are nearly identical in terms of substance.
Educated guess, this information is not coming from Virginia Tech.
Definitely agree. Had never heard of the website, did recognize some names that report there, though. Wonder if it's coming through the pipeline - other schools talking to the reporters, they're putting pieces together from seeing how the chips are falling.
I don't think its an odd coincidence. It's either one of two things: 1) JC straight up jacked the report and is passing as his own (I don't think so but still) or 2) They have the same source.
The bigger thing with #2: That source is likely outside of VT. I believe it was Chris Coleman over on TSL who first said that with how tightly Whit runs things around here, the very first we'll hear about the new guy will come from the other end. Still, it'll be hard to know what's definite and what is another reporter or agent trying to make "Whit contacted my guy and tried to gauge interest" into "my guy is the frontrunner for the VT job."
My guess is that's a conclusion drawn from Whit's remarks during the James Johnson termination / men's basketball coaching search presser last year. It's transcribed here: http://www.thekeyplay.com/virginia-tech-football/2015/11/10825/virginia-....
Right you are, sir.
And it's a conclusion supported by my most recent interaction with Whit: "Don't believe everything you read."
I agree with you! I believe we will find out when the school the coach is being hired from leaks the info. Whit is going to keep this thing top secret. As I posted below we will find out who it is when Whit announces the hire, until then it's a major guessing game.
These are the two names that I have prolly heard the most of that seem to fit VT culture. But until Whit introduces a name, I have no clue who will be the next head ball coach of the Hokies!
If Fuente was the guy and Foster was the DC, I'd be ecstatic.
I would assume that would be the result. If Fuente is VT material, no way he gets rid of Bud. Also, didn't Fuente play at Murray State?
He did.
Murray Stateception...
I take quotes from unnamed "insiders" with a huge grain of salt. These types of reports are common and, more often than not, inaccurate.
Some insiders though may perk you up a bit. Jc is one of them to me.
This isn't JCs expertise though. Guys like him
make a living getting texts from Coaches giving them heads up recruiting commitments. Those coaches are the polar opposite of in the know in this situation.
He's just projecting like everyone else but he's playing his recruiting credit.
Not really. This one smells of getting something...anything...and getting it out there for views.
I'm not putting much weight in to these reports so far away from when Virginia Tech will likely announce the next coach.
I'd say more likely for SCar
Unless he's chooses us over USC.
All fine and dandy. But who really knows what direction Whit is going to go. Just best to play the waiting game and hear it from the man himself sometime in December.
So our #1 guy just lost to Niumatalolo by 25 and our #2 guy is about to lose to Niumatalolo by 25.
People would riot, but I'd take Ken Niumatalolo in a heartbeat.
Trying to get ESPNU/ACC Network announcers to pronounce both Niumatalolo and Motuapuaka correctly during the same game could be a new drinking game. Spoiler alert: no matter what, we all win.
Last one to the hospital wins!
They can always just call Mac Brown for tips. He is a master at this game.
Yeah, he just uses another name entirely!
Me too.
I would riot.
Maybe Morris is planning to lose on purpose because everyone knows a win against Navy means you will lose the following week. /s
Losing to Niumatalolo has less to do with offensive ability and more to do with a lack of defensive ability. If you can't stop the triple offense, you cannot get the offense on the field and score. Memphis and Navy had pretty much the same yardage total (439 and 458, respectively) despite Memphis having the ball for 13 minutes less. That's almost an entire quarter. Memphis also had fairly good 3rd down conversion (7/15) and red-zone conversion (2 TDs, 1 FG, in 3 attempts).
Memphis also lost the starting field position battle. Memphis's average start was at the 20 yd line and Navy's average start was at the 38. Thus, the loss can be substantially blamed on defense and special teams, two areas where Fuente would need hire good coaches (perhaps already on the VT staff?).
However, the Memphis offense is at fault for the 3 turnovers and not sustaining drives.
haha at first I thought JC was JC Coleman and thought to myself, well he is a close source to the situation...
He lost me at the end when he said Shane was in consideration
Why? Other sources have said the same, and its obvious that Shane wants to take that path sooner or later. Just because he's considered doesn't mean he's likely to get it.
What sane coach would keep the son of the legend he is replacing on his staff? Especially when his recruiting and coaching has been mixed at best. I would question the decision making skills of said coach.
While I think Shane as a RB coach has been suspect he has had 10 4* commit to us (assuming Pride stays committed) , doesn't strike me as a poor recruiter
out of curiosity, who are those 4*'s and are those consensus 4*'s? I ask 'cause I don't remember him signing that many good players. I am getting older though... I thought Reavis was his biggest get and he's gone, although that isn't SB's fault.
Fisher, Reavis, Caleb, Harris- haven't panned out
Mckenzie, Nijman, Clarke- panned out
Minor, Reid- TBD
Pride- Committ
6/10 are consensus 4*, 4 are 247 4* and composite high 3*. Still impressive and probably our best recruiter StineSpring has signed the same number of 4* going back as far as 247 will allow by comparison and he is usually considered our best recruiter
I get what you're saying, but I don't exactly like Reavis being lumped into the not panning out list. Yeah, he didn't pan out for us because of whatever the hell happened, but he was a damn good get. His ability certainly isn't lacking. Kid is going to be playing on Sundays soon enough.
Yea but he's not here anymore hence I put him in the didn't pan out category
he should get his own category... and that would be-> fucked over
Until I see evidence to prove otherwise (which may never happen), that's the category I put him in.
We have no idea what happened to Reavis other than he didn't break the law
we have no idea what happened but we can connect some of the dots that happened shortly after the whole issue to make a good educated guess that he got f'd over.
its ok he will make his way to the SEC and the NFL shortly. The JUCO he goes to is a pipeline into the SEC and its impressive.
We don't know that. From what I have read we know that 1- He didn't break the law OR that the case against him was so weak that a DA wouldn't take the case and 2- a deleted tweet from Mckenzie that Melvin ratted out Reavis
too little information to make an informed decision
I read he didn't break the law AND that the DA would laugh at the thought of taking the case.
Not to mention Melvin transferred the second news broke out and he said it was because of his position at VT. Funny that he's listed as a DE at Maryland too.
So basically we don't know, and to be fair Melvin has already been surpassed by Mihota with Gaines coming in it didn't seem likely he would get playing time
I think what APFoW is getting at is that "not panning out" typically means a player turns out not to be as talented as projected. At least, that's what I think he's getting at....maybe I should stop being an A-hole and let the man speak for himself...
Yea I understand his point, but Reavis is not here neither is Harris or Fisher. I put everyone who either left the program or didn't develop. And really we don't know how Reavis would have done, he looked good in spring practice and that is about all we know.
FWIW he's been having a damn fine season at his JUCO school. At least, last I saw.
Nope. That sums it up pretty well.
Reavis was going to be a beast for us... ;(
He looked good in practice, but I think it was too early to say if he was going to be a beast
Thx btw for posting the breakdown. mucho appreciado
Sons of legendary coaches don't have a good track record (The Shulas, the Bowdens).
Jay Paterno
I work with a Gamecock & he said Shane's name has come up there if it makes you feel any better.
Shane was well liked at USCe.
I'm not trusting any of these reports, but I am happy that it's Fuente at the top of the list and not Rich Rod
Also worth reading is the story below about Jack Tyler, A very good read
soo...pretty good chance it's neither of them, right?
I love that Harsin is never mentioned! He's always been my first choice.
yeah he's high on my list too...not sure he's my top choice, but he's up there among Herman and Fuente. I really wouldn't be upset with any of them. RR is pretty much the only coach I would be really upset about. Richt is a guy I think would be fine here but I'd rather take a risk on a younger guy because I'm not exactly sure what the end game is for Richt. He's already coaching in the SEC and I don't see him moving down the ladder to the ACC as a move for the type of guy who wants to go up against the big dogs and win championships.
I'd much rather have a guy who wants to a) turn VT into a blue blood or b) use VT as a stepping stone to a blue blood type of job. I think in either case the coach will be motivated to dominate every team and win with plenty of style points and I'm alright with that. The better VT looks the better that coach will look. If he wants to move up, either with VT or with an OSU or UF, the coach will have to win lots of games and win big on a national stage. I think that's exactly what this fan-base wants.
So many good choices, I'm sure we will be fine. I'm glad to hear the verification by national media that we are so respected. I think Beamer grew the brand, Weaver managed the finances and Whit is seen as an innovator and willing to make the hard decisions to get us to the next step.
There are still some programs that could make moves that outrank us, but that would also offer up more candidates to consider. I'm thinking of UGA, LSU, Auburn, aTm, Texas, Arkansas, etc.
Probably...
Surprise move.
Whit names Whit head coach
Cus Whit don't play games
A friend with #sauces says it has been narrowed down to Morris and Herman and will be announced in early Dec. I would be ok with either of those if true.
That's what it is in my mind, so that makes me qualified to be the AD, right?
Of course. /s
My only worry with both of those choices is that they have a long history of being a reasonably successful OC and a very short tenure as being a HC. Herman is actually the better OC between the two of them based on FEI rankings.
Herman also got more talent to work with at Ohio State if Morris had JT Barrett to be his backup QB in 2014 I'm sure his numbers would have been more impressive
this is a good point. But take a look at OSU's offense rankings before Herman arrived, while he was there, and then again this year. There was a huge uptick when he arrived and a pretty steep drop off after he left considering they didn't really lose a whole lot of talent. In theory, with Cardale having more experience and their OL being older and more experienced their offense should have been better this year. It's far worse. That, to me, is a testament to Herman's ability to get the best out of his players. Even if he's getting rockstar talent he's doing more with it than others can. I think this year's struggling OSU Offense is a pretty good indicator of that.
Not disputing that Herman isn't a good offensive coach, but you see a huge offensive turnaround for Clemson and SMU as well and for that matter Tulsa
Herman's a pretty impressive guy. I like the description of him as the "snuff-dipping Mensa member." That should suit the VT crowd.
The only downside I can see to Herman is the constant concern about losing him. That's the case with Buzz as well. Worth it, in my mind.
I don't think you worry about losing him. If it's worth coming to VT, it's worth staying. If he's successful, why would he want to leave? Then he leaves the program better than he found it. If he's not, well, no problem.
for the first time in (well, probably ever, TBH) I agree 100% with cds7c on this
Herman has done extremely well everywhere he's been but I think he's still down to earth enough to fit in really well at VT. And who could argue with a Mensa member?! If he views VT as a stepping stone to the next big thing, well, he's going to have to do really well here to justify that next step. I think that is a Win-Win.
Erik Kuselias is a Mensa member and he's a dipshit. Just sayin.
Ugggh, I hate that guy!
But, like Herman, he's got a hot wife.
Mensa = Hot Wife? The nerds really do win in the end.
For what it's worth I'd take Herman over Morris every day of the week
yeah me too. He's been at the top of my list since I made my list
Yeah, me too. But Herman will have more options than Morris. If we offer Morris, we get him. If we offer Herman, he may pick USC'w.
He's also the leading candidate for USC-e, reports (by JC Shurbertt) say.
True.
If Whit wants his next head coach to be a great recruiter, he better do some recruiting himself.
Between the two, I think I'd prefer Herman, but I still know very little about that guy
His wife is pretty hot.
Let's rectify that.
He kicked the boosters out of first class on the team plane, giving those spots to his "gladiators"....the OL.
His receivers stink, he says.
He likes a clean locker room.
His journey from OSU to Houston was interesting
I think I fell in love after that first article. If he puts that first class treatment into recruiting for OL too, I'm sold.
sadly some people here would be pissed if that happened at VT...
kicking boosters out of 1st class, I can already hear the "they pay big $$ to support the school and team so they deserve those seats" argument
which part? booting boosters out of first class? or recruiting big uglies?
I was talking about recruiting big uglies, but I'm fine with both.
IF and it is a big bif... Dickerson and Merritt commits we will be on good shape for a really good offensive line
I like him already.
Curious, when do you think Whit would announce coach? Would beamer coach in the bowl or would new coach?
I expect a press conference to announce the new coach within days of the last regular season game, regardless of whether we qualify for a bowl. Due to recruiting timelines, it's not feasible to wait until after a bowl game to announce the new coach. If we do play in a bowl game, I would expect Beamer to coach the game.
Likely announced the first week of December but Beamer would still coach the bowl if he desired. There's no chance an outside coach will do the bowl game. We would use Bud or Shane as the interim coach for the bowl game if Beamer stepped down after UVA
Fuente's reliance on JUCO players and unproven recruiting prowess are kinda concerning. Then again, Buzz relied heavily on JUCO's and he seems to be recruiting pretty damn well. Thoughts?
To be fair he is trying to sell Memphis...
Herman and Morris are selling Houston and SMU and doing a much better job.
But yeah, Memphis is not an easy sell.
The craziness is that SMU has played in 3 football national championships, winning one, unofficially owning another. Had some of the top players play there back in the day.
Imagine what would have been if they hadn't gotten the death penalty.
Imagine if Marvin Austin didn't have a Twitter account...
Herman got a single big time recruit to commit to UH, and there's still plenty of time until signing day. On top of that Texas is THE football recruiting hotbed and is also quite large. He can conceivably play the location card to woo kids from Houston to stay home rather than go to Austin, Waco, Ft. Worth, Lubbuck, or even College Station. Memphis doesn't have that card to play (with a far smaller pool of recruits), because Oxford is still basically staying at home to play ball. Context matters when comparing recruiting prowess.