We all know VT's current predicament. We can't easily afford Fuente's buyout, but results as of late have been...less than stellar, to put it nicely. If retained for another year, Fuente has to hire a new DC, and possibly a new OC, and it'd be tough to attract the best coordinators / assistants considering they'd be coming into a situation where the HC is already on the hot seat.
So, I'm gonna suggest a total longshot idea here, probably filled with flaws I haven't thought about...
- if the season continues to go south, promote Justin Hamilton to interim head coach. Obviously, he isn't the most experienced guy on the staff and I can see the drawbacks. But, he seems to be the guy on the staff that people are most excited about and brings a good energy, and players like him and would play hard for him. And, who knows, maybe you end up getting lucky and find the next great VT HC (storyline would be similar to Dabo's, I guess - inexperienced assistant coach promoted to interim HC, and surprises everyone with level of success. Maybe not likely, but possible - it'd be a shot in the dark). Anyway, I'm not saying he'll become the next Dabo, but he might be a better HC than other options currently available to us over the next couple years.
- Financially, it's great. Maybe you offer Hamilton double his current salary in exchange for being head whistle. It's a huge bump for him personally, but way less expensive for the school than Fuente's buyout.
- Hamilton will have to hire a new defensive staff after this season anyway. As for the offensive staff, it'd be left up to Hamilton to evaluate and decide who to retain, and who to replace. These new coordinators / assistants come on board in a much more stable situation, at least compared to Fuente already being on the hot seat.
- As for Fuente, my vote would be to keep him on staff as a very very expensive analyst. No player interaction, as that doesn't seem to be his strong suit. But, he and Kill work together on scheme etc. I realize some won't love this idea, but I say this mainly because - if we're paying the guy a ton of $$ anyway, we might as well get something for it.
- I suppose another option (possibly a better one) is to let CJF go find a coordinator job elsewhere, thereby reducing how much we pay him each year. I'd be good with that too.
- If all goes well, then Hamilton is promoted to permanent head coach after 1-2 years, and given a full-blown HC's contract. At that point, what's left of Fuente's buyout is manageable. And, by having Hamilton coach on basically a coordinator's salary for 1-2 years, we've reduced the number of years that we're basically paying two head coaching salaries.
- If things don't go well, then you begin a new head coaching search - it's really no different than firing Fuente after the 2020 or 2021 season anyway, except probably less damage to the program over that time.
Like I said - probably a bunch of complications I haven't thought of, but seems like something along these lines would be a better scenario than simply being stuck where we are now.
Thoughts? What am I missing?
To be clear - this isn't me saying Hamilton is a sure-fire great HC, and that it'd be a home run hire under normal circumstances. I'm only saying that, given VT's current predicament where the program is in a downward spiral and we can't afford to fix it, this might be a reasonable solution and worth giving the guy a shot. Hard to imagine it being significantly worse.
Comments
I think this scenario is a case of which evil (or bad chance) do i want to deal with. Do think JF can turn it around or do i think Jham is the next great coach (or at least which is more likely), at htat point then one would pick their poison. but it'd be a huge desperation move and would signal to the nation that we've all but given up hope and we're praying for a miracle, which also isnt a good look either.
If you are J Ham, why do you agree to this? You are being set up to fail unless Braxton Burmeister is Tua.
I agree. I don't want to see anyone else get James Johnson'd. It's rude and messy.
You do it because it's a total Hall Pass. You get the bigger check, you have the goodwill of the fan base to give it a try and most importantly, you get the experience. You go from a position coach to an HC at P5. If you fail, it's because you were promoted too fast, too soon. If you have any success it's in the plus column and even if it's not enough success to keep you, you've really added some experience to your resume to be a coordinator at another program & know what you need to work on to get to HC.
Cut ties from those you break up with. Lingering relationships never work out well.
I think the buyout is the 'cost of doing business' - pay the man to get out of dodge, and make the best hire possible to save ticket revenue that would have otherwise suffered. ACC Network royalties start to kick int his year too, so it's not like we're hurting for cash.
The athletic department has ran in the red two years previous to last year (edit) owes the university back about 10 million to build the ACC network infrastructure and now will be buying out a coach in next 15 months along with hiring a new staff then.
So what? There are banks that will lend VT athletics money. There are budgets that can be shifted. A half empty lane stadium and 40% season tix renewals will cost much much more.
Don't worry, we're gonna sell Bud Lights to make up the deficit.
All joking aside (slightly)...if we sold beer at the stadium that could make up about half of the annual buyout.
Good lord. Can you imagine how much beer they would have sold at the dook game?
Probably about half as much as they expected.
Could you imagine being a P5 football program and having to go to a bank to get a loan. But as usually you missed the point. The OP claimed money isn't an issue for Tech especially with ACC network money coming in. Money has been and will continue to be an issue, especially when as you pointed out sales etc drop.
Might be a few years old, but gives some insight.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-01-04/college-football-s-top-teams-are-built-on-crippling-debt
Lots of schools do lose money lots of schools have to borrow money from academic side or raise student fees. I can't find a single P5 school that had to get a loan from a bank for operating expenses.
It's an expression. Besides, when you have long term debt over $150mil where do you think that money comes from? There's a "bank" involved somewhere. Might not be traditional. Might not be the Corner Bank. But it is banked from somewhere.
Maryland had to switch conferences and cut a lot of sports.
At least that's what Loh said.
If/ when this buyout happens there will be pain in other areas. Not sure it will be to level of cutting sports but maybe curtailing other future projects like LED lights. Letting some long term staffers go to hire cheaper alternatives, like a new PA announcer that everyone will get their panties in a bunch about.
I had acquaintances who were on the UMD Track and Tennis Teams that got cut. It fucking sucks. Those people signed up and were sold a very specific college experience; their whole social life is built around that team. I don't want to see VT do that.
Had a fellow Benedictine grad friend in a different year who was headed to JMU to wrestle when they cut the sport. He had stopped his recruitment when the rumors started. Still enrolled and then his sophomore year program is gone.
I have a good friend who was one of the coaches at JMU whose sport was cut. It sucks for alot of people.
You- as usual are stating an opinion as fact- like your last sentence. VT has plenty of money and plenty of resources to get more. You keep ignoring that and pretending that VT is not a major university with major political power and not a kid with a bad credit score and no income.
I guess that is something the AD should have considered before giving fuente a ridiculous extension after one ok season
Sure, but that was when everyone thought he was a genius.
Now they're warming up the tar to go with the feathers.
Giving a coach a buyout you can't afford is never a genius move
Also, firing a coach with a large buyout.
There will be zero Beamer players on the 2020 team unless Terrell Smith gets a medical redshirt. Zero. We also won't be "young" next year since all of the guys are getting experience next year. In 2020 it's all Fuente guys and he will even have his own hand picked DC... If he doesn't win 8-9 games, he should be fired immediately after the season, since his 2020 class is going to be dead last in the ACC. the future- by definition- won't be so bright. Try selling a 6 win military bowl team with 100% Fuente guys coming off a 4-8 2019 season in terms of re-seating.. lol good luck. Fuente better make hay in 2020.
It's a bit early to make next year's argument as if it already happened that way.
But sure, Fuente has a lot riding on next year. Also, the buyout will be lower at the end of next year, and we'll have a different DC. Hopefully a better recruiting class as well.
Fine, but the two favorite excuses- Beamer left him a dumpster fire program and no players.. and youth.. are gone after 2019. It's all on him.
I think it's all on him, anyway, but you're right, 2020 better look like a different team.
Also, I think it's LIKELY he'll be here, but there will be some hard conversations going on behind the scenes if we don't see some improvement even this year. Fuente is going to be explaining his rationale going forward to Whit. We're already replacing the DC, and I don't think Whit's a pushover at all.
I think he gets one more year unless the locker room is still toxic. If a bunch of players are entering the portal again, we have to stop the bleeding. That is something that time and recruiting is not going to fix.
Wait. Are we calling 2016 just an ok season now? Does that make 2017 was a below average season then?
Yeesh.
Yea, I think there will certainly be some pain, but it's a short term hole for a long term goal
"Short term hole for a long term goal" - I know what you meant but I had to read this a couple of times
Probably could have used a < Michael Scott gif > on that one, eh? ha
My head immediately went to this scene...
Or...there is money out there that boosters would give to can Fuente but not otherwise. You aren't necessarily robbing Peter to pay Paul here. If Whit contacts a certain class of donor and says, "i'm hiring Dabo Swinney, but only if we can scrounge money to cancel out the buyout" you can bet your ass we'll suddenly have $15 million lying around that's not part of our current financial picture
While that situation would get donors fired up enough to find the $15 million, you'd be left with the problem of finding another $10 million annually to pay Dabo and staring at an enormous potential buyout of his own. If donors come up with $15 million, how much can we realistically afford to pay the next coach, as donors will ultimately have different preferences and the name cannot possibly satisfy everyone? It's fairly easy to rally the troops against a common enemy, which is how fans are treating Fuente at this point, but once that enemy is gone, VT fans aren't going to magically reach a realistic consensus on the next coach.
Also I have to mention that people fail to recognize how difficult it is to pry away a head coach from another school, even if the school is generally perceived as less prestigious. There's a reason the national media was flabbergasted when Buzz came to VT and Tennessee ran through candidates faster than D2 through a freshman in 2017. It's possible we could manage Dave Clawson or Dino Babers but the list of realistic candidates who are head coaches in the midst of success at a P5 school is so much shorter than people seem to think.
THIS IS NOT ACCURATE.
VTAD ran $4.8M in the black last year.
Stop spreading these lies.
Another source if you still don't believe
Sorry missed that. So two years prior they were in the red. Again the athletic department is not flush with cash, but that may not matter when it comes to potential losses from keeping Fuente long term.
This scenario just isn't going to Happen...sorry to burst your bubble.
For Offense...Fuente pretty much needs to cut ties with Corny ASAP even if it is within this season.
For Defense...I would not hire a DC until after the season is over.
I don't think Whit is going to Pay the buyout to Fire Fuente, HE might force FU's hand to get rid of Corny and maybe a few others.
I still think Adam Lecternberg should be let go or moved back to an analyst role. I say this because as a Coach he has access to recruits and his role was supposed to be strategic to get us better recruits. I just don't see it and I don't think we need a director of Player development among coaches, he could serve us well but not as a coach. I would rather have a full-time QB coach so OC could focus on overall offense.
A lot of this is also in FU's hand, he needs to start making some decisions and soon.
Unless he turns the tide pretty soon, Lane is going to be empty
When you want to get rid of an employee, you gotta cut your arm off and run. Use the phrase " it's just not working out" and tell them that they will be better off in another job. Never hold on to a sinking ship, you will go down with the masses.
I only see a few issues. I don't see Fuente stepping down to become and analyst. I don't see a scenario where he gets demoted that's one bit effective for the team or atmosphere. Everyone has an ego after all. Is there a historical example of that working? I can't see him even accepting that in the first place. Would you? If you fire him, he should just go away.
I also don't see how you can get away paying someone peanuts to do a HC job, so I'd suspect JHam would want alot more than double salary if he was going to take the reigns of this mess. Just my very inexperience opinion.
I'm going to watch us play Miami this weekend, yell at the TV, and look for signs of improvement. The best thing that can happen for VT and our players is for Fu and crew to right the ship.
I was a student the last time we lost at home that bad and were ranked in the bottom 10. It isn't terminal.
If Whit were to call Hamilton in to his office and tell him, "I'm going to take a risk here and make you interim head coach. The full-time position is going to be based on your performance over the next 2 full seasons and in the meantime, you'll receive double your current salary," Hamilton is going to use words that violate the terms of service and probably start tweeting about how terrible Virginia Tech is on his way out the door.
Honestly, I think you came up with a scenario that would somehow be even worse than the one that we're currently in, including if our play on the field this year continues at a similar level and zero changes are made. Suffering through a lame duck head coach or enduring a buyout has been done before, but there's never been a P5 program that accepted being in that blatant degree of limbo for more than one season for good reason. I know it sounds like a big raise for Hamilton and that he couldn't possibly refuse it, but it would be insanely insulting to any coach to be offered <$500k to be the head coach of a P5 program. For reference, literally the lowest paid P5 HC jobs still pay $2 million and when Weaver essentially went this route with James Johnson, even he made $680k. Aside from that, recruiting with an interim head coach, and what would effectively be an entire interim staff, would be unfathomably bad (yes, even worse than our current class). Furthermore, we couldn't attract any remotely proven coordinators or staff without paying them the same or more as Hamilton at those numbers, potentially setting up disasterous conflicts in authority (similar to the Cleveland Browns staff situation last year with Hugh Jackson, Gregg Williams, and Todd Haley).
In summary, we can't lowball the shit out anyone with remotely realistic potential to be head coach and drag everyone along in limbo with a multi-year interim title. There's not a snowballs chance in hell of someone, even a loyal Hokie like Justin Hamilton, going for that.
Fuente staying on? Absolutely no friggin way.
I'd:
1- Can Fuente and Corny the Monday after the UNC game
2- Name J-Ham interim coach
3- Name Kill as OC/ QB coach (would make sense to make him interim HC but he would be needed as OC/ QB coach)
4- Elevate Prioleau to on-field coach, taking over J-Hams DB position
5- Use the open week to get everyone on the same page
I think canning Fuente is the middle of the season is a bad idea. You give him the rest of the season and see how the team performs.
If we go 4-8 and the losses are by one score or less and the team looks like it is developing. Give Fuente 2020. See if he can right the ship.
If we go 4-8 and the team is a complete disaster e.g. multiple blowouts, I clean house.
I say we just play Burmeister this year anyway, NCAA be damned. At least if we continue losing the losses won't count. /s
and if the games don't count, he doesn't lose his eligibility... right?
hmmm.