I will begin this by saying I don't think this scenario really played out, but I wanted to share what has crossed my mind as a possibility ...
What if Baylor's very public courtship of Fuente was planned and calculated by both Whit and Fuente to make light of our fundraising inefficiencies and communicate to fans the urgent need of more donations to compete with the best in college football?
They knew it would create an incredibly emotional response from the fanbase, so the news would surely be heard. The initial shocking news that Fuente was "considering" the job would turn into an even firmer belief in Fuente's commitment to Blacksburg as he can now say "I had the chance to leave for a job with more resources, closer to my own hometown, but guess what I did? I stayed in Blacksburg because I believe this place can be great."
And as it was all going down, Whit asked his buddy Bill Roth to make some public comments about how Baylor is far and away a better job because of the vast amount of resources they have. Then, after having their eyes opened to the need for more funds, the call for donations will be understood as an urgent need for a program trying to compete with the best of college football.
Then Whit and Fuente entered into discussions with Dr. Sands to say - "Look, if we don't invest in this football program, we won't maintain the level of success we have enjoyed over the past 20 years."
Or ... conspiracy #2 is that Whit wasn't involved at all, it was just Fuente seeing the opportunity to do all the above. He saw the opportunity with Baylor once they reached out, so he promptly called up Bill Roth and told him what needs to be said. Then he devised his plan to get Whit to preach about his commitment, because it's more believable coming from someone else. Then he met with Whit and Dr. Sands and told them how much we need more resources and how, now, our fans have a greater sense of that need.
Probably didn't happen, but if it did ... well time will only tell how effective it will prove to be.
Comments
Only logical reaction: donate to the Hokie Club
I have been seeing a bunch of folks doing just this. In fact, I think one of the podcasts is doing a giveaway, where if you post your donation, then you are entered.
I was wondering if the Hokie Club would post the impact of this. May be a wash, as some may not donate, but seems to have created some renewed energy.
TL; DR
or he wanted the job and realized he wasn't going to get an offer so he just withdrew his name
I think you are giving everyone too much credit for how this went down.
Baylor had an opening. Fuente was interested because the money was good and presented possibly an easier path to achieving his goals. For whatever reason he pulled his name out of the running and is going to remain our coach.
All of this about trying to use this to pry more out of the alumni just screams saving face spin to me where they are using an obvious need to make a convenient cover for what happened.
I agree but the moral of the story stays in tact. Donate to Hokie Club.
yeah I agree as well. That's the reasonable take on this. But here's hoping it helps our funding and donor appeal!
The conspiracy I am choosing to believe:
Or perhaps Roth was just giving his honest assessment
Are Items 1-4 considered buying into a conspiracy theory? Because they seem fairly plausible to me.
I don't know enough to determine who in the VT chain of command is responsible for the decisions regarding the matters Whit stated have been part of an on-going discussion with Fuente recently, but I think it's entirely possible Fuente didn't believe those requests were being addressed in an adequate or timely manner and considered that this opportunity might add a sense of urgency to those discussions.
Benoit Blanc, is that you?!?!
Or maybe the conspiracy is on the other side.
Get your tin foil hat on for this one.
Baylor isn't too happy about VT recruiting TX players Ala #TX2VT. They now have an opening at HC so they hatch this plan to intentionally leak that Fuente is top of the list and they are meeting with him in next 24 hrs. If they get Fuente to agree to meet great for them for several reasons
1. they might be able to gain some info on the secret #TX2VT sauce during conversations.
2. They can now use this on the recruiting trail in TX because they can say hey you want to go play for a coach that might not be there by the time you graduate or you want to stay close to home here in TX .
3. maybe they actually wanted him as HC and he agrees to take the position.
But here's the thing you get benefits 1 and 2 regardless of if you even wanted him in the first place, just by having the meeting.