Illinois Hokie's Recent Comments

Are you sure that wasn't Carter Warley?

I'm wrong. It was Pace. I swear I remember Warley missing a huge field goal early in a season and then making a clutch field goal later in the season to win a game for us. Always thought it was 2004. Hmm.

Peoria, Illinois.

Who says I'm talking about Bud?

Your move, Mr. Babcock.

Because those players are still benefiting from four to five years of world class coaching and are still getting drafted, highly, after only one to two years starting.

In general I didn't find much in your response that dealt with my argument. In not basing my logic on the results of this year or an emotional response to this down trend we're facing, but rather to a sense that the timing is right and I don't see a reason for Beamer to "need" to keep coaching to try to prove anything. But I will say, I hadn't really thought about Beamer holding on to coach at the Battle at Bristol.

As Jules Winfield said, it's an interesting point.

You articulate a great argument for why Frank shouldn't be fired, and I agree. He should not be fired. But I think now is the time for him to step down.

I think right now we have a particular opportunity which we might not see again at VT. The program has backslid but not bottomed out. We have not posted a losing record in 22 years (pending the result of the Military Bowl, which is a HUGE POINT no one is discussing.) Our bad is considerably better than a lot of programs' bad. But we are still rebuilding.

The team is stocked with young talent at all skill positions and reason for optimism on the OL. The buzz of a strong hire at head coach could generate the spark of interest required to boost recruiting. This is an opportunity for the next head coach at VT to hit the ground running. And taking over right now would relieve some small measure of the monumental pressure that will come with following in the footsteps of a living legend.

Assuming we are not going to improve to the point of national championship contention in the next couple of years (if you'll allow me that assumption) I think it's entirely possible that we rebound into restructuring. We get better just in time for Frank to retire and hit the reset button on the program. Make a move now, and we have the potential to roll restructuring into the rebuilding we're already doing.

Yes, there's the risk of failure. There will be the risk of failure five years from now. But if you want to talk about minimizing risk and providing as smooth a transition as possible, we have an outstanding opportunity right now. With the young talent on the roster, a good hire could reap substantial reward.

Forget Sweat. Forget Hand. Forget Nnadi and whoever else. Don't base it on a miss, or a series of misses on the recruiting trail. Don't base it on an emotional, visceral response.

(Not accusing you of doing this, Alum07, just prefacing my own argument.)

Rationally look at our program. And not that it's currently in a slump.

Frank Beamer is close to retirement. I don't think anyone is going to argue that he has ten years left. Few will argue he has five. He will be gone soon.

Currently VT is in rebuilding mode. We have serious work cut out for us rebuilding the OL, reestablishing inroads to the 757, installing am offensive scheme that gives us consistency and identity while maintaining the level of our defense. This is a big rebuilding project.

Couple that with uncertainty about a post-Beamer future. The changing of the guard at VT will be one of the biggest coaching hires ever in college football. No hyperbole. There are few if any coaches who have become the face of their program to the extent that Beamer has. He's a guaranteed HOF coach who has spent his entire career at the FBS level at one school. That does not happen anymore.

The question is, is Beamer the right choice to lead this rebuilding effort? And at this stage of his career, is he capable of it?

The one thing that is guaranteed is that there WILL be a post-Beamer future at VT. What our looks like, no one knows. But it's coming. For all those people who respond to the calls for change at the top by asking who Frank's successor will be, stahp. That's up to Whit Babcock to decide. But I will guarantee you one thing: the decision making and hiring process will be no easier two seasons from now, or three, or five. There will always be marquee programs performing coaching searches. We'll always have major competition. It'll always be hard to pick a successor to Frank Beamer. Kicking the can down the road won't solve that problem, but damn well might exacerbate others we currently face.

WE CANNOT FEAR THE FUTURE.

When I look at it, the best (and maybe only) reason for Frank to hang on would be to chase the one accolade that has escaped him in his career: a national championship. If we were on the cusp a la 2007, a stone's throw away from the upper echelon in the rankings, knocking on the door of the playoffs, then there would be a damn good argument for Frank giving it a few more go rounds. But we aren't even in the same zip code as the playoffs.

Frank has had one hell of a coaching career and he will always be a beloved figure at VT, but there is the question, what is the benefit to the program and to his legacy in grinding out a few more seasons? He has nothing left to prove. He is one of the greatest coaches in the college game without ever hoisting a national championship trophy.

Everything ends. Attachment motivated by fear is the path to suffering. If it's time, it's time.

And I think it's time.

We've officially all gone insane.

Deep... Rods... Hehehe.

Was about to post the same thing.

Paging VTPhreak.