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It's the photo tied to the plane on ADSB from planespotters.net. I prefer to think of all planes as flying into and out of airports surrounded by lush green landscaping and warm temps. Not reality, obviously.

For those so inclined to flight track today, keep an eye on exec jets arriving at KBCB from other locations, and staying for a short time. This is what happened Friday with the flight that Bud hopped to PA. I thought we might have something this morning, when a Citation popped up to the airport from Statesville NC, but as soon as it lifted off, it turned back toward points south. Currently headed SW near Asheville NC, around 40000 ft., so it's likely not related to our search. This is the kind of traffic we'd be interested in watching.....nicer exec jet, no filed public flight plan, into the burg and out quickly. Otherwise, keep an eye out for Tech's two planes. N51VT is, as far as we know, still sitting on the tarmac at Dulles. N80FW is likely still at the Bburg airport. There's always the possibility that a plane could go directly to State College without originating at KBCB too.

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I don't see the bolded part happening. To my knowledge this has never been done at the college level. I don't see that changing.

Normally I'd agree, but part of the previous BoV meeting it sounded like he was exploring options to set up an oversight committee for just the football program. That makes me believe we are pivoting to operating football completely separate from the rest of the AD and set it up to report to Sands directly rather than through Whit.

IMO either whit needs to be all in or all out. I don't see the point of keeping him around in a limited capacity beyond onboarding someone new.

I think its important right now for VT football to operate separately from VT athletics and have someone involved to just run football and allow Whit to run everything else. Simply put, VT football and how strong it is over the next 5-10 years will determine the long term health of VT athletics as a whole, and possibly the health of the school. We need to nail it and get into the P2, else the financial hit we will see cannot be overstated.

Also, reading the overall tea leaves of college sports, there seems to be a growing push to separate football from the rest of sports and have it operate independently of the NCAA model. This would indicate we are trying to get ahead of those changes to be prepared and operating in that mindset before the shift, which would be a major improvement to our reactionary tendencies in the past.

He would install his own guy to be GM of the football program, and its likely that role would report to Sands to separate it away from the rest of the athletic department.

I don't see the bolded part happening. To my knowledge this has never been done at the college level. I don't see that changing.

Whit would be allowed to stay but not be in control of anything football related. And honestly, that's probably a good working arrangement going forward.

IMO either whit needs to be all in or all out. I don't see the point of keeping him around in a limited capacity beyond onboarding someone new.

Really hoping we get Franklin - I think not even so much just for his coaching and recruiting ability. As others have noted, is Franklin the only coach out there that can win at VT? No.

BUT

What we know about Franklin - if we hire him, we're not just hiring a new coach. We're signing up for a complete overhaul of the football program and how it function from the ground up. Something VT football desperately needs.

Lots of guys can coach. We need more than a new coach if we want to get back to our former glory.

HOKIES!

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If Sumrall is considering VT, it means that UF and PSU aren't interested, and LSU/Auburn are in complete disarray.

So not impossible.

I think it'll buy him a pass until his retirement, but it won't cement him as one of the greatest ADs ever. Getting oneself out of a really sticky situation doesn't redeem for the fact you got yourself in that position to begin with, IMO.

When the dust settles, I'd be really curious to know how things have worked out between the BoV, the search committee, & Whit. Has Whit been a 100% team player? Has he tried to claw back all of his power? Did he step aside and let things play out the way the BoV wanted?