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welcome home!
I think of thing that worked against Fuente is that he's an introvert and doesn't crave attention. Fuente seamed like he'd rather watch film than talk to people which is opposite of Pry. Most head coaches are more extroverted, even Leech seemed like he liked talking to the media. So broadcasting makes sense.
In addition, its only been 10-20 years that a HC could retire after a short stint at a P4 job. We probably paid Fuente more than we paid Beamer woth salaries exploding. That's $32m for Fuente in 6 years and maybe $30 mil for Frank in what 28 years? Pry will have made ~$17 mil after this season and if we fire him then he is owned another almost $7m. Just 10 years earlier Larry Fedora started at UNC and they paid him around $20m when he got let go with 4 years left and coached for 7. Pry could make 20% more by coaching less than Larry had left on his contract. If it wasn't for Butch Davis issues Larry's contract would have only been 5 years for max $8.5m. If he had messed that up in 3 years he would have been looking at more like $6-7m which is great until you see coached have multi million dollar homes and agents to pay and that nest egg looks more $1m savings in that time period, which isnt enough with kid in school or wanting to travel alot when retired at 50.
I think we might see more coaches go the Fuente route just because they can but it don't be a large number.
In the summer of 2013, coaches asked Teller to try the offensive line. Part of that was due to injury and also a lack of proven talent. He took to the move so well that it became his permanent destination. Considering how highly he was regarded as a defensive tackle at the collegiate level, some were surprised Bud Foster would allow Teller to switch sides. But Foster approved the move and Teller was excited about the possibility of early playing time.
After a redshirt season and one as a backup, Teller would enter the lineup at left guard in 2015 and it was his position for the next three seasons. While Teller didn't start every game, he started most games during this time and his impact was immediate. Teller was a standout pass blocker on the interior in part due to his athleticism and he knew how to use his hands. Even with his relative inexperience at the position, Teller took to it well and became a standout performer. Teller's mauler attitude on the field also made him a good run-blocker, too.
Yes you are technically correct, he never played a down of DT at VT. But he was recruited as a DT and started his first training camp at DT before he switched to OL. Beamer prefered to have him at OL out of high school however Wyatt preferred DL - Beamer honored his wishes as a part of his commitment.
That was a multi-millionire dollar decision on Wyatt's part.
I couldn't think of anyone 100% like Fuente, but he was just smart enough to be happy at home with his family instead of going to Minnesota to coach WRs for a year.
This - most coaches just aren't wired this way.
Why do women have cleaner minds than men?
Because they change them more often.
Jeremy Pruitt? But he has a 6 year show cause.
Mark Helfrich is close but I think he is in boradcasting.
Darrell Hazell is close had a job as vikings WR coach for a year afterwards then hasn't done anything.
I couldn't think of anyone 100% like Fuente, but he was just smart enough to be happy at home with his family instead of going to Minnesota to coach WRs for a year.
247 listed him as an Edge rusher, so I don't think you can count him as a top OL recruit.
Since this is VT fandom, Teller never played DL here and has gone on to an all pro OL career in Cleveland, but he's a "DL". lol
Beautiful. Next year we are getting the Johnny Cash estate also looped into EA sports so we can get God's going to cut you down, right?
IIRC, Teller wanted to play DL coming out of high school. He was miles head better at OL than DL in high school.
I believe the coaching staff said he could start his career playing DL. When Teller realized how big the opportunity was to switch to OL, he did it.
I think the VT experience soured Fu. I think he miscalculated the job. He thought that taking over for Beamer, keeping Bud he would step into a TCU type situation and not miss a beat. VT had 1000 times better fans and facilities than Memphis and I honestly think he thought it would be easy to win here. I think he's beaten down a bit- and still getting paid by VT- so why not lay low.
I feel like part of my gaming soul has died, but I have no more interest in this series. Between being in a different place in life and not being able to deal with the sports any more, I have zero care for this game.
As a side note, has any P4/P5 head coach in recent memory, other than Fu, gotten fired and then completely fallen off the face of the Earth? As in not even an assistant/position coach job, not coaching anywhere at all? I know some have taken a year or two hiatus in broadcasting or what have you, but I can't think of any other major coach who has just flat out retired after being let go at his age.
Absolutely unreal.
First point Fuente was not a premier offensive coach when hired, he had some success yes but Odom's defense carried a few of his Memphis teams.
This was the story that SP+ told, but the media was telling a very different story - Fuente was considered a 'QB Whisper' having putting Paxton Lynch and Andy Dalton both in the draft in a half decade period.
Second a lot of Bud's defenses were shit down the stretch. 18 was terrible and 19 was nothing special, even 16 completely folded vs Syracuse and GT.
Going of SP+, 2016 was a top 20 defense. 2017 was the 9th best defense. 2019 was his second worse defense ever, just inside the top 40. 2018 was his worst defense ever.
The 2019 Defense was the best defense we've had since.
Bud is an all time great, and we grade him against himself.
Completely forgot about the Boosters
So we would have still ended up at the same turd result IMHO, because your point 2 would have still happened.
Maybe, but it would have been a different offensive coach, so not necessarily the turd sandwich that was Fuente. I still stand on the fact that an offensive coach plus Foster is a winning combination, so long as the head coach doesn't shit the bed programmatically.
Agree again here. Do we not remember the 30,000 RBs and WRs that never saw any tread or snaps at all on the roster, over getting quality defensive depth?
They don't ask how, they ask how many!
Bud Foster didn't forget how to coach, motivate or call a defense. The players the head guy was signing were fucking trash. That's why the defense wasn't good- D2 type linebackers and zero depth. Imagine if it wasn't Bud coaching them?
The logic of pairing an "offensive" coach with Bud Foster failed miserably
Disagree with this. First point Fuente was not a premier offensive coach when hired, he had some success yes but Odom's defense carried a few of his Memphis teams. Second a lot of Bud's defenses were shit down the stretch. 18 was terrible and 19 was nothing special, even 16 completely folded vs Syracuse and GT. Lastly when the offense and defense both worked we were amazing (16 outside of Cuse and GT, couple games in 17, few in 19)
The only common threads from Beamer to Fuente to Pry are: Whit, Ballein, Bruce Garnes- who works for Mike Young, and Bud being a consultant/around the program. If I were AD, I might start there in terms of transformational change.
I totally agree with your first point. Had Beamer won maybe 1-2 more BCS bowls I too think he would have been more inclined to step away while on top rather than seeing the program stagnate and decline under his watch. If we had won that Sugar Bowl against Michigan I could see a compelling argument for him to step away sooner.
But regardless, the powers that be institutionally at the VTAD had/still have no clue how to operate or modernize this program post-Beamer. So we would have still ended up at the same turd result IMHO, because your point 2 would have still happened.
Yes, 1. Beamer stayed too long because he kept to his rule... a good QB and a good kicker. He should have retired sooner- and may in fact have had the biased Michigan refs not fucked Danny Coale. 2. The logic of pairing an "offensive" coach with Bud Foster failed miserably, because the guy could draw up a play but not run a P4 program. 3. On the heels of those, you hire a guy that's never been a head coach before. The result is a decade of ass. If it continues, the program will die on the vine until we strike lightning with the next defensive genius and Mike Vick.
"The difference between program payments could be greater than NFL rookie deal"- I'll never believe that until we see proof/documentation of these NIL deals. Which we haven't thus far. Only rumors, verbal statements, etc.
You might get in REAL trouble for that ... but I like it (and now I'm in trouble).