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I got downvoted in the other thread for venting a little bit using this line of thinking but I'm pretty sure this is what happened, though I'm not sure how much the DC search impacted it.
The reality is, Pry's seat is warming up. There's going to be mixed opinions on where the temperature is on a lukewarm-surface of the sun scale but he needs to have a good year next year...and I wouldn't put a lot of money on this team being anything more than bowl-eligible.
I'll keep saying it, but I don't get this hire from OSU's standpoint. However, I would have taken it in a heartbeat if I had been Bowen. He may have delayed his career progression a bit (assuming he wants to keep climbing the ranks?) but you're getting paid more, at a better program, with less responsibility, and with likely more job security.
Went to the keys a couple weeks ago, very windy and cold for the Keys. Got out to Bahia Honda bridge in my kayak on the nicest day, caught some jacks 1-5 lbs. Lots of fun on light tackle. Got a few undersized muttons. One of the jacks almost got sharked which was a bit scary. Buddy came down mid week and rented a 22' CC and hit a reef a few miles offshore, pretty slow drifting live ballyhoo. A barracuda and a couple cutoffs. Then got rocked by a grouper but was able to pull it out after driving over it on the other side of the rock. Pretty nice black grouper. Wind picked up and we drifted around mangroves with chum and caught a ton of little fish. Went to Mile 0 Fest (Red Dirt Country festival) in Key West a couple of the other days which was a lot of fun. Definitely will be back next winter. 
Fubu would be sweet.
Gonna play devil's advocate. What would the TKP reaction have been if Pry/Whit ponied up, say $500k more, to extend Bowen and fend off OSU?
In which case he should have told Nike to pound sand, and pursued Adidas or UA. Or Reebok, Champion, Cooper, Fubu, or CCM for a few years, and then signed with UA or Adidas.
I'm not even that optimistic. Whit is conservative about hiring/firing to an absolute fault, he kept Fuente 2-3 years longer than he should have, loooong after it was clear he wasn't the guy.
Whit will take the "2 new coordinators means this is year zero" bonkers ass approach even if we lose 8 games. Bet.
I think that's where Neal Brown comes in. WVU has been pretty mediocre, but still better than VT has been since Fuente came along.
But by God, if it were baseball, he'd be opening the checkbook so fast you'd feel the breeze.
We get it, Whit likes baseball, but baseball doesn't help keep the lights on.
I think you're on to something, but I also think you're over-indexing on the DC search. He knows that this is a make-or-break year for Pry, and therefore a make-or-break year for him. I don't think it has anything to do with how well the DC search did or did not go.
My guess is that it's a combination of factors contributing to his decision:
- Probably getting a little extra cash
- Have the option to learn under Ryan Day is a great opportunity for any offensive coach
- He's back to the B10, which is where he's spent a lot of time (played and coached at UMD - which may be opening soon, coached at PSU, etc)
- It will be easier to sell himself in a future job coming off a successful season as an OL coach at OSU than it will be to coming off another .500-ish season at VT
Based on last year's standards, sure.
But the standards have changed, and we just had a coordinator poached to make more as a position coach at another college
He is probably getting at least a 30% raise in switching to anOSU. That also factors into it.
I tend to agree. If we were really considering Banks or Knowles, then I believe your range is on the table.
I am optimistic that we will like this hire. At least most of us - some people just want to hate on every choice.
I know he gets a lot of grief over the Nike deal. The first was a done deal when he got here. The second they tried for more money until Nike said sign or else be a New Balance school for 3/4 of what we are offering.
There was a whole other thread that we are paying Coordinator prices for a coordinator. We aren't paying that poorly.
Hokies!
LETS GO!!!
Me in my head: "God we need something good from our Hokies this week. Please pull out a win ladies..."
He needs to win 8+ games in 2025 or he's out and I just don't see how that is possible with brand new coordinators.
I'm now wondering if Whit will view it the same way and justify giving Pry at least through 2026 due to the sudden, unexpected loss of Bowen no matter the results in 2025.
Why settle for ODU's HC when we could have UVA's? I like the way you think.
I am in a similar place, but I am not sure exactly what we should do about it. It is clear that Babcock does not know how to operate VT's revenue sports in this new era of big money college sports. If you listen to what he has said, he has said VT is in the top tier and he wants VT to remain in the top tier. But we clearly are not. We are probably a second tier national athletic program, but the gap is widening. So what do you do about that? We either need to find a lot of money fast, or we need to reset both expectations and the complete program structure to deal with our second tier status. You can see many ACC programs grappling with this. It is a tough place to be in a an AD. I am not sure what a different leader could or should do in his position. And it definitely feels bad as a long time Hokie fan who wants to believe that we are a top tier program but can clearly see that we are not.
Basically.
I can't be hurt if my expectations are low, right? right??!!
I actually was letting myself get cautiously optimistic with the Siefkes hire but the Bowen news has knocked me down several pegs. I think Bowen sees Pry as a lame-duck coach and that's a big factor in his decision to jump, especially at such a late stage of the game. He probably saw the DC search and knew who the top targets were and who we weren't able to get. He probably figures he's safer as the OL coach for a national championship caliber team than to be the OC for VT. That tells me he doesn't think very highly of VT's potential. And now I think Pry has a huge challenge in front of him to bring in a new OC. In all likelihood, we're doing complete rebuilds on both sides of the ball and with not very much talent. It's going to be ugly and I don't think Pry has the time to flounder through growing pains. He needs to win 8+ games in 2025 or he's out and I just don't see how that is possible with brand new coordinators. My excitement level for VT football in 2025 has just taken a massive hit. I'm now expecting 3ish wins and a painful season for a lame duck coach. And my outlook for his replacement is grim. VT just can't keep up with the big dogs. The ACC has royally screwed us and there's no making it up at this point.
I was a Babcock apologist for a long time. I actually think our athletics, overall, have significantly improved under Babcock. The problem is that the big 2, FB and BB, have cratered. I've come around to the fact that Babcock isn't the right fit for VT, wrestling and softball and wbb and track and swimming aside.
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i mean they say you are what you eat