Recent Comments
No, more wins are probably necessary to raise more money. But a few more wins alone will have a minimal impact on the ability of the program to sustainably compete on the levels of the top tier teams.
Yes, it's a chicken and egg question...which is why Whit Babcock (and Sands) has a very difficult job taking VT to the next level and why fans are delusional if they think a few more wins are going to make VT and Blacksburg an appreciably more attractive destination for elite recruits.
That is the most pathetic football stadium i've ever been to, outside of Umass. Those are the most pathetic football fans I've ever sat near, outside of Umass.
I almost brought up Charlottesville, but I noticed you specified football fans/stadium. Very wise to exclude the 'hoos from the discussion.
I agree the optics are bad, but in reality there are many, many, many different ways this could have gone down where all the choices were bad. What if they just closed the deal three days ago? Should they all come out the day before NSD and announce he was leaving, who would that have been fair to? T. Gray may not have submitted his resignation until yesterday? UF may have wanted the deal unofficial until after NSD? Too many unknowns to pass judgement in my opinion.
Update:
#Hokies Justin Fuente tells @WesFoxSports910 Torrian Gray to Florida is not a done deal. "No decisions have been made or anything like that"— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) February 4, 2016
#Hokies Justin Fuente on @WesFoxSports910 show on Gray: "I don't think it's ever a surprise when other people have interest in your coaches"— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) February 4, 2016
I'm not sure what to believe now after numerous sources confirmed the move.
Incoming frivolous lawsuit from Ohio State?
Just the staff dynamics... 50+ year old established, high level in-house coach is passed over for a 39 years old outsider. Been there, done that in the workplace. Its a real challenge for the older employee.
I think Bud stayed out of loyalty to VT to help with the transition with the thought that he will leave within two years for his own gig when the right opportunity opens.
More butts in the seats are a pimple on a gnats ass (pun not intended) in terms of the dollars needed to compete at the highest levels of college athletics. Just do the math.
If VT sells an additional 5,000 seats per game (and remember the number of seats to sell is finite unless VT adds seats), that's maybe an extra $1.5M-$2.0M. VT needs about a $30-$40 million increase in its budget to really compete with the big boys on a regular basis. Right now, HokieClub donations are about $15 million. So that means VT needs HokieClub donations to nearly triple - now and going forward. Even the potential addition of an ACC Network would still leave VT way short of competing with the schools with $100M+ athletic budgets (and growing at larger nominal values than VT) that mostly dominate the top tier of college football and football recruiting.
Fans are thinking way too small. Some winning seasons and a cool offense in and of themselves are not going to make that happen. Something much bigger is needed.
It does seem shady, leaving the day after signing day and all. But, there are ALWAYS at least two sides to every story, and I'm only privy to, well, actually I'm not privy to any of them. I just pick up what Joe puts down.
This was going to happen sooner or later. I'm not even mad, bro. DBlock is still DBlock. They're still gonna wreck shit up this year. We just need a new warden.
I wonder if he gave Ladler a heads up, since he was already invested. The other guys certainly seemed surprised on Twitter.
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10 years 5 months
# | Hokies Point to Encouraging Early Enrollees on an Otherwise Dreary National Signing Day I think this is a valid point that I hadn't considered before. How many 2/3 star guys did we pull who may have been 4+ if they had more coverage? Was Beamer up-coaching some 2/3s (yes) but was he also letting some 4s live up to their potential (also yes)? With much more accurate analysis these days it does become imperative to grab those highly ranked recruiting classes because as someone else pointed out they do tend to translate into success. All that being said I think Fuente and staff did a great job. We knew this year would be tough.
CJF explained that he didn't want to have to rebuild a top defense. This (to me) leaves room for another smooth transition at DC in a few years once his offense is established and clicking, and Bud can finally move up (or over or whatever he wants to do). Coach Fuente wanting Bud may be one of the few reasons he is still here; could be many more for him to leave (money, career, finish off the overhaul so the next generation can get started, how long can he keep his assistants or get along with the new staff, etc.).
Some seriously hot takes in this thread.
ugh, the basketball game.
First sporting event I have watched with my girlfriend who is a Cuse grad. Told her we were allowed to talk smack, but as the last 4 minutes faded away, I really regretted that decision.
Took a nice back rub to get over it.
Reading the other threads on here, especially the ones stating we were building relationships with HS coaches, I wonder how this announcement affects those relationships. I mean if I was a HS coach and helped steer one of my guys over to VT because he would be learning from Gray, I would feel kind of used.
agreed 100% ... always is two sides and you rarely hear the other side which in this case is VT's.
But that's it. The pay cut creates that dynamic. So it is what matters.
Something, something, something, Defensive Backs.
I think this is a chicken and egg issue. I know that winning 10 games a year doesn't automatically equal lots of money flowing into the program. But right now the only thing the coaches can control is how the players are coached and how they play the game. A good coach will get a team to play together as a team and win. Winning will make Whit's job of selling the product and making money a whole lot easier.
Ultimately you're right that we don't need wins to make money. We need Whit to make money. But my argument is that if we can start winning 10 games a season again and get fans excited about the football program it will be a much less daunting task for Whit to bring in the $$$$.
It is exponentially more difficult to sell a crappy product than a quality one. We as fans want to be on the same level as Alabama. You're expecting Whit to sell a Ford Fiesta to a market looking for a Jaguar F Type. It will be a lot easier to sell a vehicle to that market which much more closely resembles what that market wants. We need to start producing Ford GTs in order to sell to that market. That will be a whole lot easier than selling the Fiesta.
My point is that the fastest and most effective way to make money will be significantly aided by winning games. You start putting a product out there that people want to consume and you won't have to work as hard to sell it. No, wins don't equate to cash flow, but they certainly will help Whit market the product. Winning games is only part of the equation but it's the most visible part and should be the easiest to control.
Midget has been a coach pretty much ever since he stopped playing. He's coaching the secondary at Houston right now. That would be the TEXANS.
I'd say Florida high school coaching experience, Penn State coaching experience, and NFL coaching experience make for a pretty descent resume. (Also, BONUS... He's a swell guy.)
Consistently, national data from employment surveys show that salary is far down the list of reasons that most of leave our jobs. According to this data we don't leave jobs because of bad pay, we leave because of bad bosses and bad work environments.
In this case we as the fan base are not ever likely to know what was T. Gray's heart and mind as he and his family made this decision. But we will go on torturing ourselves with speculation and rumor as we, as French put it, attempt to "process" this loss. It's healthier for me to understand people make the best decisions they can based on the information they have in front of them. I hope we make a good hire and the next person up will continue to coach with the values and the intensity that made T. Gray such a great coach.
Hey, that would be cool! He was my weightlifting coach @ Stonewall!
The position pays $260k, that has been established and that will be the salary for this position.
Everybody keeps saying that Bud will leave in a few years, and while that may end up being true, where is that coming from? Fuente has said that keeping Bud was basically a requirement for him to take the job.
Apparently they're hard to open? /s
