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Yeah that's a fair point. Pry is being looked at for SEC DC jobs right now. If he gets one and we hire a DC for less than Pry's contract, we're saving money.
ESPN saying its official now
ESPN just now said its official
Would you be impressed if the extra money helped to bring in elite defensive position coaches (TGray at CB, Dex at S etc.)?
If we hire him, whatever we pay him to be a JMFF assistant would come out of what we have to pay him for the buyout. Unless we were to hire him for MORE than we owe him for the buyout, he gets the same amount of money from us, whichever pot it comes out of.
IF he were to get a job somewhere else and somebody else was paying him, then that amount would be subtracted from what we owe him for the buyout. That would, theoretically, save us some money. Unless he can find another job that pays more than the buyout, his bottom line gross pay for 2026 and 2027 is what we owe him for the buyout. Where that comes from is the only variable. If we hire him, it still all comes from us. If somebody else hires him, our part gets reduced by that amount.
I didn't read the whole contract and I'm not going to, but I didn't see the duty to mitigate language that was in JMFF's PSU contract and Brian Kelly Killed a Guy's contract with LSU. In the terms of those contracts, it's just not that much money (says the guy who will probably never make $6.3 million combined in my entire life).
Again, the idea of this entire "Reinvestment" into Football was that we weren't gonna have to pinch pennies anymore, right?
And now we're hiring a defensive coordinator at least partially because he's effectively "free"....
Color me extremely unimpressed
Hoos just don't know how to do football. They don't understand the game. They don't understand what a good coach is, or isn't. They don't understand the landscape. They don't understand how to win, or even lose. It's an emotional roller coaster over on The Sabre.
For one, good on Pry for wanting to coach immediately after getting his huge buyout.
Would have spent at least a year lying on a beach somewhere if the same thing happened to me.
Yes, Pry was successful at Penn State, but everyone who has followed him has also been. None of his assistants from PSU came to Virginia Tech with him....I find that telling.
Pry absolutely didn't have the budget to out-pay staff from Penn State, and he probably needed to let his coordinators have a say in their own staff, so I'm not really sure if that tells us anything.
Correct. If we hire Pry, the athletic departments gets a "free defensive coordinator".
Just the defense, not the offense.
Hmmmmm....
Im gonna trust JMFF. (Like there's a choice?)
Positives: Franklin and Pry had success at Penn State, and recreating that in CEO's model where everyone knows their duties may work.
Also, love Pry and his VT messaging and that should be very powerful on the recruiting trail. Pry got some excellent pieces from the portal and if we can land some playa's (maybe a pull for some of psu's roster) we may accelerate the time table.
Also, Pry should be super motivated to have some success at VT after his tenure.
Negative: Pry will be Franklin's all-time DC. Can't imagine him firing Pry is defense isn't good. AND fans may have a quick trigger if defense is not up to snuff.
The best thing would just be awesome.
But I'm confused if we're the ones paying his buyout AND his salary. It's the same amount of money regardless, right?
gregarious, witty, pragmatic, engineer, drinker...sounds like a Hokie to me
I expect it will be more like 40-45 honestly.
Finish the freshmen class with 28-30 and then 30 or so from the portal.
At face value I don't like this. However, upon reflection, I think it could be a good thing for a number of reasons.
1. With James Franklin having to work on a complete rebuild the familiarity with Pry could help ease the burden a little.
2. With James Franklin out there doing his thing, killing it on the recruiting trail and getting Pry the players he needs... I think he could be just as effective of a DC at VT as he was at PSU.
3. One thing that Pry and his staff did really well was working the portal. I think this could be an asset to Franklin.
Could this be awkward? Sure. But if it isn't awkward for Pry then it won't be awkward. And if it works out, that means Pry is one helluva man - to be able to swallow his pride, take that "demotion" and continue to do what he does well. As stated above, some guys are really good at a certain things, but maybe not all the things (being the head whistle)
Honest question - how many guys current on the defensive roster will be here next year? 10? 15?
I don't it's as bad as people are making it out to be.
I am nervous about this hire for all the reasons mentioned in this thread, but this is an interesting point that you're making here.
I have to imagine that even though Pry struggled to manage games as a HC, he (and other failed HCs) probably learned some things about game management as a HC that may assist him in game planning as a DC.
That's probably a plus to CEO-type head coaches who are trying to manage the whole operation like it's a corporation.
I certainly hope he isn't coaching too many former players next year.
I mean there's a reason Saban continually rolled through fired head coaches to build out his coordinator roles.
So all that money goes to the OC now right? Imagine a $4M OC just below Franklin bc pry is technically "free". Guess I can dream a bit. Again the coordinator hires and staff hires are making me antsy
I am not a fan of this move at all, but I wonder if it's a color of money thing. Basically the money for his buyout has already been obligated for him (which is so much more than the value of a buyout) separate of the increase to the coaching salary pool and we can use that money to hire an expensive OC/assistants/analysts
It's this guy legit or putting this out there to up his view count. Franklin went out and hired Jim Knowles last year fresh off a national championship and now he's settling for fired coaches with a meh record? I would not have guessed that Franklin or that much stock in relationships and would be after the best guys he could get. Maybe it's a budget move and Pry will be mentoring his replacement while rehabbing his reputation for another head coach shot? I agree that I would prefer he find a lesser role.
Looking VT's defense under Pry - i really hope it was a talent issue, and that Pry being HC, he decided to separate himself from the defense.
Looking at Pry's defenses at PSU, ignoring the past few years, this would be a homerun DC hire.
The optics of it are awkward, but if Pry is okay with it and he gets the defense back on track, it could be a great move. If the defense has another lackluster year next season, he has to know fans will be out for his head, great guy or not
I hope so, but realistically it will probably take more than one offseason to get them all out.