Bitter blog - Alston Smith 'wows' coaches after first days on o-line

Some takeaways from coordinator interviews Wednesday:

http://blogs.roanoke.com/andybittervirginiatechfootball/2013/09/11/alsto...

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Comments

Andy, just curious, but why do some of your blog links link to Hampton roads, and come to Roanoke times?

I realize that the same blog, but traffic to roanoke.com seems to be higher, and its where you get most of your comments. Why not always link there?

Chick Patty w/ Cheese

They want me to link to both of the sites so both can get the traffic. So I alternate.

Although the Pilot doesn't get many comments for some reason, the traffic report each month says the two get about the same number of clicks. It's strange.

Andy, another question for you. In your chat today, you mentioned that Grimes may not want to uproot after one year. Remind me, what's the deal with Auburn paying some of his salary and VT paying some? How long does that last? IIRC, it was $400K+ for the next two years with Auburn paying more than 1/2. After that time period is up (2 years?) it will be up to VT to pony up the rest of his salary or he's gone. Would you agree?

Same with Loeffler.

I believe Grimes' Auburn contract is now up and Tech is paying his full salary now. Loeffler's is through next June. Then VT picks up the full tab.

Here's what I wrote about it when they got hired:

The new staffs eventual yearly salaries will be as follows: Loeffler $400K, Grimes $265K, Moorehead $150K. Grimes and Loeffler are also both eligible for $50,000 retention bonuses on Jan. 1, 2015. Bryan Stinespring, who was stripped of his offensive coordinator duties and will now be recruiting coordinator, had his salary readjusted from $364K to $300K.

Now, Loeffler will be paid $150,000 per year through June 30, 2014, and Grimes will be paid the same through June 30, 2013 (prorated amounts for partial years). Thats because their previous stop, Auburn, owes them the difference from their new salary to their old one through the life of their contracts with the Tigers. Loeffler made $500K at Auburn and Grimes $400K. So Auburn has to make up the difference there, which is a pretty good chunk of change. To put the salaries in perspective, Bud Foster makes roughly $500K as defensive coordinator.

Since you're relatively familiar with both places, how does cost of living compare. I know that SW VA has a lower cost of living than a lot of places, but wasn't sure what the difference would be between Blacksburg and Auburn. Cost of living was mentioned briefly on TKP along with the Pep Hamilton to VT rumors early this year and I can see things like Cost of Living and Tax rates coming into consideration for a coach moving from CA to VA, but would they be as a factor moving from AL to VA?

According to a cost of living calculator I checked ( http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/ ), living in Auburn is slightly more expensive than living in Blacksburg:

Groceries 4%less
Housing 13%more
Utilities 6%less
Transportation 6%more
Health Care 10%more

For instance, if you were making $500k in Auburn, the equivalent comp in Blacksburg would be $497,897. Looks like a complete wash.

Gotcha, I thought I didn't remember the details well. Glad we're already paying for Grimes. We'll see what happens when Loeffler's $150K increase comes up next summer. We've got plenty of time to plan for it.

Jan 1 for retention bonuses seems odd since most coaches change positions in Jan or Feb. I'd rather they get that $50K on March 1.

Glad to hear the salary is up to par with an sec program that won a title recently. Two things..they both took less to get the same and they want to be here for the long run. If it pans out and I think it will..more money will come to all.

Touchdown Tech - Bill Roth

Andy, any chance to get comments from Bruce about his son's move to OL? I am interested if he thinks its best for the team or for his son, or both.

Andy, not trying to sound ignorant or anything but a lot of people that comment on your articles seem to be pretty clueless and don't know what they are talking about.

In Sam Rogers we trust.

That's why he joined TKP! ;)

"We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior" Stephen M.R. Covey

“When life knocks you down plan to land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up, if you fall flat on your face it can kill your spirit” David Wilson

yeah, andy's got some serious trolls who comment.

"That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! And you can quote me on that shit!" -Bud Foster

Without getting into it much, I wholeheartedly agree.

Very diplomatic approach Andy. Love your articles, thanks again for posting on TKP. I laugh at the trolls who spout nonsense in their comments on your articles. Makes me appreciate TKP and the self-policing of the site that keeps it generally pleasant to read.

VTCC '86 Delta Co., Peru Hokie, Former Naval Aviator, Former FBISA, Forever married to my VT87 girl. Go VT!

Andy had to correct someone recently in the comments section because they mistook one player for another and I had to give him a turkey leg for it because the response was classic. Andy said something like, "Because player a and player b are different people". I had a good laugh at it.

People on facebook are the worst. Go to any VT fan page and you'll see. From the VTHokieFans page:

Tech needs a coach with fire in his belly and will have Techs players playing like their hair is on fire and to hire a coordinator from a 3 and 9 Auburn team and expect a big change is nuts! It still looks like Stinespring is calling the plays! Skip Holtz would be a great choice plus he beat one of Beamers famous "10 WIN" teams with ECU and why do you think we always get our buts handed to us in bowl games unless its a big east team because we consistently play weak schedule and next year playing William and Mary and winning is worse than losing to an Alabama!

I guess he didn't know we were playing OSU.

I have no idea why my username is VT_Warthog.

Arkansas blew a 24-0 lead in the Belk Bowl.

I HATE when we get our buts handed to us. It's just the worst. Also we actually hired 2 assistants from that 3-9 Auburn team. He clearly doesn't read TKP or he'd realize the play calling, game plan, OL, and just general offensive concept is head and shoulders above the O'Cainspring era.

"We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior" Stephen M.R. Covey

“When life knocks you down plan to land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up, if you fall flat on your face it can kill your spirit” David Wilson

It's funny, two games into the season, and what I've seen is hands down better than most of the years I witnessed during Stinespring/O'Cain era. Execution has been sub-par, but the play calling and play design has been pretty great.

If he read TKP, somebody here would have undoubtedly corrected his lack of punctuation by now, too.

Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor.

It's commentators like Barry (or Barry from Ivy, whichever he seem to prefer, who is a Georgia Tech fan) and Booster (UVa fan and extreme idiot) among others who just enjoy coming to the site and just making an ass of themselves. Also, there's a Hokies fan who goes by the name crooked road who seem to hold a major grudge against the Beamers and absolutely refuses to listen to anybody who counter his points. McFarling blog is pretty fun to hang out because McFarling lets conversation flows and more levelheaded fans are there. Occasionally, there would be kerflunke, but majority of the time, the conversation are enlightening.

Anyway, with how much ignorant fans are there (which include some Hokie fans who still think Thomas should move back to tight end, etc, etc), and trolls, I have quit going to his RT's blog and visiting the Hampton Road one because of how quiet it is.

I support Logan Thomas and make no apologies for it.