Idea for how to handle the coaching staff (probably lots of flaws I haven't thought of)

We all know VT's current predicament. We can't easily afford Fuente's buyout, but results as of late have been...less than stellar, to put it nicely. If retained for another year, Fuente has to hire a new DC, and possibly a new OC, and it'd be tough to attract the best coordinators / assistants considering they'd be coming into a situation where the HC is already on the hot seat.

So, I'm gonna suggest a total longshot idea here, probably filled with flaws I haven't thought about...

- if the season continues to go south, promote Justin Hamilton to interim head coach. Obviously, he isn't the most experienced guy on the staff and I can see the drawbacks. But, he seems to be the guy on the staff that people are most excited about and brings a good energy, and players like him and would play hard for him. And, who knows, maybe you end up getting lucky and find the next great VT HC (storyline would be similar to Dabo's, I guess - inexperienced assistant coach promoted to interim HC, and surprises everyone with level of success. Maybe not likely, but possible - it'd be a shot in the dark). Anyway, I'm not saying he'll become the next Dabo, but he might be a better HC than other options currently available to us over the next couple years.

- Financially, it's great. Maybe you offer Hamilton double his current salary in exchange for being head whistle. It's a huge bump for him personally, but way less expensive for the school than Fuente's buyout.

- Hamilton will have to hire a new defensive staff after this season anyway. As for the offensive staff, it'd be left up to Hamilton to evaluate and decide who to retain, and who to replace. These new coordinators / assistants come on board in a much more stable situation, at least compared to Fuente already being on the hot seat.

- As for Fuente, my vote would be to keep him on staff as a very very expensive analyst. No player interaction, as that doesn't seem to be his strong suit. But, he and Kill work together on scheme etc. I realize some won't love this idea, but I say this mainly because - if we're paying the guy a ton of $$ anyway, we might as well get something for it.
- I suppose another option (possibly a better one) is to let CJF go find a coordinator job elsewhere, thereby reducing how much we pay him each year. I'd be good with that too.

- If all goes well, then Hamilton is promoted to permanent head coach after 1-2 years, and given a full-blown HC's contract. At that point, what's left of Fuente's buyout is manageable. And, by having Hamilton coach on basically a coordinator's salary for 1-2 years, we've reduced the number of years that we're basically paying two head coaching salaries.

- If things don't go well, then you begin a new head coaching search - it's really no different than firing Fuente after the 2020 or 2021 season anyway, except probably less damage to the program over that time.

Like I said - probably a bunch of complications I haven't thought of, but seems like something along these lines would be a better scenario than simply being stuck where we are now.

Thoughts? What am I missing?

To be clear - this isn't me saying Hamilton is a sure-fire great HC, and that it'd be a home run hire under normal circumstances. I'm only saying that, given VT's current predicament where the program is in a downward spiral and we can't afford to fix it, this might be a reasonable solution and worth giving the guy a shot. Hard to imagine it being significantly worse.

DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Comments

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

2023 Season Challenge: TBD
Previous Challenges: Star Wars (2019), Marvel (2020), Batman (2021), Wrasslin' (2022)

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

We put the K in Kwality

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction:
β€œI served in the United States Navy"

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound, Jeff Jagodzinski, Paul Johnson, Pat Narduzzi.

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound, Jeff Jagodzinski, Paul Johnson, Pat Narduzzi.

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound, Jeff Jagodzinski, Paul Johnson, Pat Narduzzi.

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Hokies, Local Soccer, AFC Ajax, Ravens

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound, Jeff Jagodzinski, Paul Johnson, Pat Narduzzi.

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

'Its easy to grin, when your ship comes in, and you've got the stock market beat,
but the man worthwhile, is the man who can smile, when his shorts are too tight in the seat'