Virginia Tech is expected to hire Maryland's Elijah Brooks as running backs coach, sources tell @on3sports.Brooks, a former head coach at high school power DeMatha, has had two of his running backs drafted in the last three NFL drafts.https://t.co/DlIXY6813V pic.twitter.com/QpMgj8Y0tLβ Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) March 13, 2023
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I know nothing about this guy other than his RBs ran all over us in the Pinstripe Bowl. I hope this works out well.
Check's notes
I didn't know we were in the market for a RB coach.
Wonder if Ramon wants to come on back to Blacksburg
Seems like a strong get to me - his ties to the most talent rich part of our recruiting footprint (I think 'the greater DC area' is probably the most talent rich part of our footprint these days?) make sense.
Here's his all time recruiting list (not bad for coaching at UMD)
Dang we're really cranking up that Dematha to VT coaching pipeline lol
Loses QB coach
Loses OL coach
Hires RB coach...
...
We're going full wildcat system.
Wild Turkey*
Man I miss Boone
I hope it's a change to the team using the Wild Turkey in the game instead of the fans needing Wild Turkey to get through one.
If he turns out to be a splash hire he'll be gone next year or the year after. rinse and repeat.
Meh disagree.
If Brooks leaves (on his own volition), it's because (a) he did an amazing job here and a blueblood is coming after him for a significant raise, (b) someone gives him a promotion to OC or HC (unlikely given that he only has 3ish years of college coaching experience, or (c) he doesn't like Blacksburg/Pry.
Overall, I disagree that this isn't something to be pleased with.
Someone please tell me how to feel about this!
Solid track record at a power conference school, Pry would be somewhat familiar with him from his time at Penn State. Looks to have a good recruiting background and strong DMV ties which are vital for us to continue improving at recruiting. And it probably shifts a coach on staff to a position he is more comfortable coaching, which is good considering the tight ends were a bit MEH last seaon despite talent and experience.
Feel good, maybe not great, but definitely good. We added a solid recruiter with ties to the region. He's coached some solid running backs, but IMO running back coaches don't need to be coaching geniuses, and it's great way to get an ace recruiter recruiter on staff.
Based on my experience on the Internet, it seems like the right way to feel is as follows:
1. When coaches leave it's because they are escaping our inevitable demise.
2. If we hire someone right away, it means we didn't search well enough, especially if we promote from within.
3. If we don't hire someone right away, it's because we were caught unprepared and/or we are getting turned down by everyone we want.
3.5. Don't forget to post at least 5 times a day about how nervous you are that it's taking so long, and that our inability to hire a superstar immediately means our eventual hire will be underwhelming and signals our inevitable demise.
4. When we do hire someone, they either aren't good enough or if they are good then they won't stick around. This signals our inevitable demise.
5. This makes you very nervous based on assumptions you have either made up yourself or read from some other dude on the internet who is in no way involved with any part of the process or team. This definitely confirms whatever it is you were worried about.
EDIT: Forgot to add that if he's a good coach, then he can't recruit; and if he's a good recruiter then he can't coach. If he's good at both, then he won't stick around.
This confirms every fear I had and even brings to light some I didn't realize I had until someone on the internet told me what i should feel and think. Thank you random citizen, I am now ready to burn it all down and bitch about it to anyone within earshot!!
(Completely, completely TIC. Legs all around π)
That's what the Internet is here for: to make you scared of things you didn't even know existed until we told you. π
Tennessee, is that you? :-)
Yup. This pretty much sums it up
Best explanation of the Eyore Principal that I've seen.
I did not think we still had too many RB's for one coach to handle.........
I am guessing this means Holt will switch to special teams and QB coach?
Holt coached TEs for about half of his career. He'll likely move there. Maybe Bowen to QBs coach. And GAs and off field assistants are allowed to coach in practices now so he'll likely get some help there. The last piece of the puzzle is who becomes the OL coach?
Just read Bar's prediction in the other thread, and think you are probably right about Holt, and he is very close to nailing it again.
Holt to TE and Bowen to either QB or OL.
All the interweb rumors seem to suggest that Bowen is taking over QB coach. I suppose these rumors could be very false (I mean, I don't personally know anyone who can verify these things), but the fact that (a) there's not a single rumor of us interviewing or going after a QB coach and (b) lots of rumors about us going after multiple OL coaches (including Evan Watkins at 247 sharing Pry/Bowen's alleged top 5ish OL coaching targets) leads me to believe that Bowen to QB coach is basically a done deal.
Ha, you're too kind. At best I'm going 1.5/4 this time.
This is actually a pretty dang good hire. From a P5 program known for recruiting prowess, heavily connected in the DMV area, and his RBs have been very productive. With both Brooks and the Crook hire, you can definitely tell some thought was put into their fit with the program and what we are trying to accomplish. I'm pleasantly surprised with how this turned out on the surface, I was extremely worried the timing was going to leave us with few options and making rushed decisions.
what about that BigCan'tCount money? Don't get me wrong, I still think Tech needs to find it's way to the SEC or B1G in order to survive, but maybe the sky is not entirely falling. Maybe the VT brand still has some weight.
i'm sure we'll find out more soon, hopefully at an introduction news conference. And for those wondering if its a good hire, dont go back and look at the 2022 statistics like I did and recall exactly how historically bad our offense and running attack was. Just know that if Brooks can have similar success that he had a Maryland it will be a significant improvement.
With Rudolph (750,000) and Glenn (450,000) freeing up over a million in salary we had some room to work with for these hires. And since bringing Pry on we've seemed willing to pay a bit of a premium to get good assistant coaches. (while avoiding premium-hire million dollar coordinators).
Brooks salary at MD was 231K and with a few years experience we probably offered him low 300's.
Crook was paid about 330K at Cincinnati in 2021, and he has tons of P5 / P5 adjacent experience, so he probably got 350-400.
We might be stacking up on analyst. $300k of freed up coaching can pay 10 analyst
Official
Buried in the announcement it says Bowen to coach QBs. Holt to TE.
That just leaves offensive line.
Well, if we were going for rhyming coach names, I think we should have found a RB coach named Bolt ! LOL
Too bad the Vice/Price coaching combo is no more.