Virginia Tech football is in danger of falling into the depths of obscurity, and that is why it is so important that the next coach of the Hokies is a homerun hire. This is a proud football program that has fallen on hard times, and the days of being a football powerhouse under Frank Beamer are long gone. In fact, even under Beamer, the last four years were less than stellar.
Since then, we've seen both Justin Fuentes and Brent Pry fail at bringing the program back to national relevancy, and the real question is, why is that? Was the moment too big for Fuentes, or was it because he was considered an outsider? He seemed a very promising hire from Memphis and had a decent start to his tenure, but things got ugly at the end.
Brent Pry was brought in due to his defensive coaching success, but things never seemed to click from the start. He wasn't considered an outsider like Fuentes was, which included recruiting the Tidewater areas that had been forgotten. Despite his effort to bring back a culture that better aligned with the program, the wins never came. He lost to Old Dominion two times within not even a four-season period and only had one winning season in Blacksburg. This is a program that has not had a season with 3 or less losses than 2011, surprisingly enough.
Now the question is, where do they turn? The popular pick amongst fans would be to bring in Frank's son Shane to run the program, but I am not sure how likely that is to happen. Many feel the younger Beamer is focused on building something special at South Carolina, plus the pressure of being the guy tasked with bringing the Hokies back to the levels not seen since his dad was on the sidelines seems like a ridiculous amount of pressure. If he doesn't want anything to do with coming back, it will be very interesting to see where they go.
After the failed tenures of the last two coaches, it would seem the decision makers would want to go after a coach who not only has Power Four conference experience but a winning history as well. With the recent struggles, you have to wonder how coaches see this program. The fanbase is incredible, the recruiting in the area is great, but will that be enough to attract a big-time coach? College football is better when Virginia Tech is a contender, so hopefully the third time after Beamer is the charm.
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