The Depths of Despair

Take a good look at that image. Close your eyes, and look at it again. Soak it in.

That's Virginia Tech football.

Brent Pry lost his job Sunday, just hours after overseeing the worst loss in school history. That's not recency bias — Saturday's night's defeat at the hands of Old Dominion represented rock bottom for Pry's coaching tenure, the Virginia Tech football program, and the athletic department as a whole.

It's not worth diving into the X's and O's of such a performance because they simply did not matter. The Hokies played dead on Saturday night, hoping their much younger brother would spare them. Instead, Old Dominion curb-stomped Virginia Tech and Brent Pry into submission. 

There's little value in harping on Pry's failures. I've written about them for years now, and this podcast has covered them ad nauseam. Instead, I'm trying to look to what's next.

It's safe to say Virginia Tech finds itself in an unprecedented position. Sure, the Hokies were 0-3 in 1987 (Frank Beamer's first season), but the circumstances surrounding that start were much, much different. Tech was crippled by NCAA sanctions, leaving Beamer's roster decimated.

This time around, Virginia Tech is working with the best roster over the last four seasons, at least according to Pry. And still, the Hokies are on the brink of permanent irrelevancy. 

As conference realignment threatens to lock out dozens of FBS programs, Virginia Tech is bottoming out at the worst possible moment, risking being left out in the impending B1G and SEC expansion and or breakaway.

You don't need me to tell you that the next head coach at Virginia Tech faces an immense challenge of resurrecting what has become a dormant program. However, the next athletic director's task is just as critical.

Virginia Tech's announcement of Brent Pry's dismissal was directly attributed to president Tim Sands rather than Whit Babcock, the university's embattled athletic director. Here's an important part of Sands' announcement: 

"Board of Visitors members J. Pearson and Ryan McCarthy have been charged by the rector, John Rocovich, to work with university leadership and AD Whit Babcock to develop a financial, organizational and leadership plan that will rapidly position the Virginia Tech football program to be competitive with the best in the ACC. That plan will be presented to the Board of Visitors later this month. The new framework for college sports will be fully established for next season, so this is the time to make a major move."

As always, the devil is in the details. But the fact that release is attributed to Sands, and not Babcock, is intriguing.

With Pry packing his bags and contacting a real estate agent, it seems like Virginia Tech has a few options on the table.

1. Virginia Tech can ride it out with Whit Babcock. After all, he did give a compelling presentation to the Board of Visitors last month.
2. Virginia Tech can nuke its athletic department leadership, starting with Babcock, and do it now. Sands and the Board could put someone in charge of the program on an interim basis while those in power begin their search for a new director of athletics.
3. Virginia Tech can stay the course with Babcock, at least until he and the Board can iron out a funding plan to further support athletics. Once that plan is decided on, Tech and Babcock can mutually part ways.

This news release sure sounds like Sands and his bosses are choosing the third option. I advocate for the second, but if that were happening, Babcock wouldn't have be allowed into his office this morning.

Option 3 can work, if the individuals in charge can find the right people to take Babcock and Pry's places. This is, after all, a people issue, not a resources issue. Virginia Tech has the resources to not get booed off their home field after a loss to that small school from Norfolk.

If the right people aren't put in charge, then nothing will change. This fan base's nightmare will continue, and images like this one will become easier and easier to find.

However, if the right people are put in charge, and the right amount of resources are put forward by the university, then Virginia Tech can avenge their fans' collective sorrows. 

Until that happens, we'll be here, firmly in the depths of despair, waiting for someone to save us.