Crossroads A-Comin'

"You're not wrong..."

Before getting to the crux of this post, let me comment on LB Purnell Sturdivant's comments yesterday about the offense. You can read them here, but basically he called the offense predictable, said he and other defensive teammates had opinions on the offense and that he understood why people were critical of Stiney.

"Pretty much every team we face this year knows what we're going to do" on offense, Sturdivant said. "I have a couple friends at Carolina, a couple friends at N.C. State, things like that, they're pretty much just calling out the plays that we're going to run on offense. Our offense is pretty much predictable. You know what you're going to see each and every week."

Asked whether he thought Stinespring should go, Sturdivant said: "That's a hard one." But he added that he didn't think the outside criticism was unfair.

"Yeah, I can definitely see where they're coming from," Sturdivant said of the critics. "Me and a lot of guys."

Geez. That's bad. To quote the dude, "you're not wrong, (Purnell), you're just an ass hole."

Yes, everything Sturdivant said was true. But as a defensive player you can't say that. We can't have a divided locker room where there's still an outside shot of winning the division. I get this sick feeling in my stomach that if GT loses to Miami and we get eliminated from the Coastal, we could see an absolute 2003-type implosion from this team.

Yet another reason to root for Georgia Tech.

Two Openings

I think the writing is on the wall for Bryan Stinespring. He'll be gone at the end of this season, which is why so many offensive players are sticking up for him at this point. The players have to know this is it for him.

But he won't be the only coordinator we'll have to replace at the end of the season.

The other news of yesterday was the head-coach-in-waiting deal for Will Muschamp at Texas and the increasing odds that Bud Foster will get the Clemson job.

With Muschamp out of the picture, Clemson has to be looking more at Bud, even though I still think they'll hire someone with previous HC experience. However, while I don't think Bud will get the Clemson, I think he'll get a job somewhere at the end of this season. His stock can't get any higher at this point and if he doesn't take a job now, the opportunity may never come.

Eventually Bud will realize he can't limit himself to a strong BCS school as the only way he'll leave Tech. If he wants a head coaching gig, he's going to have to go prove himself in a non-BCS conference. He'll leave after this year.

Hitting the Panic Button

I can only imagine the mass hysteria on the TSL board if/when Bud leaves Tech, especially if Stiney had previously been shown the door. Bud would likely take most of the defensive staff with him to Clemson, which would leave the Hokies will a lot of positions to fill.

It would be a crossroads for the program. Would Beamer try to hire someone he's familiar with or coached at Tech to take over the defense or would he go out and try to find an up-and-coming coach at a mid-major school. I'd hope he'd choose the second option.

The future of the program would depend on Beamer's selections for OC and DC. If he chooses wrong, he could deal this program a blow that he himself won't be able to fix. By the time the damage will have been done, I'd assume Beamer would be ready to retire.

Then it would be up to the next head coach to bring in a new staff and fix everything. And knowing Hokie fans, I know we hate change. We fear change (well, except when it comes to firing Stiney). You'd probably have a rift in the fanbase regardless of who got hired.

Or We Could Just Avoid Everything

But there's another option that avoids all of that chaos. I advocated it before the season started. It was mentioned on Hokie Hotline last night. It was mentioned again by TSL today.

Why not just give Bud a HC-in-waiting deal like Muschamp? It makes too much sense not to do it. It's the right move to make.

In the past, I've said that I haven't been sure about whether or not Bud will make a great head coach. I'm still not sure. But this is what's best for the program. With this season nearing a tailspin, we need stability.

Naming Bud the next HC would secure the near future of the Hokies. While Bud may not end up being a good head coach, he deserves his shot. And I'd rather his shot come with the Hokies than with someone else. I'd have a much easier time accepting a few down seasons with Bud as HC than with an outsider.

Make Bud VT's next head coach before another school does.