âI donât know why he would want to leave a job where heâs gonna have to battle every single year to finish 8th in the SEC when he could go compete for national titles at Virginia.â
Honestly thatâs the entire pitch to Byington. Sure Vandy has a lot of money, but they still canât compete with the rest of the SEC
Vandy currently ahead of Kentucky in SEC standings
Thanks for buttressing my point Dave. Theyâre having a great season which is good for seventh in the SEC. Drop that Vandy team in the ACC and theyâre looking at second place.
So I guess the question is ⌠is he like Tony was in 2009? Or does he want less competition than competing against the best which is what drew Tony back then?
I kinda see where the thought comes from on this (better positioning in a lower power conference), but I really donât think this would resonate with any coach worth his salt.
Like, think about what Tony said when he came here and shortly after: he wanted to test himself in the best conference. I think THAT messaging will work better with most coaches.
A better messaging (if it were trueâŚ) would be more like: âSEC dominance is just a blip. ACC will be the best conference going forward. Better recruiting, more passionate fans, etc.â But, like I said, it needs to be trueâŚ
Funny that you say 7th when they are tied for 5th -
One game out of 3rd and have already beaten Tennessee and Kentucky⌠and Iâm not saying heâll end up there at the end of the season. I get it looking at their schedule that they could easily finish 10th or 12th as well.
And yes, even a little bit different than Tony in 2009 because back then it wasnât like anybody besides Duke or North Carolina was a juggernaut in the ACC consistently maybe Pittsburgh a little bit but they werenât part of the ACC then⌠So Byington would have to be looking at about four or five programs that are as good as North Carolina or Duke right nowâŚ. so yes, I agree in that aspect tougher than what Tony came into and yet he still out-won those top two programs over the course of a long stretch at least in the regular season.
If youâre a Big2 coach, I just canât see a reason to go to the ACC unless your seat is hot, which doesnât describe Byington. Sometime in the next 6-8 years the ACC will either blow up or become a G5 conference in terms of finances. Even a Big 12 coach probably would pass under the same circumstances. For this reason, I think the next coach will be Odom unless U.Va. significantly overpays and gives like a 10-year contract, which I think would be a bad idea.
U.Va. needs to focus far more on securing a Big2 bid at the next conference realignment. If that happens, the rest will fall into place. If not, hope for the Big 12.
I donât fully disagree- ideally the ACC would be in much better shape. But I think there is a second component where resourcing would matter. And while Vanderbilt seems to be really investing in athletics, I donât get the sense it puts them in the top half of the conference. Like theyâre not gonna outspend Texas, Bama, etc. So more than anything itâs a ceiling argument. You can win a title at UVA. You canât at Vanderbilt. Youâre not even the best team in your state
Why canât they? Same was said about UVA pre Tony. They built the premier ânew bloodâ baseball program in the country. They can absolutely compete with anyone if the money is there for basketball
Eh baseball is a little complicated. Vandy exploited a loophole in college baseball involving financial aid for years that allowed them to get more talented players than most teams. It wasnât the be all/end all for their program, they still have a great coach and used their success to build up enough buzz to fund top notch facilities and a pitching lab, but itâs not a coincidence that Vandyâs reign as the top college baseball program ended around the same time that NIL became a thing and their financial aid loophole became less of a factor.
Pete Gillen years ago at Virginia - âyou canât win at Virginia at a high level.â
And then it happened.
Because the money isnât there relative to the rest of the SEC. Theyâre not outspending Bama, Texas, TAMU, etc. especially if theyâre also making a push in football too
When Vanderbilt is a bigger deal than Tennessee talk to me Dave. When Vanderbilt is a bigger deal than Alabama talk to me Dave. Copy paste for about half the SEC. Vanderbilt will always take a backseat to the rest of the SEC. They do not have the long term resources to compete. Theyâre the wake forest of the SEC
I guess I donât know what kind of money Vandy has but Iâm guessing they have deep pockets if they can convince alums to give it. Maybe not Texas oil money, but more than many
Was Tennessee a big deal always in basketball?
Was Alabama or Auburn before their current coach?
UVA made two final 4s in the 80s, only one with Ralph
UVA has the DMV and North Carolina proximity. Vanderbilt is close but not that close by
But the more than many sits outside of the SEC. Relative to their conference theyâre pretty cooked. More my point than anything
Indiana poaching Byington would be funny.
I could say the same about Southern Mississippi. Are you sure theyâre not going to be big Dave? Norfolk State just hired Michael Vick to run their football team. Maybe it Carrieâs over to basketball. By your logic it could happen.
Maybe Vanderbilt overcomes the ten other programs who are better situated than them. But most likely they will not even if Byington is a good to very good coach. Theyâre already begging Tennessee, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Texas, TAMU, Arkansas, and others I am probably forgetting
I think Bama and Auburn quickly becoming elite programs because of good coaches supports the idea that Vandy too could become good with the right coach. Theyâll need donor support but it only takes a few big ones. If it was solely about who had THE most money then schools like Purdue would be terrible