Second, why are you surprised? Our coach has the worst record of any P5 coach over the last 3 years. And our OC ranks outside the top 80 OCs in college football. Who wants to play for that?
Main reason for continuity in the staff is that we arenât in a place to make any changes. Gotta sort out the AD position to create some stability from the top.
All the money in the world isnât gonna make players want to come play for a dead man walking.
We should put it in an index fund for 12 months and use it when we have competent leaders back in place.
Obviously no one expects (good) Michigan levels of success here, but it can be compared in that did anyone believe in Moore before thanksgiving weekend?
Money buys both time and talentâŚ
I agree itâs early and we could see higher profile guys as time goes on. But I also wouldâve thought the largest cash donation ever wouldâve drawn more immediate enthusiasm from the staff. We could already recruit Ivyâs and G5 guys, wouldâve hoped the money caused them to swing higher.
Also to be clear Iâm not saying I donât agree with what youâre saying. But that press release and statements made seemed pretty clear the money was intended to get players. So far the list isnât anything more than I wouldâve expected before the donation was made.
They can only swing for who will listen and more importantly who we can get into school. I think ppl expecting some top 10 portal class b/c of the new funds are in for a rude surprise. Will are transfer class be better than the last several years b/c of the money, of course it will. Will it lead us to 8/9 wins? No it will not. 6/7 wins and a contract extension for TE rest on him landing a good QB and help on both lines.
As Billy said, big time guys with similar or even a little less offers still have to want to come and play for TE. TE at UVA has no track record of winning or more importantly to these guys, putting players in the league.
The staff can be enthused but everyone in college football is looking at them like dead men walking. I think 90 percent of UVAâs own fanbase is. Money rules college sports but itâs not going to save bad coaches whoâve worn out their welcome. Maybe Iâm way too negative (entirely possible) but I donât think a way too late influx of cash is going to turn things around for this staff.
Please this. Itâs literally lighting money on fire to spend it to make Elliottâs last year slightly less mediocre when we could instead use it set up a new coaching staff with a great war chest to kick off a new era.
Iâm not convinced that that donation really makes much of a difference anyway. We know itâs âmulti-million-dollarâ but that could mean âtwo million.â Which is awesome, and Iâm grateful!, but it isnât necessarily a game changer once you spread that around over the entire half of a football team we need to pull in right now.
I agree the timing is weird. Propping up a lame duck to make one last run at 6-6 with a bunch of mercenary lottery tickets is honestly sort of frustrating.
TBH, it feels like the worst case scenario is that the new money allows TE to win just enough games to squeak out an extension, and weâre stuck aspiring to mediocrity for however much longer he gets extended for.
This has been my nightmare for weeks. Really wish we couldâve moved on this offseason and reset with the money, a new coach, and a sense of hope. Not whatever this is.
Iâll give a case for the donation that is not really pro Elliot. Elliott most likely will not be retained unless he has a good season. So thereâs really no benefit to having a cruddy season. And there are substantial detriments. So maybe the money just gets us to mediocre, which still gets rid of Elliot but doesnât have the detriments of us sucking.
Itâs bad to suck. Plus, the donation could show that our donors are serious, which is a good signal to anyone looking at our job
I am sort of looking at it as a âno excusesâ donation. A sort of âhereâs youre resources, letâs see if that is really the issue.â Probably too little too late.
The 6-6 extension really is looming dangerously though. Maybe a new AD that wasnât responsible for the hire wouldnât feel the need to do that though.
Ben Smiley still has eligibility? He enrolled in 2019. I guess he qualifies under the shooting exemption?
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 were his original seasons. Got 2023 since he was on the 22 team and that was his last year of regular eligibility. Got 2024 for redshirting in 2019. And 2025 will be using the 2020 Covid exception?
Started doing my own personal roster update today, worked through the offense thus far.
Can anyone clarify if any of Ethan Sipe, Drake Metcalf, or Sage Ennis are expected to be back for another season? I think all of them are eligible, even if a waiver may be needed, but not sure if either they or the coaches would want it.