Coaching Changes: The Justin Hamilton Hire, the Charley Wiles Decision, and More

Justin Hamilton Virginia Tech
(Jon Fleming)

A lot has happened at Virginia Tech over the last few days, and there is plenty for us to talk about.  First, I want to stress that my final opinion on the Justin Hamilton hire hasn’t been formed.  In fact, I don’t even think I’m close to forming a final opinion.

I talked to a source at Virginia Tech (in the football program) on Sunday, and the source stressed to me that there are a lot of moving parts with regards to the coaching staff.  I don’t have any idea who Virginia Tech is going to hire to coach linebackers, the defensive line, or cornerbacks.  The way I see it, who those coaches turn out to be will influence how I feel about the Hamilton hire.  

Back when Mike Young was hired as Tech basketball coach, the one questionable part about the hire was assistant coaches.  Young had coached at one level of basketball his entire life.  Did he have the relationships built across the profession to go out and hire the assistants he needed to run a competitive program in the ACC?  As it turns out, he and Whit Babcock discussed that during the interview process, and Young did a great job of putting together an ACC-caliber coaching staff.

Don’t think for one second that Justin Fuente, Justin Hamilton, Whit Babcock, or anybody else involved stumbled blindly into this hire without any idea of how to proceed. Fuente didn’t wake up one day and just decide to hire Hamilton.  He didn’t wake up one day and decide, “You know what, I think I’ll fire Charley Wiles today!”  No, they were calculated decisions based on several months of thinking, and several months of discussions with a lot of people.

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