to a very obvious fork in the road. Before talking about the current fork, a little bit of history from my perspective.

Thomas started and built the program when VT was what could be charitably termed softball purgatory. The conference affiliation(lack thereof) and nature of a startup program coupled with a frugal AD meant the job was less than desirable(again being charitable) to real softball people. Thomas showed loyalty and some creativity(Vancouver connection) in getting playable talent to make VT a serviceable program. He managed to hang on long enough for the golden ticket to fall in his lap. He got AT, a generational talent, largely by default and rode her and the ACC affiliation to heights only imagined by most who followed the program from its beginning. Throughout all those years his actual knowledge of the game and his in game decisions were constant fodder for discussion among those in the softball community. In recent times, without that true superstar in the circle, some injuries, etc. performance has regressed to the mean or expected level.

Whit now has a decision to make that will be driven by a combination of factors some of which include, how much money is he willing and able to commit to the program, what is his perception of the current culture and foundation of the program and the vision going going forward and what are realistic goals for the program on an ongoing long term basis. Just my opinion but, I do not believe standing pat does anything other than deferring the real decision to the future. Replacement is obviously one alternative. Another alternative is to upgrade the coaching staff to address the offensive and in game deficiencies and as a possible way to attract another young coach with an eye to transitioning the head position in house down the line. One thing I am confident of is that Whit will make a good decision in a reasoned manner that treats the existing staff fairly and with the respect they deserve with the long term best interests of the program as the paramount objective.