This was the noisy minority from the start that never gave him the legitimate chance to succeed in their eyes. I later stated that it had grown larger with the downward trend over the last 3 years.

I don't feel that the average fan actually percieves how far behind the times we are in facilities, budget, support, etc. The best argument I can submit from that perspective was that Beamer and Foster were still recruiting top 30 classes in the down years. While that is true, I think it was more a product of legacy and reputation- that gets lost instantly on a new coach, and keeping a DC that was a ticking clock over his head by nature of the situation.

I find Fu firing, if it happens, as a break of the VT tradition and values at a fairly basic level. We hold on to coaches to give them opportunities to succeed, Beamer full cleanout and rebuild - we didn't shuck Beamer to the side. This commitment to the long term is what sets us apart from every other school in P5 - we don't flip out after a bad year and want to burn it all down, cycling coaches consistently.

I'm aware this is year 5 for him - so the offense not being consistent - though there are citable reasons for this, some will take them as excuses (valid perspective). Losing Payoute was bug as the speedy downfield stretch threat. Bowick and Simmons (think thats the name) look to be promising young talent as well. These names may also figure into a Turner transfer situation, as that's been mentioned prior. Or maybe Turner has actually become disenfranchised with the staff - which seems like a strange development as he has always been a big advocate of theirs.

Defense is the same as a year 1 coach - that also lost the top 2 players from a year prior, (1 that's not the same player), and lost the starter at safety with a week before the season. It's a pretty tough situation to succeed in for a seasoned coach, much less a 1st time P5 DC.

The staff seems to be more in place to gear back up to in state recruiting - but those efforts can't even start until after April at this point. Meaning most of the 2022 recruits will already have long established connections from prior years with other programs.

I just think next year seems like the hot seat year at best. A true assessment seems like 2022 season is the future product of the Fu vision, whatever that is shaped like.