If you asked me who I’d hire as Virginia Tech’s football coach, I’d respond “I don’t know.” It’s not that I’m not willing to put my neck out there. I simply don’t know. Hiring a football coach is a lot more than looking at his resume. There are many other factors involved. I’ll list some below, though it’s not an all-inclusive list.

1: What does his current staff look like, and how many of them would he bring to Blacksburg?
2: Would he keep Bud Foster?
3: If he did keep Foster, would he require Foster to make changes to his defensive staff?
4: If he doesn’t keep Foster, how would he replace him?
5: What changes would he make for VT to be relevant in recruiting Virginia again?
6: Does he require changes to the strength staff, or the training staff? Other staff?
7: Does he understand the culture at Virginia Tech?
8: Can he successfully lay out his vision for the future of the VT program?

You can’t answer most of those questions until you actually sit down with the candidate and discuss it. That’s why Rich Rodriguez is considered by some to be the leader in the clubhouse right now. He and Whit already know each other, and Whit knows the answers to most of those questions above. Whit doesn’t know most of the other candidates. He hasn’t had a chance to sit down with them in the regular season. RichRod may or may not be the leader, but if so he’s only the leader by default. That could easily change once Whit sits down with a few other guys and they communicate their vision of Virginia Tech football.

Fans on message boards look at resumes. Athletic directors do that too, but that’s not everything. They have to meet guys and get a feel for them all, then they go with their gut. Fans don’t have a chance to meet them.

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