I want to preface this one with the fact that I haven't been able to confirm any details of it from the VT end of things (and I'll be honest - been more concerned with the recruiting process today and haven't asked around yet), but from the other side of the equation, a semi-credible rumor that I want to pass along. If we're giving a 10-point scale of how seriously to take assistant coaching rumors, this is like a 3 for now.
THAT SAID, a source in Georgia reached out to me to ask if I've heard anything about contact between the Hokies and Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke.
This would be an interesting one for the Hokies: obviously a guy who's just a couple years removed from a head coaching gig in the SEC - and is currently an Assistant Head Coach and position coach for a national power - is someone who's going to take some convincing if he's going to join Virginia Tech. Whether that's a financial investment (VT probably can't outbid UGa by any stretch of the imagination) or a title (he's already AHC for the Bulldogs), it's tough to imagine that there's a ton the Hokies can do. The one exception, of course, would be a coordinator title. He was Co-OC for Duke and then Ole Miss before getting promoted first as an interim and then full-time in Oxford. Would being a Co-OC again be enough of a career-advancement move for him? Have things fallen apart with the other reported OC hire, Jacksonville Jaguars tight ends coach Tyler Bowen? As with the ability of the Hokies to give him much more than he already has in Athens, those both seem unlikely.
He's also a Mississippi native who's spent most of his career in the SEC. The connection would be that at two of his non-SEC stops (Murray State in 2000-01 and Duke 2008-11) he overlapped with Hokies defensive backs coach Derek Jones. That's some personal vetting, and also exposure to the fact that he's an ace recruiter, having landed a number of five-star offensive linemen, albeit mostly at programs that were going to land them anyway (and maybe have ways to lure recruits that aren't available to Virginia Tech). We know that Brent Pry is going to focus on that as a crucial way to build his program - and failing to do a good enough job with it is a big part of why the Fuente tenure never panned out.
I'll be continuing to poke around with sources a bit, but just wanted to give you guys something to keep in mind. There's still a lot of flexibility in the way this staff can be filled out, and if Bowen isn't going to be OL coach along with OC (or if he's not going to be the OC at all - might be worth returning to college as a position coach just to get away from Urban Meyer), Luke is an interesting name that's been floated to me.
THAT SAID, a source in Georgia reached out to me to ask if I've heard anything about contact between the Hokies and Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke.
This would be an interesting one for the Hokies: obviously a guy who's just a couple years removed from a head coaching gig in the SEC - and is currently an Assistant Head Coach and position coach for a national power - is someone who's going to take some convincing if he's going to join Virginia Tech. Whether that's a financial investment (VT probably can't outbid UGa by any stretch of the imagination) or a title (he's already AHC for the Bulldogs), it's tough to imagine that there's a ton the Hokies can do. The one exception, of course, would be a coordinator title. He was Co-OC for Duke and then Ole Miss before getting promoted first as an interim and then full-time in Oxford. Would being a Co-OC again be enough of a career-advancement move for him? Have things fallen apart with the other reported OC hire, Jacksonville Jaguars tight ends coach Tyler Bowen? As with the ability of the Hokies to give him much more than he already has in Athens, those both seem unlikely.
He's also a Mississippi native who's spent most of his career in the SEC. The connection would be that at two of his non-SEC stops (Murray State in 2000-01 and Duke 2008-11) he overlapped with Hokies defensive backs coach Derek Jones. That's some personal vetting, and also exposure to the fact that he's an ace recruiter, having landed a number of five-star offensive linemen, albeit mostly at programs that were going to land them anyway (and maybe have ways to lure recruits that aren't available to Virginia Tech). We know that Brent Pry is going to focus on that as a crucial way to build his program - and failing to do a good enough job with it is a big part of why the Fuente tenure never panned out.
I'll be continuing to poke around with sources a bit, but just wanted to give you guys something to keep in mind. There's still a lot of flexibility in the way this staff can be filled out, and if Bowen isn't going to be OL coach along with OC (or if he's not going to be the OC at all - might be worth returning to college as a position coach just to get away from Urban Meyer), Luke is an interesting name that's been floated to me.
