Top 5 Coaching Candidates for Virginia Tech Football

After a disappointing 0-3 beginning to the season, Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry. Who are the five candidates that could make sense as a coach for the Hokies?

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1. Alex Golesh – South Florida Bulls

Virginia Tech might be tempted to turn to an offensive coach to try to energize the fan base and be attractive to potential recruits. They could do far worse than looking to South Florida head coach Alex Golesh. Golesh has a manageable buyout, and he’s very young and considered one of the best offensive minds in the sport. South Florida brought in the best recruiting class in the Group of Five, and he has built connections in the state of Florida, an area Virginia Tech used to recruit quite well.

2. Jimbo Fisher – Free Agent

Jimbo Fisher has a career record of 128-48 and three ACC Championships while he was the head coach for the Florida State Seminoles. His star lost some luster when he left Tallahassee for a doomed tenure at Texas A&M, but the West Virginia native would be comfortable in Blacksburg, and if he got his offensive coordinator hire correct, he has the cache to recruit well and possibly coax some additional funding out of big donors. Fisher would not be a remarkably inspiring hire, but he could do a solid job to get the program back on a sound footing.

3. Glenn Schumann – DC for Georgia Bulldogs

Glenn Schumann is a hot name on the coaching market, and he’ll be a head coach sooner rather than later. The current defensive coordinator for Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs was the first coaching hire made by Smart when he was appointed head coach of the University of Georgia in 2016. He was a finalist for the head coaching position at North Carolina last offseason and clearly believes he’s ready for his next step. Virginia Tech fans would love to see a hard-nosed defense back in Blacksburg, and Schumann is known as an elite recruiter who could start to accumulate the talent necessary to put that on the field for the Hokies.

4. Shane Beamer – South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina is a better job than Virginia Tech, but there are extenuating circumstances that require Shane Beamer to be included on this list. Shane is the son of legendary VT head coach Frank Beamer, and Shane was an assistant coach under his father, who still has extensive ties to the Commonwealth. He currently recruits the area successfully and would probably attract top talent to stay home if he were at Virginia Tech. If South Carolina doesn’t survive a demanding schedule this season and falls to 6-6 or so, Beamer would be in hot water in Columbia. If I were Beamer, I’d stay at South Carolina and collect my buyout money if I were fired, but the call to return to Blacksburg might end up being strong if Virginia Tech wanted to try and recapture the past.

5. Mike Vick – Norfolk State Spartans

Let me make this clear: if Mike Vick ends up being named the head coach for Virginia Tech, the search went awry. He won’t be the first, second, or third call, but if the Hokies strike out and need to turn to a name that will at least get a lot of attention, Vick might enter the picture. He has a total of three games as a head coach and is currently at in-state Norfolk State, an FCS school. There are certainly advantages to his candidacy: he’s very affordable (buyout of only $400,000) and would have instant recruiting cache in the state of Virginia. There are a whole lot of risks involved, though, and at this time in Virginia Tech’s trajectory and the uncertain future of the ACC and Virginia Tech’s power conference status, it’s not a move they should even consider.

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