Foster (retiring at year end): VT defensive player/recruits venerable?

DeepSnap

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If you were going to fire Fuente, last year seems like it was the time. General thinking is that they’ll have a good year and have a lot of good players back (even if this year’s recruiting is looking poor)

From a source with inside ($$$$$$$$) info into VippySue, this is Fuentes' year to either produce or be gone. The unwashed masses in Blacksburg have not been pleased with the lack of production on either side of the ball, even though they've had some key DBs leave early for the NFL a coupla years ago & last year was their version of GT2015 in terms of injuries, walk-ons having to play, inexperience, et al.

By the time we play them in mid-November, the Gobblers may be playing for Fu's job.
 

Ibeeballin

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If you were going to fire Fuente, last year seems like it was the time. General thinking is that they’ll have a good year and have a lot of good players back (even if this year’s recruiting is looking poor)


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Ehh... VT is VERY shaky at skill position and if we are going to give them the benefit of the doubt on unproven talent then we need to do the same for our own squad
 

GT99

Georgia Tech Fan
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Strip the fluff from this and it means "He was fired." He will be rewarded with a nice job for keeping his mouth shut. Too bad, but truth is his defenses have suffered over the past couple or three years -- ever think we would roll up 49 points on a Foster defense? It also points out the hazards of college choice for prime athletes. A couple of years ago VT got a terrific linebacker out of NC in a real recruiting battle with Clemson, and the main reason supposedly was that the father thought Foster was a better DC than Venables. Good reason for daddies to butt the hell out of the final selection.

There's no way they fired him. His defense suffered last year due to inexperience and injuries. Their defense was very good in 2017 and 2016, just like it usually is under him.
You could make a case that Venebles is the better DC, but it's far from clear. Foster's never had anywhere near the talent that Venebles has year in and year out at Clemson. If you want to say Venebles is a better recruiter, great, but when it comes to actual coaching, I'd personally take Foster.
 

gtrower

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Ehh... VT is VERY shaky at skill position and if we are going to give them the benefit of the doubt on unproven talent then we need to do the same for our own squad

Yeah they’re very shaky at RB. Already taken 3 RBs in their 2020 class out of 12 total commits. Only 7 other P5 offers total across all 3 of them. They thought they had Feaster (Clemson transfer) locked up but he went with USCe.

Tre Turner is the only decent WR I can think of off the top of my head. Might me another guy or two.

And obviously they’ve been hurting at QB for awhile now. Pretty much since Thomas left.
 

GT99

Georgia Tech Fan
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He owes most of his legacy to the Vicks and Tyrod. With the Fuller family deserving a mention.

His teams finished the season in the top 25 on 18 different occasions. You think his legacy is owed to 2 players who played 6 seasons total?
The consistent thing during his tenure was defense. It was almost always good.
 

Skeptic

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There's no way they fired him. His defense suffered last year due to inexperience and injuries. Their defense was very good in 2017 and 2016, just like it usually is under him.
You could make a case that Venebles is the better DC, but it's far from clear. Foster's never had anywhere near the talent that Venebles has year in and year out at Clemson. If you want to say Venebles is a better recruiter, great, but when it comes to actual coaching, I'd personally take Foster.
I have no way of knowing either. Just the anecdote from a Clemson friend. Wish I could remember the player's name, but .. as to who is better, again all I ahve is anecdotal evidence. Johnson could and did outfox Foster with some regularity, and some games it was a great chess match to watch. Not so Venables. He seems to always have an answer. (And I ain't got a dog in the fight, so to speak. And let me amend to "fired" to "suggested a new role." A still fairly young DC does not migrate to an admin job that easy. It is in the blood. If he wasn't booted he was severely pushed.
 

GT99

Georgia Tech Fan
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I have no way of knowing either. Just the anecdote from a Clemson friend. Wish I could remember the player's name, but .. as to who is better, again all I ahve is anecdotal evidence. Johnson could and did outfox Foster with some regularity, and some games it was a great chess match to watch. Not so Venables. He seems to always have an answer. (And I ain't got a dog in the fight, so to speak. And let me amend to "fired" to "suggested a new role." A still fairly young DC does not migrate to an admin job that easy. It is in the blood. If he wasn't booted he was severely pushed.

I think a lot of folks here would like that you consider 60 y/o to be "fairly young." :) But I agree, it's curious. My thought was more maybe he didn't like working with Fuentes or something.
Venebles' "answer" was having superior athletes across the board. It's easy to look like a genius when your guys are constantly beating blocks. Don't get me wrong, I do think Venebles is a great DC. But his success against us was much more about superior athletes than anything else.
 

stech81

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I think a lot of folks here would like that you consider 60 y/o to be "fairly young." :) But I agree, it's curious. My thought was more maybe he didn't like working with Fuentes or something.
Venebles' "answer" was having superior athletes across the board. It's easy to look like a genius when your guys are constantly beating blocks. Don't get me wrong, I do think Venebles is a great DC. But his success against us was much more about superior athletes than anything else.
Venebles is good a nut but good. But still a real nut job.
 

Augusta_Jacket

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I have no way of knowing either. Just the anecdote from a Clemson friend. Wish I could remember the player's name, but .. as to who is better, again all I ahve is anecdotal evidence. Johnson could and did outfox Foster with some regularity, and some games it was a great chess match to watch. Not so Venables. He seems to always have an answer. (And I ain't got a dog in the fight, so to speak. And let me amend to "fired" to "suggested a new role." A still fairly young DC does not migrate to an admin job that easy. It is in the blood. If he wasn't booted he was severely pushed.

Fielding a future NFL DL shuts most teams down.
 

GSOJacket

Jolly Good Fellow
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Foster has been a heckuva DC and, IMHO, the coach most responsible for Beamer's record. Outstanding body of work. (On average he's not had Clemson's and Venables' talent base to work with, so this comparison somewhat difficult to make.)
 

iopjacket

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I think a lot of folks here would like that you consider 60 y/o to be "fairly young." :) But I agree, it's curious. My thought was more maybe he didn't like working with Fuentes or something.
Venebles' "answer" was having superior athletes across the board. It's easy to look like a genius when your guys are constantly beating blocks. Don't get me wrong, I do think Venebles is a great DC. But his success against us was much more about superior athletes than anything else.

Clemson still has great talent but they lost a lot of starters on defense. 2019 will be a challege for Venebles.
 
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