Now that Virginia Tech has fired Brent Pry, the search is on for his replacement. A committee will be formed to put together a list of names and start the interview process at some point.
Just who ends up getting a call and an actual interview remains to be seen. In a perfect world, there are some candidates who fans would love to see that are realistic and some that are unrealistic. There have been two common names that have been rumored since Sunday afternoon: Shane Beamer at South Carolina and Michael Vick at Norfolk State.
CFB insiders don't believe Shane Beamer or Michael Vick are legitimate names for the Virginia Tech job
On a recent CBS Insiders podcast, college football insider Matt Zenitz said he doesn't see where either Beamer or Vick are both legitimate candidates for the opening in Blacksburg, while Richard Johnson said that the names are the "feel good take us back era.''
"I think, first of all, Michael Vick is something of a booster wish-cast pick," Johnson said. "It's the feel-good 'takes us back to a different era.' I think there are some people who could envision Michael Vick as a candidate similar to Deion Sanders or Eddie George. You put great coordinators around him, and you allow him to be the front for fundraising, etc. That's kind of the vision there. It's a little early to say Michael Vick would be a leading candidate. I would not put him as a leading candidate at all."
"Obviously, when you go into this kind of process, you see the candidate lists and people throwing out names that could make sense for the job," said Zenitz. "I'm sure you've seen the same thing with Michael Vick, who's obviously a prominent alum, and Shane Beamer, who has the ties he does to the school. I just don't see any scenario right now where either of those ends up being a legitimate possibility to be the next head coach at Virginia Tech."
There are several reasons why both would be considered candidates and reasons why they shouldn't. In some cases, there needs to be more of an overhaul within the athletic department, many feel, before getting a high-priced and big-name coach at Virginia Tech.
This is a hire that Virginia Tech needs to hit and hit it big. It can't be someone without head coaching experience in general, but preferably a coach who has Power 4 experience. Beamer does, but Vick has just three games of experience at Norfolk State. Beamer won't be jumping to answer the call and set up an interview in Blacksburg. Does he really want to come back to the program that his father built and rescue it? Vick just doesn't have the experience needed, yet, for the job, regardless of what may have been talked about behind closed doors with boosters.
This is going to take a long time to play out, but two insiders don't believe that either Beamer or Vick are legitimate candidates, which is not surprising.