Kevin Sherman to Purdue? His sports marketing firm certainly thinks it’s happening
As rumors circulated that Stanford offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton interviewed in Blacksburg on Friday — which nobody I talked to could confirm, making me wonder about their veracity — it’s becoming increasingly likely that wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman will be leaving soon.
At least according to his sports marketing agency.
Coaches, Inc., already has Sherman’s bio updated, complete with a Purdue logo, falling in line with Pete Roussel‘s report on CoachingSearch.com during the Russell Athletic Bowl that the seven-year receiver coach is moving on in the business.
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Sherman wouldn’t confirm or deny anything after the bowl game, although he did have an odd quote of, “I don’t know what you’re talking about just yet.” (emphasis mine) Virginia Tech has not confirmed the report either.
The holdup is probably on Purdue’s part. New coach Darrell Hazell is sticking with his old team, Kent State, through the Golden Flashes’ first bowl game since 1972, a GoDaddy.com Bowl appearance against Arkansas State in Mobile, Ala., on Sunday. Hazell has told reporters he’s worked on putting together his staff since being hired from Purdue. It would make sense that he wouldn’t announce them until his full-time attention is with the Boilermakers.
On a side note, Hokies secondary coach Torrian Gray is also a client of Coaches, Inc., although the picture they show is of Virginia Tech team chaplain Johnny Shelton. Somebody should alert the webmaster.
January 5, 2013 - 10:06 AM
The message I guess, is pray for us
You can’t blame folks for leaving a sinking ship; too little too late. That nepotism will kill a team, just ask Al and Mike Groh. All of this is good for Paula Johnson and the Yellow Jackets for 2013. Off to a great start after a 21-7 thrashing of the Trojans.
Nepotism isn’t doing all that bad in South Carolina or DC.
Old news guys… It was in the WP days ago….. Paula ? Lol
When will we hear about Newsome leaving, soon I hope !!
AB,
Kevin is a good coach.Its not him!! its Curt Newsome (no blocking )
Completely agree with Truth. It’s not Sherman and the WR’s that is the issue for the VT offense. He’s produced some really, really good WR’s for Tech over the years and his services will be missed. That said, you can’t blame him with all the unknowns going on right now for VT. Big Game Frank could end up bringing in someone who wants complete control of the asst coaches on the offensive side and then Sherman would be SOL. Wise decision on his part (though I can’t help but think that the job is a step down if he’ll be the WR coach at Perdue. VT is certainly a more high profile gig than Perdue these days).
proof reader, it was also in both of my newspapers and on this blog a week ago. This is just an update to a story that nobody wants to make official.
Leaving because he wanted to or encouraged to leave? Looks like some people have made up their mind already which it is. Like Barry for instance who also wants to believe beating that USC team was a big deal. The entire USC team didn’t want to be playing in a low end bowl game against a pathetic 6-7 team like GT. It started at the top with their coach who brought his team in an hour late to the pre-game dinner with GT and was hiding in that hoodie and glasses on the sideline. Oh and their best player, Barkley, wasn’t playing. Don’t tell Barry that though he’ll just deny it and keep living in his dreamworld
As much as Barry irritates me, let me say congrats to GT for winning their bowl game. A win against USC is a win against USC. By the same token, Barry needs to acknowledge that VT’s win against LSU was a WIN against LSU.
The fact Sherman is leaving makes me think that the entire offensive side of the coaching staff is being changed with the exception of Shane Beamer. Even if Shane was NOT Frank’s son, I could understand that. Shane has not been with the team long enough to point to him as an issue. The issues we have been having were there long before he came onto the staff. The RB issue this year – the inability to pick one or two – is due to none of them really stepping up and ahead of the others at all.
I hope that whomever we get can be a strong offensive staff to equal and maybe even surpass the defensive coaching staff. I hope that Frank gives the special teams responsibilities to someone else as well.
The most ironic thing is that we have had the talent to compete on a NC level every year from 1995 to 2011. 2012 had a drop off in talent amongst starters. This really exposed the weaknesses in the coaching on the offensive side. It really showed the strength of the coaching on the defensive side. Foster and his assistants reacted well to adversity. They addressed the issues that showed up. Wouldn’t it be very ironic to finally get the staff in place, and the talent not be there. This year we did not have NC level talent. We had top 25 talent for sure. the fact that we ended 7-6 rests on the offense. Yes Defense had issues in the Pitt and UNC games. I do believe Foster got those issues resolved.
The observation was made that if Rutgers had had a good QB, we would have been blown out. The reverse observation could be made. If Logan was more accurate, if we had our typical running backs, if we had a Danny Coale or a Jarret Boykin….and so forth. The reason both teams were in the Russell Athletic Bowl is because they didn’t and we didn’t have such players. Or as Scotty said in Star Trek: The Search for Spock, “Aye, and if my grandma had wheels, she’d be a wagon.”
One or two great guys can get you very far. Way further than a team would go without them. Our NC team was one of those. We had Mike Vick. The best player on the field all year. We had an above average supporting cast for him. So, we made it all the way. We have not had quite the freak of nature since. The supporting cast has not been as strong. The coaching on the offense has gotten worse. So we have not gotten back. Florida State got to that NC game versus VT on a stronger overall talent level, but with no particular high profile standouts. Can you imagine the juggernaut that that FSU team would have been with Vick at QB?
But I digress. What we need is for all the pieces to be in place on a consistent basis. That is what Alabama has done the last couple years. That is what USC did during it’s run.
I honestly think we are closer to breaking in to the biggest boy club than many think. Still, this isn’t horseshoes. To get there, to be that, we must get there and do that. Next year may be a bit much to ask even with a new staff on offense. I predict two, maybe three years if the pieces come together. If the right offensive staff is hired, I think we win the ACC next year. I think at the best we play Alabama very tough and lose a heartbreaker. That is assuming Alabama is at the current level come next year. If not, and we have raised our game, then a surprise could very much be in order. After all, who would have honestly predicted the JMU fiasco? The talent level between Bama and VT is not as different as the difference in talent level between VT and JMU. The funny thing is that JMU team was bad. So on any given day, one team can very well beat the other.
It is impossible to make any prediction with confidence. We wont know jack until we see the 2013 team play. Then we will know.
Yes, I know …that’s why I said it was old news. This is one of the good guys. I hate to see him go but it will be much better for him to get out from under all the drama in Blacksburg.
I guess Florida didn’t like being in a tow tiered bowl either and it didn’t help them much.
Blacksburg has probably less drama than any football program in the country. Proof, what are you smokin’?
We have fewer coaches leave than just about anyone you can name. Our DC has stuck around. Our OC has stuck around. The total staff sticks around. How does stability lead to drama outside of the press from Aristohokienation for change?
I am not a fan of our offensive performance either and if Beamer wants to sweep, he’ll sweep. Why should you, or anyone else, care about why people leave other than to gloat at someone’s downfall Or reiforcement of your own sense of superior knowledge?
I have long asked “replace them with what?”. I get a laundry list of hgih school coaches and fantasy thinking about guys like Tony Franklin.
Why would the Stanford OC come to VT to be the OC? Is he from VA? Wants a change of scenery? Misses Luck? What? I don’t think it would be viewed as a step up. Stanford is certainly enjoying a good run. Why leave?
Fridge is the only name that surfaced so far that makes sense to me. I don’t see it happening.
My best guess is tha our next OC comes to us from a lesser program and is a guy who has worked his craft in the boondocks. Why is Beamer waiting? Because he hasn’t found the right guys yet.
No team would have ever been a juggernaut with Vick. Vick has never been a QB. He is an undisciplined athlete. He has never been a leader. Raw talent cannot create success at the NFL level. And he is a coach killer – every team that has played him in the NFL has fired its head coach.
John Madden for OC!
David in Salem, very good comments by you about the VT situation. Coaches will change on the offensive side of the ball. Stinespring and S. Beamer will remain but Stiney will have a different role. The rest of the offensive staff will be new. Stinespring gets beat up and unfairly criticized by many but he is an asset to VT. I’ve said all along we have been lacking talent on that side of the ball for a few years now. The talent will get better but it may take a year or so.
And to those who are offended that Coach Beamer built a National Championship trophy case, please remember,we need to be patient.
To quote a well known RT poster-this is a marathon,not a sprint.
Quit listening to Herbstreit Barry
VT’s national championship is within reach, probably next year with Leal. Competition will not be as severe for 2013. Tech might have trouble with Alabama in the opener but from there it won’t be that difficult, their schedule is fairly easy. Weaver and Beamer figured that McClerron would not play his senior year when they scheduled Alabama but you just never know how things will go. Hokie fans, get your tickets now for the National Championship because it is a possibility.
Talking about Vick, I never thought I would see another QB as slick as he was until I watched Johnny Football twice this year. He is as good or better because he can pass and run. You can see that he has had good coaching in the way he plays the game. With confidence!! Only a red shirt freshman and look at the competition he has played against. I hope he stays around a while!
Bring in the Fridge for OC (Ralph Friedgen)
I believe the new OC will come from Steve Spurrier’s staff at USC.
I can’t believe there are people still saying VT will play ‘Bama next Sept. Good grief !! Too many people smoking that wildwood flower. Ain’t goin’ to happen! Who would watch it? Who would pay for ads for a game no one would watch. Or, who would be watching after 10 min. into the 1st Qtr??
Can we get passed that and talk about the 3d rate teams we are playing and if we might beat half of them?? Rest easy FRANK, there are still plenty of looneys supporting you.
Wondering when the NC fantasy talk would start again. Ain’t gonna happen in this lifetime at VT. I sincerely hope Beavis will take that stupid empty trophy case with him when he retires, as well as his son Butthead. When are you people going to stop living in the past? This is NOT 1999 if you haven’t noticed.
I also agree with Eagle, Vick didn’t/doesn’t hold a candle to Mr. Manziel.
All in favor of sending Peppers Fairy some comics so he wont have to hack-off all day and post about something he knows nothing about, please raise your right hand…….
Wildwood flower…..what an idiot.
Danny: We all know who calls the plays down at SC. Why would Beamer hire an inexperienced play caller?
Your all IDIOTS!
Looks like UVA got the jump on Tech with their new Staff additions!
Need to get things done now before the Whos? get an edge on the still undecided Recruits!
Just a thought, the entire thing may just be a Hoax!
All of the back and forth on here leads to one conclusion, and that is that some changes are needed at Virginia Tech, and the changes are needed in the overall philosophy of the program and in the offensive coaches.
Andy,
What would your thoughts be if the Hokies go on to hire Pep Hamilton as their offensive coordinator? I think it would be a step in the right direction since he knows what kind of offense he wants to run. And with the Hokies bringing in Drew Harris I feel they could incorporate Hamilton’s offensive scheme of a bruising running attack and have a nice change of pace with Coleman. The only thing that would throw a flag for me in the hire is that Hamilton is from the west coast. Wouldn’t we want someone familiar with the SEC country, to help win some of the recuriting wars there? Yes I know we have been losing some recruits from the state of Virginia to Stanford itself, but I do not see Hamilton having a lot of success bringing kids from the west coast to Virginia Tech. Also have you heard any other names being thrown around as possibilities to join the Hokie’s staff on the offensive side of the ball? I am not sure what Derek Dooley’s situation is but I think he could be a valuable hire for the Hokies. He is young and obviously has ties to the SEC. And as far as I know he does not have his foot in the door anywhere else yet.
I’m no sycophant of Frank Beamer. But to hear someone call him “Beavis”, that just gets me. All of you “Beamer Moaners” need to shut up now. Yup, he can’t win the “big one.” There are likely 100 of the 120 teams in Division I football who would trade our record over the last 20 years. The only ones that wouldn’t are those that have won MNC.
But, just remember the following FACTS:
- Va Tech WAS THE HOMECOMING opponent for EVERY named team before 20 years ago.
- I love Blacksburg as much as anyone. But remember: the largest city within an hour is Roanoke, the wind blows cold, and there isn’t a beach within 250 miles. Recruiting to Virginia Tech isn’t that easy.
- To think that we have been to a bowl game 20 straight years is unthinkable to those of us who have followed the program for 25+. Let me tell you two words: Bill Dooley. For you too young to know that name, GOOGLE IT.
- What do these names have in common: Notre Dame, Alabama, Nebraska, Miami, Texas, and USC? All WERE AWFUL after their legendary coaches left.
- How many NCAA sanctions have we been put on in the last 20 years? None that I can remember, and if any they were minor at best. Yes, we’ve had a few idiots on our team (latest being our kicker). But Beamer is a man of high ethics, and I like that A LOT.
Now, do I think Frank needs to make wholesale changes on the offense? HECK YA! I’ve been thinking that for 5 years!!!! But will I let Frank do what he thinks is best? Yes, I will. He knows more about football in his pinky than everyone posting on this board. He wants to win more than anyone one posting on this board.
Frankly, I’m hoping he hires a hot-shot young mind to coach our offense. No way on Fridge. That would disappoint me. I like what I’ve read about Pep Hamilton. An SEC assistant would be fantastic as well.
Quit the negative, start being positive. The only way we will win a NC is TO START BELIEVING WE CAN. I do!!
I watched the Cotton and could not believe how incredibly good Manziel is, even posted the highlights on my FB page. But it just annoys the crap out of me that in comparing him to the most recent QB with similar qualities, Michael Vick, we have to denigrate Vick as if he were a no talent slacker. The guy only put VT on the CF map, took VT to it’s only NC at a time when VT was not a name on the national scene. He was freakishly good. So manziel comes along and Vick, oh yeah, he sucked. Give me a break. The same guy who disses him even mentions 1999 as if the two were mutually exclusive.
Vick was a freak of nature and was one of the best we have had. It doesn’t show in the stats, but he created opportunity merely by being present. He created excitement and made the games a blast to watch.
I guess Bryan Randall has been my favorite qb to this point. Marcus Vick is my least favorite.
DaveBoxster, excellent post. While I cam in as a fan near the start of the Beamer era, I remember VT before. They were not taken too seriously.
Victor, I believe it’s more about blocking, running, paasing, etc. than it is about play calling. Any called play will work if the proper execution is there. Key word being execution.
Derrick, I know what VT sees in Hamilton. I’m not quite sure what the huge benefit is for Hamilton, unless the money is so much more or he really has a passion to get back to the East Coast.
He’s kind of set up at Stanford. He’s 38, probably will be the OC for a top-five team next year with a ton of returning talent, including his hand-picked guy at quarterback, Kevin Hogan. If he’s looking to be upwardly mobile, it seems like Stanford would be more of a launching pad that Virginia Tech.
Then again David Shaw gets a lot of credit out there. Maybe he doesn’t like being in the Shaw’s shadow. I’m not sure, quite honestly.
Dave and Scott are making sense. Pete is correct. Ancient and Peppers are full of it, almost makes me wish crooked would get out of bed. Anyone who has followed the Hokies, and I have since ’68, knows that we are lucky to have had Frank Beamer and most of his staff these last 26 years. To gripe about the offensive performance/direction, however, is a legitimate position. I have been griping about Stiney for so long my best friends are sick of it, but they’ve been griping about our offensive line at least that long, so I think it is evident that Hokiedom has had it with our current offensive approach. Our problem isn’t scheduling, almost all of the top teams are rife with cupcakery, it is good for football when the little guy gets to play too, and on occasion, knock of the big bad ranked team. Even getting trounced helps pay the bills in the hinterlands, and their fans love their teams as much as we love ours, so why not? No, the problem is offensive line recruitment and the need to either have the hosses to ram it down the other’s throat even when they know what’s coming, or the schemes to work around weaknesses with cleverness and finesse. Bud Foster has been outstanding at that.
Mike Vick was a phenomenal college football player, VT owes him gratitude, and until David Wilson showed up, I thought we’d not see his like again in the ‘Burg. Yeah, we could do better than this year, and we all want more offense, but let’s not lose perspective and throw the baby out with the bathwater! Beamer’s loyal family approach has produced more positives than negatives, stability on staff is not a negative until carried to unproductive extremes. Winning a NC is every major program’s ultimate goal, but there’s only one a year to go around. Lighten up and enjoy the fun part of football, being a fan, win or lose. Yeah, gripe and opine, that’s the fun of blog posting, but please, keep some perspective while you’re at it. Some of the gleeful put-downs and unbridled vitriol I have read is just self-serving tripe from the usual malcontents who would find a reason to rag VT even if we were to win the “Big One”.
Danny: If playing calling is not that important, then why won’t the ole ball coach relinquish his duty?
I’ve pointed this out before Andy and you may disagree. Stanford is a very good team now. Right now. They have been that way for four years. Their modern day record, however, has not been good. During VT’s 20 year bowl era Stanford went to 8 bowls, 4 of those being in the last 4 years. When Harbaugh left after ’10, he was the 2nd lowest paid HC in the pac-12. My understanding is Stanford does not pay it’s coaches on a par with the other schools. Maybe, just maybe if he is interested in VT it is because of the pay and the question mark about how long Stanford will continue its streak.
Stanford does have that reputation. It’s a private school, though, so it doesn’t have to release its salaries.
Also, whatever money he makes would go a lot further in Blackburg vs. Palo Alto.
Can anyone imagine MV playing college ball with a spread offense like at A&M?
Vick played under Bustle, who, if we will recall, defined the word conservative when it came to O scheme and play calling. There was nothing akin to a spread or hurry up. Run up the gut on first and second and let MV do his thing on third. A typical outing for him was maybe 12-17, 1 TD, 180 yds. His numbers would be even way better today at VT, let alone somewhere like A&M, IMHO. Comparing Manziel’s and MV’s stats is apples to oranges.
I didnt mean that play calling wasnt important. My point is that good execution determines whether any play will be successful or not. Up front blocking is critical and we havent been very strong there. Not much Stiney or anyone else can do if we do not block well.
Danny: True, but an instinctual play caller knows when to call the right play at the right time even when execution is not going so well. Beamer really stunk it up in the Sugarbowl last year when he called for the fake punt.
Plays are called based on percentages of success. Sometimes a coach will take a chance to spark the team. If the players execute, the coach is a genius. If it fails the coach is an indiot.
Some of you have no clue. That is why you are on a blog and not on a football sideline calling plays