1. VT should be a perennial top 15-20 program -- like it was at the height of the Beamer era. The VT head coaching job is highly desirable because of a good recruiting footprint, program name recognition/history, good facilities, strong academics, and a great fan base/stadium atmosphere. The foundation is there and we just need a dynamic leader to bring the program back to prominence. Once success begins, it'll build on itself and we'll be able to continually upgrade all aspects of the program until we're a bigtime program.

2. VT is an average P5 program. The Beamer era was an anomaly brought on by a set of very advantageous factors all coalescing -- a Hall of Fame coach who was uniquely loyal (turned down UNC and Bama jobs), a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator who was also uniquely loyal (turned down jobs at FSU, Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M), weak schedules (Big East and ACC Coastal), a lack of dominant teams in the ACC (Clemson, FSU, and Miami weren't very good from 2004-2010), success in an under-recognized recruiting area (757) that is no longer under-recognized/is no longer as rich with talent. Those factors created unusual success that wasn't sustainable. We're really more like Arizona State, Iowa, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, etc. than we are like Clemson, Florida State, etc. Our location, smaller stadium, limited budget, brief history of success, etc. just don't warrant viewing ourselves as a top 15-20 kind of program.