Virginia Tech continued its bowl streak with a win on Saturday against Virginia.
Advertisement
He’s finishing the first year of a five-year contract signed last November that paid him $1.4 million a year, with an annual raise of $25,000.
Littlepage did not give a time frame for the search, nor did he elaborate on the traits he would seek in London’s successor. Running back Taquan Mizzell is the most versatile performer for the Cavaliers, gaining 638 yards on the ground and registering 68 catches for another 671. Before last season’s Miami Beach Bowl, he had 12 players on his roster who’d already earned undergraduate degrees.
Other students said they respected London as a person, but couldn’t look past his 27-46 overall record. Foster played for Beamer at Murray State before serving as an assistant coach for all six seasons of Beamer’s tenure as the school’s head coach.
“This is one of the finest head coaches who built this program from basically nowhere in 2012, so I would imagine it’s a very appealing opportunity”, Bowen said.
Clearly, there are some elements of London’s style that the Cavaliers would welcome in their new coach.
“Mike London has been an outstanding representative of the University of Virginia”, said Littlepage, via Yahoo Sports.
“He has been a tremendous ambassador for the university”.
London had drawn some heat as the Cavaliers struggled to stay competitive in the ACC and regressed each year since 2011 when they managed to get a berth in the Chick Fil A Bowl.
This week, it was rumored that he was the favorite to become the replacement for Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech, a man who held that post since 1987.
According to ESPN, Virginia Tech is set to hire current Memphis head football coach Justin Fuente to the same position following the 2015 season.
This year, despite having to replace a majority of starters on defense, he posted another 9-3 regular season including a victory over nationally ranked Ole Miss.
Mike Sanford Jr., in his first year as the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame, has received increased attention in speculation about the Virginia job.
Fuente takes over a Virginia Tech team that has seen numerous top recruits from the state of Virginia leaving to play elsewhere.
Garry Smits at Jacksonville.com wrote about Georgia firing Mark Richt on Sunday and slipped this line in the article: “Richt has been rumored to land at Virginia, which accepted the resignation of coach Mike London on Sunday about the same time the Richt news broke”. He turned 55 in October.
Advertisement
“I am pleased with the job we are doing on the glass”, Williams said.
