Reaction to Virginia Tech Letting Go of Greenberg

Leave it to Virginia Tech to find a way to screw up a move that I actually support. The other day, Virginia Tech fired their coach of the past nine season, Seth Greenberg. This came as a surprise to many, particularly after Tech's AD had been giving a strong vote of confidence towards Greenberg as recently as early March. Personally, I was in favor of Tech letting Greenberg go, simply on lack of results. In the past five seasons, Tech has made it to four NITs and zero NCAA Tournament appearances. For a team in a major conference, particularly when that conference has had a few down years over the past five seasons, that can't be considered a successful tenure. But only Virginia Tech could make what I think was the right move and still find a way to muck it up. First off, the last person to hear about Seth Greenberg's firing was Seth Greenberg. Apparently the AD had decided to fire his coach about a week and a half before he told Greenberg. Why wait the week and a half? And if you were going to do it, at least give the guy a head's up so he knows what to say when the media starts asking questions. The other problem I have with how the firing went down is when it happened. Tech waited until April 23rd to fire Greenberg, as opposed to say March 23rd, or heck, even early April. The effects of the lateness of the firing are twofold. On the one hand, you have how it affects Greenberg. Say what you will about the guy, but he was the coach of the Hokies for nine seasons and because an integral part of the Blacksburg society. He has a daughter who goes to Tech and is a cheerleader, and another daughter who is in the school system in Blacksburg. It would only have been right to let him go early enough so that he could start looking at the other major coaching vacancies out there, say Illinois, SMU, or Kansas State. Instead, Greenberg is really on the outside looking in for next season, and it will be tough for him to score a job unless there is another late firing out there. As for Tech, by waiting this long, they have hurt their own search for a new coach. Many of their assistants who wanted head coaching jobs have gone to other universities, and many of the high profile coaches out there, like Bruce Weber or even Barry Hinson, have already gotten jobs. Tech's next move is going to either be trying to pry away a mid major coach such as Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens, which is unlikely for a whole host of reasons, or try to bring in an assistant from somewhere looking to make the jump to head coach. Regardless, this has become a tough situation for all parties involved and could have been avoided by using a little common sense and a lot better timing.