The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Ron Sanchez Fired In Charlotte Hotel Room; Did Carla Williams Mismanage Sanchez Firing?

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

The Jerry & Jerry Show headlines: Ron Sanchez Fired In Charlotte Hotel Room Did Carla Williams Mismanage Sanchez Firing? Why Has UVA Not Hired A Head Coach Yet? Is Ryan Odom Signed, Sealed & Delivered? How Will New UVA Head Coach Build Roster? Transfer Portal Opens On Monday, March 24 Crystal Ball: Hoo Will Enter The Transfer Portal? Spring Sports Roundup: Baseball, Lax & More Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller were live on The Jerry & Jerry Show! The Jerry & Jerry Show airs live Tuesday from 10:15 am – 11:15 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The Jerry & Jerry Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Tuesday morning guys. My name is Jerry Miller and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seaville show live in downtown Charlottesville, less than two miles from the John Paul Jones Arena, less than two miles from Scott Stadium, from the Dish, from Klockner, and from the grounds of Thomas Jefferson's University. Ron Sanchez, guys, is out as head coach of the University of Virginia. By now you know that.

What you may not know is how Ron Sanchez was fired and Jerry Ratcliffe at jerryratcliffe.com has been all over this story. We'll talk about Carla Williams firing Ron Sanchez immediately after the loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament. Sanchez, according to Jerry Ratcliffe sources, in his hotel room in Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm gonna ask a very pointed question. Did the athletic director mismanage the firing of Ron Sanchez, who in a lot of ways

was thrown into the Lions den taking over for Tony Bennett a mere couple weeks before the season started. A guy who really put his professional career on the line to help a program and a school that he absolutely loves and has been loyal to. We're also going to talk the worst kept secret in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that's Ryan Odom to UVA.

A lot of scuttlebutt around grounds has Ryan Odom's sign sealed and delivered already at the University of Virginia. If you're following the basketball players on Instagram like I do, whether it's Isaac McNealy, Andrew Rodey, they're all sharing the same post from Blake Buchanan. It seems, if you read the tea leaves, that Blake Buchanan, the first to enter the transfer portal,

they're also sharing a post from Christian Bliss. So the portal period is going to be active, I have a feeling. Judah Whitcar is behind the camera. Judah Whitcar, if you can, go to the studio camera. And then let's welcome the star of the show, a man who needs absolutely no introduction. And if you do want an introduction, just go to Jerry Ratcliffe.com 51 consecutive ACC basketball tournament to man. I'm proud to call a friend the best ball saver had and

quite a distinguished fellow fresh freshly haircut it over here. I can follow you around all the time if you want me to. How you doing my friend? I had to get a haircut before I looking sharp. I went to the ACC tournament. I didn't look like a flying monkey or something, but Yeah There's no surprise that Christian Bliss leaving because Everybody that's a Virginia fan followed that escapade where he fan followed that escapade where he claimed that his foot had not recovered from an injury and he didn't play all season because he was never comfortable.

So I think the writing was clearly on the wall there. And the coaching staff even said this dude's ready to play. It's up to him. Yeah. I mean, in some ways almost threw him under the bus. Yeah. The doctors had cleared him to play and he just refused to play. So that was a definitely a sign and Blake Buchanan,

I can't say that I'm shocked about that one. Although if I were a player, I would at least want to wait and see who the next guy's gonna be. The next coach is gonna be before I made up a mind, but maybe he was homesick. Maybe he was gettingick, maybe he was getting some offers from back home, maybe he felt like that he had reached his pinnacle at Virginia in terms that he wasn't going to get any stronger or physically bigger than what he is after two years in the weight room and just

still couldn't handle the big men in the ACC or top 25 competition. Was manhandled in the paint? Yeah, so maybe he just decided he should go somewhere where he would fit in a little better. But, you know, I don't care what team you are, you're gonna lose some players in the portal. I mean, Duke lost what, 12 or 13 players last year off its team. So not to be unexpected that you're gonna lose some players, there's no question about that. The problem is right now, since they don't have a coach in place, is who's minding the store? Has Ron Sanchez or any of that staff agreed to stick on?

And I guess their contracts are good through maybe May or June or something. So maybe they're under contract to at least stay in it and try to babysit the guys that they have and try to, you know, keep them, stay in contact with them and talk to them about being retained and maybe even looking into the portal for who might be out there. I don't know if the staff or part of the staff has been assigned to do that or what the situation is. All right, so that's the first place we should start here. And put, Jude, if you could, the lower thirds on screen with Carla Williams and Ron Sanchez and his firing.

You report on jerryracliff.com, you highlight sources close to the program that interim coach Ron Sanchez was fired at a hotel room in Charlotte after the ACC lost to Georgia Tech. You and I are both in agreement that the man was fired. You had a little pushback from viewers, a little pushback from your followers on Twitter that it was not a firing. I completely disagree from that pushback. This is the definition of a firing. Oh, of course. Well, I remember many years ago when Jeff Jones was let go at UVA at the end of his tenure, and I went over to his house and I was trying to be nice and sympathetic and I

said well I'm sorry to hear that you were let go or something like that and you know and Jeff being the realist that he is he said Jerry I was fired yeah right if you're if you're not retained you're fired I'm sorry that's it's just the way it is and it for those who don't get it, uh, obviously they've never been fired before. Right. But, uh, yeah, he, he was fired. Uh, I didn't realize that they were going back to the hotel, uh, after the game. I figured they probably had their stuff packed up.

Maybe they were expecting to win and stay another night. So maybe they had to go back to the hotel and pack for the plane trip home. But that's how it happened. There were speculation that he was shuffled into a room before the press conference, but that wasn't the case. And then there were other speculation that he was fired after they flew back home to Charlottesville. But he was fired at their hotel in Charlotte before they left town. And-

That press conference in hindsight, extremely awkward. And Sanchez put in a position that was a position that no professional let alone a coach who has been loyal to the program And who was thrown into the lions then by the by the program he never should have been put in that position He was he was he handled it well, so well. Yeah, so well. He was very eloquent with his Yeah. So well. He was very eloquent with his responses to some tough questions, but realistic. I mean, people wanted to know, you know, how he felt, if he felt like he deserved a chance to retain his job or, you know, various factors like that, how he handled himself,

how he was able to negotiate the season himself He leaned on his staff a lot he leaned on his faith a lot he leaned on the players a lot He got a little misty eyed when Isaac McNeely Talked about what? Ron had meant to the team and how he had helped them Sort of turn things around. When they were one in six in the ACC, in the ACC after they had that disastrous trip to the West Coast and lost to Cal and Stanford back to back.

And, you know, when Ron was asked about things that, you know, what he wanted from his team and from the program itself, he said, what Isaac said is what I really wanted. That I meant something and made a difference with these players. That was very sincere. He got a little misty-eyed during all that and rightfully so. But yeah, I guess there's two schools of thought on firing someone and I guess one of them is kind of the Billy Beane method if you familiar with Moneyball, the book and movie, but he believed it was better just to go ahead and

get it done quickly and not make a big show of it all, but just to be swift and matter-of-the-fact and get it over with. Let me, I'll throw this to you. You're the expert here. I'll try to make a compelling argument of why Carla Williams mismanaged the firing of Ron Sanchez. Jeremy Wilson's watching in Tennessee. John Blair, welcome to the program.

Thank you kindly for watching. Handful of states are watching the show right now. A handful of cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia are watching the show right now. If Ryan Odom is the next head coach at UVA, his VCU men's basketball team is still alive. Right. And because the head coach at UVA, that position has not been filled, the logic suggests they're waiting till Odom's VCU season is over. So if you're director, Carla Williams, and your job is to manage a department,

why fire Ron Sanchez immediately? Instead, why not keep Sanchez in the position, allow him to hedge risk and exposure with the transfer portal, keep guys around, and then when VCU season is over, then you make the official statement of the Sanchez firing in the Odom hiring. She could have let Ron Sanchez get back to Charlottesville

from the ACC tournament and said, Ron, you're not gonna be our head coach, but we want you to stay around and help us manage the program until the next guy is, off the record in her office. Why make it such a visible firing hours after a game, basically throwing him as the scapegoat that fell on the sword, not allowing him to get home to his family,

in a hotel without friends around him or family around him, and doing it in a way where you basically throw shade at a guy that stood up in a time of peril for the program because he was loyal to it. Yeah, those are all very excuse me, very valid points. And, and it could have been easily done that way. Um, again, we don't know, we don't know if Ron is still around doing what you just said.

I, since they, since some of the coaches are still under contract, I don't know when his contract expires. It may not be until June. I don't know if he's, uh, actively helping in that, those areas or if he's home or out looking for another, maybe getting ready to head out to wherever the Final Four is this year to a lot of coaches who are looking for jobs to go out to the Final Four and politics for other jobs.

But there may be some coaches. But if you fire him, you chop the legs out from under him. Well, true, true. He has less credibility, perceived credibility. Yeah. But if you fire him you chop the legs out from under him well true true He has less credibility perceived credibility. Yeah I Can't explain it. I don't know the logic or Our our how she operates. We just don't know that and there's

There's no communication. So Nobody has explained the rationale for for doing it either way and so we don't know we're just left to speculate like everybody's doing like we're all doing and that's natural to speculate that's why sure that's why we're fans yeah exactly that's why we're fans viewers and listeners let us know your thoughts here Elliot Harding the St. That's why we're fans. That's why we're fans. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts here. Elliot Harding, the St. Ann's-Belfield Academy graduate and talented football player for John Blake watching the program. He says the following, if Ryan Odom is not the guy, is Richie McKay an option? Just got extended at Liberty, Richie McKay. And then he adds this, I think it was the right move because it sends a signal to recruits while also allowing him to hit the market earlier, Rod Sanchez firing them the way he

was. Yeah, I don't think Richie is in the mix from what I've heard. Again, there could be some smoke screens as to various factors. And the rumors are out there that it's a done deal with Ryan Odom. I don't know if that's true or not. There's been no word on that from anybody who knows. But that is the rumor flying around out there. That's a done deal and that they'll wait until his season is over before

they make an official announcement. We don't know if that's true or just again, more speculation. I don't think Richie is in the mix, although I think he would be an excellent coach. He's done a great job at Liberty and he was an incredibly effective recruiter when he was here for Tony Bennett. And he was an incredibly effective recruiter when he was here for Tony Bennett. And I think just looking at the pool of candidates that we have learned about, they seem to be looking for a younger guy. I think Ryan might be the oldest one.

Fifty years old? Yeah. The others are in their 40s. Some of them is 41 42 43 somewhere in there. But that seems to be what they're looking for is a younger guy who could be here for 10 or 15 years just like Tony was right and here's another challenge with Ryan Odom viewers and listeners his VCU basketball team, his roster is an elder statesman roster.

And the very large majority of players on the VCU roster will have exhausted their eligibility after this season. So it's not like Ryan Odom will be able to come down Interstate 64 from Richmond with a bevy of players to proliferate the Virginia roster. That's not going to happen here. Also, and I need to throw this to you here, got a lot of comments coming in the feed here. Vanessa Parkill will get to your comments. John Blair, we're going to get to your comments. They're coming in very quickly. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts here.

We love your questions. Renee Pettiford, your comments coming up here. We got five, we got seven states here on the feed right here. Villanova and Ryan Odom. A lot of chitter chatter about Villanova, which I would say is a higher profile job than UVA. Yeah. Villanova.

I think it probably is. You're talking a blue blood program basically here in Villanova. Some chatter linking Odom to Villanova. I think it probably is. You're talking a blue blood program basically here in Villanova. Some chatter linking Odom to Villanova. Is that just smoke screen chatter that should be ignored or any legitimacy? Well you can't write it off as just chitter chatter. He was one of several candidates whose name surfaced as soon as they fired Neptune up there after three unsuccessful seasons. And, you know, all the coaches I know who are in the job market usually say that before they can accept a job, they have to have full confidence that

the new, wherever the new school is, that the school president and the AD have to have their back and that he can trust them. So, who knows? I mean, we don't know what his thinking is. He may, again, he may have already signed papers and be waiting to be delivered. I don't know that but You know, there's always questions that arise about NIL, which I don't think Virginia has a problem with that at all

Anymore we've been told they have like seven million dollars to work with Which is pretty good number. And, you know, there could be other factors we're not aware of but I would think that there wouldn't be any roadblocks for him to come here. Villanova is a highly prized job, no question about it. And a recruiting hotbed. In a recruiting hotbed. With a fantastic Big East television infrastructure. Yeah and you know they can play their big games at the Sixers arena which is huge I think it's around 20,000 21,000 seats something like that. I guess they have a smaller gym on campus for less meaningful games.

But I've heard Shocker Smart is a target of theirs as well, but that he's not biting. He seems to be pretty happy at Marquette or waiting on something really big somewhere. But I would think Virginia would be something that's very appealing to Ryan Odom because of his roots having grown up in Charlottesville. This is a full circle moment. Elliot Harding mentioned this over a cold beers. This is a full circle moment. Yeah, I mean he's an ACC guy. He grew up in the ACC at Virginia and Wake Forest. And, um, it's in your blood.

If you grow up in the ACC, that it's just part of, of who you are. And I would think that would be one of his dreams as a, as a coach to coach in the conference that, uh, where his dad was successful and, and obviously obviously he has still has friends here that he grew up with, uh, viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts here. We're going to go to Jerry Ratcliffe's Twitter account here. Joseph Chisholm is watching the program right now and he responds. No, Carla Williams did not mismanage the firing. Tony Bennett mismanaged the situation.

And Joseph Chisholm is watching in Palm Coast, Florida. So some of that weather up here, brother. It's getting a little nicer. It's getting a little nicer around here. A little chilly this morning. I'll throw this to you here. And there's so many ways we can go with this storyline. What happens to Jason Williford? What happens to

Chase Coleman? What happens to Coach Wilkins? What happens to Kyle Guy? All UVA guys? Is Ryan Odom, if he is the coach, is he going to bring his staff from VCU? Does it keep the UVA coaching staff around? There was many references on Monday at Jimmy Magic Man Miller's pancake breakfast for Piedmont Casa. Many references from UVA officials to Ryan Odom on Monday at the pancake breakfast, ladies and gentlemen. So, first question is, if you are a betting man, is Odom the favorite for this job? The second question that I have for you is this.

Odom didn't have players that are going to come down 64 to Charlottesville because they've exhausted the eligibility. And the third question I have for you, what happens if VCU goes on a run in the NCAA tournament hoody? And we've seen runs like this happen in the past. I'm not saying it's going to happen. But what happens if they go on a run here and, and, and they're in the tournament a long time?

Well, it wasn't that long ago. The VCU did make a run in the NCAA tournament and got to the final four. Uh, well, I, it's up to each coach and how he feels about his own staff and the staff that he's replacing. Sometimes a coach will come in and retain a member of the previous staff, particularly if they have roots to that school that might help him negotiate the waters of what you can do here and what you can't do here and that sort of thing. I don't think he needs anybody in there

in those terms for recruiting purposes because they don't seem to recruit the state of Virginia all that hard anyway. There's not many Virginians that's been on that roster for a while. There's not many Virginians that's been on that roster for a while. But a lot of coaches prefer the comfortability of bringing in guys that they know and trust and know what they can do. And so a lot of them will just come in and bring their entire staff.

Sometimes they'll bring part of their staff and hire new people from outside and may not even retain anyone from the previous school. So it's all, and if I were a betting man, yeah, I would bet on Odom. Me too. Every tea leaves seems to be pointing in his direction. And I think if they don't hire him,

if they have an opportunity to hire him and don't hire him, I think they've made a big mistake and they've done that. They did that once before with his father. I would hope they wouldn't make the same mistake twice, but I wouldn't be a bit shocked if he brought in his entire staff or maybe added a couple of new people from outside the program. I wouldn't be shocked if he retained at least one member of the staff.

Well let's highlight maybe, does Jason Williford get retained? Elliott Harding makes the point, the talented Esquire, Jason Williford and Chance Mallory, the talented point guard from St. Ann's-Belfield. They're very close. He highlights that Williford's son is Chance Mallory's high school teammate. He highlights that Austin is headed to St. Joe's to play college basketball. And he says maybe there's a reason to keep Jason Williford on staff so you get one of the best point guards in the country that's playing high school basketball that would recommit.

He initially committed, then decommitted, then re- this is like a soap opera here. I feel like I'm watching Victor and Cricket on Young and the Restless here at lunchtime on CBS. We got Jason Williford. Does he stay so we can get an 18-year year old kid to play point guard at UVA and recommit to a program that is reeling right now? Well, that's certainly a possibility and he's going to be announcing his decision now. I think it's this Saturday, right?

That's what I'm saying. This timing is so awkward. Yeah. So I imagine that if there is an agreement behind closed doors with Odom, I imagine Chance knows and it would be up to him as to you know what he wants to do. I mean who knows but I mean certainly they desperately need a point guard for the future and he would be terrific I you heard Ralph Sampson on our show a few weeks ago say

The chance Mallory could have started a point guard for Virginia this past season Ralph Sampson's exact words were senior year in high school chance Mallory would have been the starting point guard for UVA. Yeah so he's that good and Homegrown which is always a great thing if you can do it. I interviewed Chance back when he did commit to Virginia. And he did so because he'd always wanted to play for Virginia. He'd always wanted to play for Tony Bennett. Certainly, that changed.

And I still think there's probably a little tug at his heart to play for Virginia. I know Tennessee and Maryland have come in strong on him but it'll be interesting to see what team he chooses and how much, how much staying around here will influence that decision. If I were him and I'm a point guard, I think playing for Ryan Odom would be a pretty good deal. 100%, he'd build the program around the point guard. And certainly there's NIL money there to make it even better, sweeter deal.

And frankly speaking, Chance Mallory, they could build the entire program around him. Absolutely. There's not a guy on the roster where you're going to build a program around. You can't say McNeely because he's only got one year of eligibility left. And he had an opportunity to have the program built around him. And a lot of the ways he did not live up to those expectations. And that's no shade on McNeely. That's just, he's not a true number one.

He's a guy that needs other people to break down defenses for him and create shots for him. Yeah, he's a two guard. Yeah. He's a shooting guard and he's excellent at what he does and a great kid. Great kid. One of the nicest kids that's come through here in a long time.

Has some athletic limitations. Yeah, I mean, he's not the fastest guy in the world, but he has gotten better with a quicker release and coming off, popping off screens, and they've worked hard to get him shots. He worked so hard to get open. He runs. It would be interesting to see how many miles he logs in a game because he's moving all the time trying to get open. Viewers and listeners leaving a lot of comments. This is from Tennessee and Mr. Jeremy Wilson.

He said mismanaged or not, what Carla Williams did was unprofessional, in my opinion. There was no reason why she could not have waited until Ron Sanchez got back to Charlottesville. Yeah. From Jeremy Wilson in Tennessee. I don't know what the rush was. I mean, I think everybody saw the writing on the wall

pretty much. And what advantages were there to doing it riding on the wall pretty much. And, you know, what advantages were there to doing it before you left Charlotte as opposed to waiting to get back home. 24 hours. Or, yeah, doing it the next day or whatever. Let everything settle in. But,

again, I don't know what our philosophy is on handling those situations, but. This guy's basically what happened with Ron Sanchez a few weeks before the season starts his mentor quits. Yeah. And Ron Sanchez has basically no other choice because he's the only guy on the staff with head coaching experience. He's thrown into the lions then has no no other choice but to be the head coach.

His pay then jumps to a million five, not head coaching pay. No. A fraction of head coaching pay at a million five. He has a very challenging season because the roster has obvious limitations. When Coach Bennett announces his surprising resignation, you lose probably your starting point guard, the Florida State 6'7 defense specialist, the guy who could break down a lot of defenses and get the ball distributed. A true point guard, right? You have Christian Bliss pretty much ghost the program. I mean he absolutely goes to the program Yeah, Gertrude was already injured with an ACL injury the season starts Not great. They struggle for most of the site a lot of good teams play. It was a brutal schedule. Yeah

team struggles Then they get to the ACC tournament. They lose to Georgia Tech Then they get to the ACC tournament. They lose to Georgia Tech. She allows Ron Sanchez to go into a press conference in front of reporters where the question is going to be about his job security. He gets questions about should you be the head coach of UVA? He answers yes, I've proven I should be the head coach and does it in the classiest fashion possible.

Leaves the press conference where he's basically crying a grown man in front of other grown men with a national audience. Heads back to his hotel room where it's only him in his suitcase and he gets fired. That's what happened here. Yeah. I felt sorry for Ron during, and he wouldn't want me to feel sorry for him because he doesn't feel sorry for himself. But a colleague of mine and I ran into him after the game back when they were struggling a a little bit and he seemed down

he was exiting JPJ and we just stopped to talk for a little bit and we told him to keep his head up and He he just kind of said, you know, well, you know I came He wasn't making excuses, but he said, you know You know, I came, he wasn't making excuses, but he said, you know, all these great teams that we've had, we've had lots of pros on these teams. And he said, that's why, essentially why I came back here was to help us rebuild the roster and bring in more future NBA players and he wasn't expecting, probably the last thing on his mind is he, back in early October was, he wasn't expecting to walk into being the head coach and especially with an interim tag.

He said that was not my next career choice. And you know, like you said, it was kind of thrust upon him. If he had said no in that position, he had no, he was in a lose lose situation. He could not have said no, because if he had said no, then he would have backstabbed and been disloyal to the program. Right. If he says yes, he potentially ruins his career if the year doesn't go well. Like there's a legitimate chance that Ron Sanchez may not be a head coach again.

The man is not a spring chicken. No, he's in his 50s. 53, I think. From a coaching standpoint, what is that? And dog and coaching years like dog years? Was that 70? He's in his fifties, 53, I think. From a coaching standpoint, what is that? And dog and coaching years like dog years, was that 70? I guess so. And I never thought about it, but you're right. Yeah, I mean, it depends on-

He's 53. Yeah, I thought 53 was right. I mean, it won't be easy, but you know, some people might look at that and say well you know and consider what he did under the circumstances and say well he could we'd be comfortable hiring him. I don't know it just depends on what a school is looking for but I think he handled himself really well throughout the entire exercise and and did it gracefully and absolutely didn't make

any excuses he said he was coaching basketball and that's his big love outside of his family and his faith. And they believe he's a much better coach now than he was on October the 10th. Ten months ago, yeah. Or whatever it was. Yeah. And so, you know, I think with all the coaching changes

every year and somebody estimated there might be 40 or 50 this year before we're through, somebody may give him a shot. If not, he can probably pick up a job as an assistant coach on a staff somewhere. So I don't think he'll go unemployed. I think he's gonna be an assistant coach. I don't think Ron Sanchez is gonna be a head coach ever again. That could be.

It could be. And that stinks because of how this played out. Yeah. I think he could have been a head coach again, but not after how this played out. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how that develops in the future. Bill McChesney's got a great comment here on McIntyre Road. He says, if a head coach is looking for an athletic director and a school president to have his back. How is Jim Ryan's tenure with the Board of Visitors and Carla Williams's status with the powers that be looking right now? I'll add some color to this comment

here. Jim Ryan is 110% in the crossfire of the Board of Visitors where 13 of the appointments are Glenn Yonkin's appointments and the crossfire of the Board of Visitors where 13 of the appointments are Glenn Yonkin's appointments and the 13 appointments of Yonkin, their ideology does not match with Jim Ryan's way of governing a school. You're exactly right. I will also offer a little color here on Carla Williams. Push back on Mr. McChesney with Carla Williams. She was extended with her contract.

So Jim Ryan's presidency is on vulnerable ground. Carla Williams did get a contract extension. She did and from what I've heard from a couple of Board of Visitors members through the grapevine is that part of the VOV did not want her to be retained. And that should there be a change in school presidents, that there could be a move to buy her out. Wow, that right there is fresh news that I have not heard from Jerry Radcliffe. Now, I don't know that that's gonna happen, but I know that it has been discussed. I've not heard from Jerry Ratcliffe. Now, I don't know that that's going to happen, but that I know that it has been discussed. I've not heard that.

That right there is one of the best tidbits of information on the show right there. Yeah. So and that that was told to from two different board ofitors to two colleagues of mine and I thought that was interesting that they would say that even though the situation seems to be really up in the air with Ryan and the BOV. with Ryan and the BOV. That right there should be a sizzle reel that we play back on the I Love Siebel show. Jerry Rockliffe dropping knowledge on the program right there. I would say we have multiple wows on the comment section here for the viewers and listeners on that statement right there. I would say President Ryan's...

How do I... characters in the most respected... A lot of power struggles going on. Dude, so many power struggles, Hootie. You just said it. Yeah. You want to go down that road right there? Well, it's not uncommon. I mean, that sort of thing happened years ago when Jim Copeland was CAD and he was having

a power struggle with George Welsh and Terry Holland and some of the members of the VAF. And he won some of those battles. He frustrated Holland to the point that Holland got out of coaching and left school only to come back and replace Jim Copeland who had made so many enemies that they essentially ran him out of town. He was in battles with George and George, I've seen George.

George Welsh. Strong backlash from George during that period, even jumping down Copeland's throat in the locker room after the George attack game in, after Virginia lost a game to the Yala Jackets and Copeland was in the locker room, was actually the weight room I guess. Maybe it was in the locker room. But anyway, I don't know what Copeland was saying or who he was talking to, but he was, had made the mistake of laughing over whatever it was they were talking about. And George snapped at him big time. And he says, we just lost Mr. Copeland. I don't think it's a laughing matter. And George was not happy. And George

would go to the President and complain about some of the things that Copeland was trying to do. And we all know what happened to the entire VAF guys. They were all fired after that investigation in the no interest loan scandal. And Virginia was put on probation. So there's been power struggles here in the past. Not always well reported, but I can't say that it's anything shocking that some of the BOVs just not happy with the way things are going over there. And frankly speaking, they shouldn't be happy. The health system is being accused by physicians that work for the health system of fraudulently billing patients and changing medical records to maintain performance rankings and standards.

You got diversity, equity, and inclusion office that has bloated from a payroll standpoint and big time in the Donald Trump crossfire, the federal funding crossfire, you had three football players that were murdered and by another football player and student that had a lot of red flags and you can make a case that that was mismanaged from a safety protocol standpoint. And they still won't reveal the details of that, right? Won't release the report. Even the parents don't know what really happened.

Happy Perry says to the media, all I want to know is what happened to my kid. Right. I mean, that's the saddest statement I've ever heard. That is pretty sad. I just want to know what happened to my son when he died. Yeah. They won't release the investigative report

on the health system. They won't release the investigative report on the health system. They won't release the investigative report on the triple murder. They won't release the investigative report or give us more insight into the pepper spraying of students in the pro-Palestine protests. I mean, good night, Hootie. There's stuff everywhere here. There's no transparency over there at all in any department from what I can see. And the athletic department's no different. Oh man, a lot of comments coming in here on the feed. We haven't even had a chance to talk about the fact that UVA basketball players, if you want to put this headline on screen here about the transfer portal and who's entering, the UVA basketball team is sharing an Instagram post from Blake Buchanan.

And Blake Buchanan on Instagram, I'm going to make sure I get the exact post here. Blake Buchanan on Instagram shares photos of himself with a heart next to it. And then the team goes and shares it left and right. This leads to speculation from the fan base. Literally, here's the photo, Blake Buchanan's Instagram, anyone can find this one day ago, right here. Photo of him, multiple photos of him on the team, and just a heart next to it.

And then a boatload of players then share this post to their Instagram stories. And this leads to speculation that he is Ostaloago from the program. To me that indicates he's gone. Right. There's no question about it. And Christian Bliss is the same thing is happening here. And we knew that was going to happen for sure. But you know, like I said I said you're gonna lose some guys

I don't care who you are what program you are you might win the national championship and still lose several players It's just a fact of life these days some players Feel like they can fit in better somewhere else Some are unhappy about playing time, some want more NIL money, could be a number of factors. Some just get homesick, you never know. Who else is going? Well, I don't know.

I think that there's a possibility that there'll be more, but it's hard to speculate on that. I'm sure that some other schools are gonna be making offers through street agents or the old high school coaches or to the families or something of some of these players. Tampering is at an all time, and the NCAA can't really do anything about it. So that's why it's important to have somebody back home in the nest to

try to babysit these guys and appease them and try to tell them that things are going to be all right if they stay. And certainly talk to them about NIL packages too because sometimes you have to pay your own guys to keep them. 100%. James Watson watching the program, he makes a fantastic statement, a man who bleeds origin blue. He says VCU is planning to pay basketball players $350,000 on average next year.

That's true. I'm guessing that Ryan Odom had some pretty top recruits in his queue for next year. He says, James Watson, I'm curious if Virginia is going to cut a deal similar or better for basketball players next year. Again, we don't know because they're not transparent with that sort of thing. They have a good NIL bankroll, no question about it. We've been told it's 7B and I don't know if that's accurate, but that's a pretty good war chest for Virginia to come up with.

And they shouldn't be taking a back seat to many other programs. I mean, Duke is probably double that. Carolina is I'm sure higher, but most schools can't compete with the seven, I don't think. So I don't know that they're gonna come up with a deal like VCU had and pay each player X amount of money, but I'm sure that they're going to do what's right.

I can't see why anybody would leave because solely an NIL package. Comments coming in quickly here. Rob Neal watching the program. He highlights that the St. Anne's connection is pretty significant potentially with UVA. Chance Mallory and Lang who redshirted, he transferred from Vanderbilt to UVA then redshirted, are high school teammates and local kids that have STAB and UVA ties. Lang is a big man with a lot of talent that graduated from St. Anne's, went to Vanderbilt,

played one year, then came to Charlottesville and UVA and red-shirted. Chance Mallory, very well-documented prospect. John Blair, watching the program, he says, Jerry and Jerry, if the next coach really is Odum, I have to say that the Sanchez termination was poorly handled the guy did UVA a favor it was an impossible situation given that there was no urgency to hiring the next coach as Odum still hasn't been announced as they're still

playing why can't you let Sanchez get back to Charlottesville and meet him in the office the next day it's's a fantastic question. I would take it even a step further. Why wouldn't you keep Sanchez around for a period of time to manage the roster and the kids that are loyal to him? Now you have cut the snake, cut the head of the mom, of the parent, of your loyal leader. And the players are uncertain what's going on here. I mean, guys, this is just a banana situation here. Yeah, I think the smartest thing to do would have been,

would have allowed him to come back home and just put, get himself together for the next day and bring him into the office and inform him there as opposed to doing it before he left. Now I just, I don't see the point in that. All right. You know, and I'll take, I'll use this. I'll take this a step further. There's been some mismanagement with the athletic director and this department.

Well, the Bronco Bron-Mendenhall scenario was a disaster. It was a disaster and look what it did to the football program. Yeah you want to go offer a little insight into that? They were bowl eligible for what four or five straight years. And then she goes in says Bronco you're gonna change this coaching staff. Say to a Mormon. Yeah. And a lot of people. Who's a definition of loyal. A lot of people don't realize how close the coaching staff was.

The most close-knit staff I've ever covered anywhere. And I've covered five or six different programs in my career. It's an uncommon relationship that they have with one another. And firing an assistant coach is like firing a member of the family. Yeah. It's very hard to do and I think at first Bronco had agreed to do so and then just didn't have the stomach to do it and just decided to fall on the spear himself and leave, which really wrecked what was going on, because particularly

with a guy like Robert and I, who had stuck around and was telling recruits to go elsewhere that were already committed here, and telling the guys in the transfer portal to go somewhere else and for the guys on the Virginia team to leave. And they had to actually ask him to leave. Treason. To prevent further damage. So that entire situation was botched. How about extending the assistant coaches on the football team under Tony Elliott, despite the team having the worst record of any of the power conferences over the last three years? The entire world was shocked when we found out coordinators were extended. I'm surprised that if she did that to Bronco,

why she didn't do it to Tony Elliott. Bingo. Because the fan base were probably more upset with the current situation than they were with Broncos, even though that they did need to make a change at defensive coordinator at under Bronco because the defense had become an embarrassment and anywhere else that guy would have been fired there's no question about it but I think maybe they

could have manipulated the situation a little bit and maybe said, Bronco, you were the defensive coordinator and head coach for a while here when you first came. Just go back to being the defensive coordinator and head coach and can keep that guy on your staff as a secondary coach or whatever and all is good. But that, I don't know if that was ever an option that was discussed or not. Then you got, and you know, I'm not sure how much falls on the athletic director here,

the shocking resignation of Tony Bennett. And I understand that could be chalked up as an anomaly, a head coach that just gets disenchanted or disheartened with the amateurism landscape and now it's more pro professional landscape than amateur. But that situation has proven to be disastrous. Yeah, and I don't know if you can blame Carla for that or not. You can blame Carla for bringing in the women's basketball coach, not Coach Mocks, but the one before, whose name I can't even recall. Who was more interested in Versace and Dolce and Gabbana than wins and losses.

She may have been the worst coach in any sport that I've ever covered in my entire career and kept her on for at least a year longer than she should have been. So you can blame her for that. So her track record has not been spectacular, to say the least. Right. And then the leak of her interviewing potentially for other jobs before she got extended. That was leaked by a board of visitors member. Yeah. For sure. And we don't know a lot about that other than the fact that it happened.

And so I don't know. It's again, the next next several months gonna be interesting to see what happens with the entire saga over there. It's, it's, it's, we have a soap opera on our hands folks. I mean and this is something that we gotta ask ourselves here is, is, is when the longer that this goes on and more job openings happen, what is the risk that UVA has by not filling the job as other more appealing jobs come open? Well, it all depends on whether there's a deal or not. And we don't know that. Again, there's the rumor that it's a done deal behind closed doors. We don't know that that's factual or just wishful thinking,

but it could be true. It may be completely untrue. We don't know. It sounds like there's some validity to it because as you said, over at the breakfast this morning, Jimmy Miller's breakfast. Monday. Monday, rather, that there was a lot of talk

from UVA people about rhino. If that was the case, it sounds like they may be privy to something that the rest of us aren't. Time will tell. It certainly gives a lot of fodder for the content cycle. No question. Our website has been on fire the past several days. No question about it. People are thirsty for any kind of news about the whole coaching situation, not only who the next guy might be, but what happened to Ron Sanchez and England Charlotte.

And so there's been a ton of people reading about that on our website. The Ron Sanchez intel on how he was fired is on JerryRackliffe.com on the home page. I would very much encourage you guys to read the story. The headline, some clarity on how Sanchez learned he was fired on jerryrackliff.com. Fantastic reporting from a multiple time award winning writer and a Virginia Sports Hall of Famer. We'll close the show with this here.

How does a savvy and experienced reporter like yourself follow this storyline? Through sources. I mean, that's how all stories are eventually uncovered is you got to have strong sources, good sources that you can trust. And other than that, unless the university does such a, or the organization, whether it's NFL or NBA or Major League Baseball or college athletic program, unless they just keep everything hush hush

until the last minute and release it, usually there's a circle of people who know and you just hope that your sources is one of the some of your sources are one of those people. And so that's what we'll be doing is constantly talking to sources and seeing what we can find out. I would love to be a fly in the wall and Wally Walker circles right now. Yeah, I'm sure that Wally is spearheading the whole thing and I would assume that he's probably the guy that has made the recommendation to Carla on who to hire. I know he had some influence on getting Tony Bennett here.

Talking to Craig Little Page and John Oliver about what a great candidate Tony Bennett could be, because while he was out in Seattle and saw Washington State Seattle and saw Washington State a lot more than we did here on the East Coast and knew about the potential of Tony Bennett and was not shy about talking to the administration here about what the possibilities could be. So I think Wally is probably, he and the people on the committee have been very active in vetting potential candidates. I know that they've met in person,

at least somebody on the committee has met in person with a couple of these candidates, if not more, just to feel them out, if nothing else. And I think that Ryan Odom is probably the guy that's made a strong impression. Jerry Radcliffe, guys. Jerryradcliffe.com. An AdWord Plus flies by when you have coaching searches and coaching carousels

to talk about. We'll follow this closely. I'm telling you right now, it's the first website I visit when I wake up in the morning. I was enjoying some special K this morning in my coffee and it was on JerryRackliff.com on my phone. We appreciate that. While our two-year-old was throwing his his French toast sticks at the family German shepherd. What's the German shepherd was all for the German shepherd. His kibble, his

dinner cut back because he was getting a little thick because our two year olds feeding him three meals a day or whatever's on his plate. But I was on jerrymackliff.com preparing for this show. I read it every single day, every single morning, and I encourage you guys to follow him on Twitter. The man is on the pulse of what is going on right now. And so we may all be shocked one day when they announced the Shockers March. That would be so crazy, right? The Virginia basketball.

That would be so crazy. You know, some of these people are sneaky and throw smoke screens out so you never know but the smart money is on Ryan Odom but that doesn't mean it's a lock. A lock. Yep yep. Judah Wickhauer behind the camera it's the Jerry and Jerry show a lot to cover on this program. For the viewers and listeners that I see asking it's available wherever you get your social media or podcasting content get online and follow JerryRackliff.com and get online and follow him on Twitter.

The I Love Seaville Show is up at 1230, where we're going to play that sizzle reel on Jim Ryan from Hootie Rackliff, Judah Wickar, if we can cut that. That was fresh content, absolutely. Thank you kindly for joining us and so long everybody..