As we conversed in his office last month, Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock envisioned future revenue streams for Hokies football such as corporate logos on uniforms and the field, ads pitching casinos, betting apps and alcohol, and, longer term, an entertainment district around Lane Stadium.
“Yes, it will still be college sports,” Babcock said. “They’ll still be students, but it’s going to look a whole lot more like pro football.”
Sunday’s dismissal of Brent Pry, three winless games into his fourth season as the program’s head coach, has accelerated that professionalization of Tech football. Indeed, this is a moment where the Hokies will adapt or perish.
“With additional financial support and new resources available to increase traditional and creative athletics revenue generation, I am confident you will soon see a modernized structure built for success in this rapidly changing environment of college athletics, more in line with professional football organizational structure on the football side of things, and from an athletic department standpoint, a structure and organization more in line with corporate business,” Babcock said Tuesday during a seven-minute address to media, after which he declined to answer questions.
What should this “modernized structure” entail?
Chiefly, the Hokies ought to hire a titled, empowered general manager to coordinate player acquisition, retention and compensation, much like GMs in the NFL.
The general manager should be in place to assist Babcock, university president Tim Sands and others as they identify the Hokies’ next coach.
This is Babcock’s third football search in 12 seasons at Tech, and after Justin Fuente and Pry disappointed for myriad reasons, this process will be markedly different.
Rather than essentially fly solo, as in the past, Babcock said Tuesday that he will team with a search committee comprised of football experts, Board of Visitors members and other campus leaders to reach consensus on the next coach.
That selection must, absolutely must, be a proven head coach. No on-the-job training.
Not with the program’s compromised state. Not with the glaring game-management issues that defined Pry, a charismatic and authentic personality who lacked head-coaching experience.
And why didn’t Tech support Pry and his staff with a credentialed general manager? It’s a fair question with a succinct answer.
Money.
And where will the athletic department unearth the money now to hire a GM? The Board of Visitors is about to tell us.
On Aug. 18, Babcock spent more than an hour detailing his department’s economic challenges to Sands and the board. He said the Hokies lag behind their ACC rivals and Power Four conference peers in fundraising, campus support and, therefore, spending.
How far behind? Babcock told board members Tech needs an annual budget of approximately $200 million, about $50 million more than current outlays, to compete atop the ACC.
David Teel: Hokies AD Babcock tells board ‘our resources don’t match our expectations’
Two days later, board rector John Rocovich asked two colleagues to spearhead development of a plan to further support athletics. He gave them until Sept. 30, and Sands referenced that directive Sunday in the news release announcing Pry’s departure.
Moreover, Babcock on Tuesday repeated Sands’ statement.
“Board of Visitors members J. Pearson and Ryan McCarthy have been charged by the rector, John Rocovich, to work with university leadership and AD Whit Babcock to develop a financial, organizational and leadership plan that will rapidly position the Virginia Tech football program to be competitive with the best in the ACC,” Sands said.
The key phrase is “financial, organizational and leadership plan,” for while the financial piece was a given after last month’s board meeting, the organizational and leadership components foreshadowed the restructuring of the football program and athletics department.
Enter a football general manager that will allow Babcock to focus on revenue generation and fundraising for not only football, but also men’s and women’s basketball and Tech’s Olympic sports.
“I and we will improve and evolve and adapt to this new landscape successfully,” Babcock. “I’m excited for this new era and the forthcoming initiatives and opportunities planned.”
The model is not new to the college space or the ACC. In the past year, for example, Stanford and Cal have appointed general managers with extensive ties to not only the NFL, but also the respective schools.
The Cardinal hired Andrew Luck, the All-America quarterback who led Stanford to an Orange Bowl conquest of Virginia Tech in January 2011 and played six seasons for the Indianapolis Colts. The Golden Bears tabbed former Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera, a star linebacker at Cal during the early 1980s.
As chairman of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, Sands is attuned to such industry trends. Plus, he’s a triple Cal graduate.
If Virginia Tech wants to follow the Cal/Stanford blueprint to the letter, a natural GM candidate is Pulaski native Jeff King. The starting tight end for the Hokies’ 2004 ACC champions, King joined the Chicago Bears organization in 2015 as a scouting intern, has climbed the ranks to senior director of player personnel and occasionally advises Tech on football matters.
Rivera and Luck were out of football when they returned to their respective alma maters as general manager. Whether King would relinquish an NFL position for a Hokies homecoming is probably worth exploring.
Bruce Arians quarterbacked Tech in 1974, worked there as a graduate assistant and coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl championship with Tom Brady under center. But at age 72, Arians is likely quite content in Tampa serving as a senior advisor to Bucs GM Jason Licht.
The Board of Visitors plan will be a landmark moment for the Hokies, a sales pitch to prospective coaches, general managers, recruits and their agents, a message to donors and fans that Virginia Tech is determined compete at college football’s highest level, however that level evolves in the next 5-10 years.
Babcock called Tech’s donors and fans “absolutely amazing and second to none” Tuesday and apologized “that we haven’t stepped up yet and returned the favor with results on the field. The paradigm of the college football landscape has obviously changed, and we are better positioning ourselves for success to be ahead of the curve rather than chasing behind it.
“It’s up to us to do our part as an administration and athletic department to progressively adapt, modernize and invest to win strategically, and to reward this fan base in a manner they deserve, expect and demand. And we will do that.”
After the Pry news broke Sunday, I asked a potential coaching candidate about his interest in the Hokies. His response: It would depend on “the alignment of the administration and the commitment level.”
This is Virginia Tech’s opportunity to show it has both in copious supply.
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com
