Virginia Tech will hire a new head football coach first, likely not until the end of the regular season, before bringing on a general manager for the program, Hokies athletic director Whit Babcock said in a Friday podcast with broadcaster Bill Roth.
Babcock corrected previous information that had gotten out when Super Bowl-winning coach and Hokies alum Bruce Arians, who is part of the eight-person head coach search committee announced Friday, said on the Pat McAfee show last week that Tech would hire a general manager first.
Babcock said there were discussions about that, but the committee and decision-makers realized that it could hinder the coaching search.
“If we put a GM in place that our next head coach has no relation with, it could severely limit our head coach candidate pool,” Babcock said, a conclusion the Virginia Tech power brokers came to after internal discussions and conversations with agents. “And we certainly don’t want that. The head coach will come first and will have input into the whole front office and hires.”
It pumps the brakes a bit on rumblings that Virginia Tech is close to hiring a general manager, a new role that will have an incredible amount of input in the operations of the football team.
While that position is still being defined, with questions of how much power that person will have over the program and who reports to whom, Babcock emphasized that the head coach will help bring the GM on board before consulting with him or her to fill out a “front office” staff in line with professional organizations.
He said in speaking with agents about NFL situations where dual roles of a head coach and general manager are open, that the head coach is typically put in place first.
“We want to be cutting edge but not bleeding edge,” Babcock said.
It brings up questions about who will report to whom under what Virginia Tech is touting as a more professional front office setup.
“It will look like an NFL model,” he said.
Though Babcock didn’t say exactly how that would work, noting that the Hokies are considering several college models, he mentioned a progressive situation at Ole Miss, where Lane Kiffin is the head coach who hired a general manager in Billy Glasscock to be a pairing that’s “50-50 equals.”
“To have a coach that’s not intimidated, for lack of a better word, to have somebody challenge them, to work in conjunction with them [is impressive],” Babcock said. “Ultimately, if you have the right coach and the right general manager, you’re only going to have disagreements on a few players each year.”
Babcock said the eight-person search committee will begin its search in full force this week. That group will identify the top two to four candidates before passing it on to what he referred to as the “hiring authorities” — a trio comprised of Babcock, President Tim Sands and Board of Visitors rector John Rocovich.
“Getting more eyeballs on this, the committee will have a huge say-so and primary say-so on who our next coach will be,” Babcock said. “I’m there to help and support them, maybe [offer] some lessons learned.”
To that end, Babcock very much sounded like someone with a role going forward. He spoke enthusiastically about finishing up his 12th year at Virginia Tech and leading the athletic department as it implements its Invest To Win plan, with an additional $229 million in university funding recently being approved by the Board this week to help make the Hokies competitive.
“It’s certainly a game-changer,” Babcock said.
Babcock said there is a strategic cadence on how the money will be invested, with oversight from the BOV and different ways to measure a return on investment.
“It isn’t just hand the AD a checkbook for $47.1 million this year,” he said.
The bulk of that money that will come the athletic department’s way in the current 2026 fiscal year will be primarily geared toward football, with it being used on the next head coach, better assistant and staff salaries, an enhanced recruiting budget, a more comprehensive front office structure, some facility upgrades and improving fan amenities.
The BOV’s plan is that $30 million of the budget increase each year will come from philanthropy, with Babcock noting that both the Hokie Club and university advancement will be tasked with raising that money. He said new athletics revenue that might be higher than projected (possibly through ACC viewership and success initiatives) and new money from premium seating could be part of that total.
“Hopefully the university putting skin in the game inspires our university donors and the Hokie Club donors to come along with us,” Babcock said.
As far as his job, which has come into question as the athletic department modernizes and shuffles responsibilities, Babcock said there is no news to report.
“I work at the pleasure of the Board and the President, and my role continues to be being the AD,” he said. “I want to help this search committee in any way I can and same for the next head coach, get him up and running and succeeding.
“My role will also include helping lay the infrastructure and groundwork on this new budget investment and the step-by-step Invest To Win plan. The AD role is always to continue to help the university navigate the new and ever-changing landscape of college athletics.”
He empathized with fans who are frustrated by the lack of football success over the last decade, noting his hand in two unsuccessful hires. He said he “thought the world” of coach Brent Pry but added that “it is just a results-oriented business.”
“I want nothing better than to change the narrative, bring this next head coach in,” Babcock said. "And yeah, the funding will help a little bit, but I don’t want to make past funding an excuse. We certainly should have performed better and met expectations. Again, the buck stops with me on that. It takes a toll, and I own it.”
He remains amazed by the fan base’s support of the football team, saying the crowd of 57,000-plus at the Wofford game, the week after Pry was fired, “blows me away.”
“With not meeting expectations over the past few years in football, all we want to do is reward them back for their passion,” Babcock said. “They’ve been doing their part. It’s time for us to do our part.”