Virginia Tech President Tim Sands and athletic director Whit Babcock announced an eight-member search committee to hire the Hokies’ next football coach on Friday morning.
It’s comprised of three people from the Virginia Tech football realm, two current Board of Visitors members, one former Board of Visitors member and two distinguished businesswomen who are still heavily involved with Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business.
“This committee represents the spirit and strength of Virginia Tech athletics and Hokie Nation at the highest level,” Sands said in the school’s release. “I am confident in their ability to identify a coach who can lead our football program with passion and integrity, inspire our student-athletes to excel and position the Hokies to deliver the sustained success that our university community and fans expect and deserve.”
The committee:
- Bruce Arians: A player and graduate assistant for the Hokies in the 1970s, he’s a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year who guided the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl LIV victory in 2020. He posted an 80-48-1 record in the NFL and was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
- Bridget Ryan Berman: A 1982 graduate of Virginia Tech, she’s the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret and Giorgio Armani, the COO of Apple Retail and Global Group President of Ralph Lauren. The Managing Partner of Ryan Berman Advisory, she’s currently the Vice President of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board.
- Lynne Doughtie: The retired Chairman and CEO of KPMG, she graduated from Virginia Tech in 1985 and received the school’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2018. A member of Boeing’s Board of Directors who has served on the university’s Alumni Association Board, she was named to Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People.
- Bud Foster: The Hokies’ legendary defensive coordinator and linebackers coach followed Frank Beamer from Murray State to Blacksburg and was on staff from 1987 until his retirement in 2019. A 2006 Broyles Award winner as the nation’s top assistant, he’s served as a special assistant to Babcock since 2020.
- Brad Hobbs: The President and CEO of Air Control Concepts, he’s active in the HVAC industry and leads one of the country’s largest engineered product distribution companies. A 1990 graduate of Virginia Tech and former Board of Visitors member, he’s a childhood friend of Governor Glenn Youngkin and served on his transition team following his election in 2022.
- Ryan McCarthy: A graduate of VMI and Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, he served in the U.S. Army from 1997-2002 during the invasion of Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. He was the Secretary of the Army from 2019-21, too. Moreover, he worked on the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and with Lockheed Martin on the F-35 program. He’s a current Board of Visitors member.
- J. Pearson: A Board of Visitors member, Pearson graduated from Virginia Tech in 1987 and was a member of the Corps of Cadets. He earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Virginia Army National Guard and served for nine years. He founded Carry-On Trailer, the largest trailer manufacturer in the world, and Vehicle Accessory Inc., the leading supplier of vehicle accessories in the country.
- Eddie Royal: The former wide receiver accounted for 18 touchdowns from 2004-07 with the Hokies and accumulated 1,778 receiving yards on 119 catches. A 2008 NFL Draft selection by the Denver Broncos, he spent nine years in the NFL and is currently a studio and in-game analyst for the ACC Network.
“With the support of our Board of Visitors, Virginia Tech has never been better positioned to compete at the highest levels of the ACC and nationally,” Babcock said. “This committee brings star power, experience and a true passion for Virginia Tech. Together, we are determined to find the right leader to move our program forward.”
The Hokies are currently 2-3 overall. They’ve won back-to-back games under interim head coach Philip Montgomery, who was elevated after Brent Pry’s dismissal on Sept. 14, which came on the heels of an 0-3 start.
The announcement of a search committee also comes after the Board of Visitors approved a plan to increase the athletic department budget by $229.2 million over the next four years.