On March 12, 1996, I launched the website that eventually turned into the multimedia entity that Tech Sideline has become. Today, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of a company and a community that has seen decades of highs and lows in Virginia Tech athletics.
When these big anniversaries, the multiples of five, come up, I feel as if I have to recap the history of Tech Sideline for those who might not know it.
Fortunately, I did that in our 25th Anniversary article back in March of 2021. I recommend clicking that link and reading what’s there before continuing. It’s interesting stuff, and it includes screenshots of nearly every iteration of the TSL home page over the years. (Some of them will engender a “My eyes! My eyes!!” reaction.)
That article does a great job recapping 25 years of TSL, but what really jumped out at me was the last few paragraphs, which start with, “To this day, not only do we have two full-time employees …”
Whoa!!! Only two?
I later also wrote, “We have plans to make Tech Sideline even bigger,” and boy, have we done that. It’s been a very productive last five years, to say the least, so let’s talk about that, since the first 25 years are recapped nicely in that article linked above.
More People and More Stuff
The growth in all aspects of Tech Sideline since the 25-year anniversary has been remarkable. Back in March of 2021, Chris Coleman and I were the two employees, of course, and the thing I was most proud of was our fewer-than-two-years-old podcast set (pictured in the 25-year article ... take the hint, if you haven't already), which put us at the top of Virginia Tech podcasting and was transforming our business.Since then:
- May 2021: We hired David Cunningham as our Managing Editor
- Fall 2021: I purchased SportsWar, Tech Sideline’s parent company
- March 2023: We hired Andy Bitter after he was laid off from The Athletic
- June 2024: We hired Nick Brown as our Director of Media
- August 2025: We launched the new, sleek TSL Podcast set and leveled up again
Every one of those events has been transformative. David brought much-needed structure and planning to Tech Sideline’s content, and he lessened the load on both Chris and me. Not to mention the expertise he brings to covering hoops here at Tech Sideline. No one works harder than David, though Nick Brown isn’t far behind, if at all.
The Athletic was dumb enough to let go of Andy Bitter, and we’re the better for it. Hiring Andy consolidated the two best sources of Virginia Tech football coverage into one outlet. He brought hundreds of new subscribers with him and continued the process of elevating Tech Sideline’s professionalism and reputation in the industry.
In case you missed it, both David and Andy were nominated for the 2025 Virginia Sportswriter of the Year:
https://twitter.com/NSMASportsMedia/status/1993442803863765472
A Tech Sideline writer, much less two of them, being nominated for that award was unthinkable just a few years ago, even though we’ve been producing great content for decades. (David Teel wound up winning it. Knocking off Teel is like trying to take down Penn State Wrestling. It’s not going to happen.)
Nick Brown is one of the hardest-working, most organized people I’ve ever met, and he has elevated our social media presence and audio/video operation well beyond what it was prior to his arrival. When we hired him in 2024, it was just a matter of time before we gave him a newer, bigger sandbox to play in, and last summer, Nick and I (and a few interns, most notably Carter Hill) built a new podcast set for that purpose.
In the last five years:
- We have added over 1,000 new subscribers to the website
- Our YouTube channel subscriber count has grown from 3,600 to over 12,300
- Our Twitter followers have grown from 17,000 to 32,000
- Our Facebook followers have grown from 23,000 to 31,000
- Our Instagram followers have grown from 2,000 to over 10,000
That doesn’t happen without a lot of hard work by a lot of people, and we’re glad that we’ve been able to grow and provide a way for Hokie fans to follow their favorite teams in more ways and more depth than ever before.
What is 30 Years?
To paraphrase Bob Seger from Like a Rock: “Thirty years now. Where’d they go? Thirty years now. I don’t know. I sit and wonder sometimes where they’ve gone.”Here’s how long 30 years is:
- I was 31 when I started Tech Sideline. I’m 61 now, so I’ve been doing this almost half my life.
- Chris Coleman was 13. He’s 43 now, and he, too, has been doing this almost half his life (hired in 2005).
- Andy Bitter was 16. “Good times,” he added in a DM.
- David Cunningham, Nick Brown, and that army of SMA (Sports Media and Analytics) interns that you’ve seen make their way through TSL since we moved to Blacksburg in 2018? None of them were even born yet.
Tech Sideline has been able to not just survive for 30 years, but thrive. If I make it another 30 years, which is my goal — my dad was 89 when he passed away — I have no doubt that we’ll still be here, beaming Hokie news straight into your brain with an army of content-producing robots.
And on that strange note, raise a glass. Thirty years down, decades more to go. Thank you, Hokie Nation, for everything. For supporting us and what we do.
Cheers.