Reading quotes from BoV meeting, Whit went a bit scorched earth
I know he gets a lot of grief on TSL, but his comments yesterday are far better and more direct than I expected.
*note: everything below is just based on reported comments. I have no idea what his tone was or the tone of the BoV.
He basically called out the BoV for lack of support in the past. He was blunt in what is needed for funding. He was also blunt that VT is at risk of falling permanently behind in athletics. And he seemed to have a short timer lack of restraint.
Two comments really jumped out at me:
"I don't plan on doing this job for many more years, either of my choosing or y'all's choosing."
"I feel like I’ve been crying wolf and the wolf is really coming."
Link:
BoV article
66 Replies
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TDVick
11mo
Sands a big culprit here. He just seems to dawdle around when it comes to athletics. Granted academic progress has been good, but we get slammed when we post that he is very poor President for sports. How is that not the case?
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
11mo
Absolutely need a major house cleaning in the Ath. Dept. and Jokie Club!! Professional fundraising is the way to go. Will that become a reality? Stay tuned??
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
11mo
I speak only for myself, and I've got no money to spare anyway, but I absolutely don't give a crap how VT's team fairs in this new world of NFL-lite football. I won't contribute a penny to pay athletes to wear a VT uniform.
(In response to this post by ancient alien 2018)
11mo
for example has halted ALL of their CAPEX into facilities, some which actually had donations, and had been in the works for many years. They too are struggling on where to come up with the $20M+ for revenue sharing, as all schools are. it's easier of course for an Ohio State to find $20M+ lying around, but even with P2 distributions, some in those conferences are struggling as well.
It seems to be the price of admission to be competitive these days, as the increase in media money and playoff money is a double edged sword currently.
I think it's why schools and conferences are looking at PE. I learned that Kansas was one of the schools that was a hard no on PE, as was TT, and a couple of others. Looking at the deep pocket donors of those schools, it's not hard to figure out why.
(In response to this post by RandomAsianGuy)
11mo
would be fiscal malfeasance.
(In response to this post by Big12 guy)
11mo
Students want to go to a school that is great academically AND have a top athletic program. In the the cliff the Radford's ODU's Mary Washington of the world are going to be the schools that suffer. The UVA VT VCU mason and Wm and mary all have national demands that will squeeze out the small schools
(In response to this post by VT ChemE 1986)
11mo
even schools like VT may still see a little cliff. Particular if students are limited on how much they can borrow under a student loan and tuition/cost of attendance continues to go up. Something will have to give somewhere if students can't find a solution to fill the gap between the two figures. It could mean settling for Radford or ODU-like schools instead of VT or UVA even if they go the community college route.
(In response to this post by 1947Sunbowl)
11mo
its always community college.
If you have your brand and reputation top, students will always come to you.
Its always about experience....
(In response to this post by VTHokie2000)
11mo
their financial support to colleges/universities, then schools may not be able to accept as many students as they did in the past. My point is people can't look at the problem(s) in a vacuum because the schools don't live in one.
** Edited by VTHokie2000 at 8/25/2025, 9:30:48 AM
(In response to this post by 1947Sunbowl)
11mo
The small schools will get hammered. Even so, I do not see VT enrollment growing. I think they will do well to keep it steady.
(In response to this post by 1947Sunbowl)
11mo
(In response to this post by ancient alien 2018)
11mo
He doesn’t forge new paths. He just manages what he has.
(In response to this post by Atlee Hokie)
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saret
11mo
(In response to this post by VT ChemE 1986)
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VTCALS72
11mo
those that can do and those who can't become message board posters 😊
(In response to this post by saret)
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saret
11mo
group would include you, right?
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)
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RJHokie
11mo
But most likely telling administration all was fine on the home front when in fact it was beginning to crack and collapse.
(In response to this post by Atlee Hokie)
11mo
(In response to this post by Atlee Hokie)
11mo
(In response to this post by 91HokieBob)
11mo
that was about 4-5 years into major facilities builds across college football. Bama started it under Saban and 2011 or 2012 is when Clemson built theirs, proceeded to knock us down then went on to win multiple multiple ACC football Champs and 2 National titles. We were behind in money and facilities then and did nothing going into end of Beamer and into Whit and Fu. Fu raided the red flag circa 2016, 2017 and instead Whit built a baseball stadium and fu'd Fu. The leading indicators of his BoV presentation have been in college football news, posted here on the boards, I've shown disparities for years here, TSL articles written about it and now here we are. Whit has never once released an Athletics Master Plan during his tenure. Other major programs do that to help stay ahead and relevant. Google it, it's easy. To say the BoV or Whit is unveiling some shocking revelation is...naivety only for those in sleepy Blacksburg.
(In response to this post by VT ChemE 1986)
11mo
Why hasn't he helped himself by hiring a good/great fun raiser as HC chief?
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
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VTCALS72
11mo
was the wolf at their door. And I don't mean just VT. And I still contend that the reason we don't have a fund raising staff to really go after the money for pay for play is that was a foreign concept for what the whole Hokie Club was directed to do which was to raise money that would be paid directly to VT and not paid out to players or football operations. It was to pay for scholies and some direction change from above the Athletic Dept would have to make that change.
(In response to this post by Atlee Hokie)
11mo
a pay raise?
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)
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VTCALS72
11mo
That still does not mean any school schould go all in before they can see where they are going. We can say we told you so on needing 30% more cash but the still unanswered question is whether VT can or should play in a 2025 dollars $200,000,000 per year for the two revenue sports.
(In response to this post by VT ChemE 1986)
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saret
11mo
go "all in," do we have the right people who can handle the new direction, and what guidelines are put in place to make sure they are performing adequately.
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)
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saret
11mo
responsibilities. And, it's failure to respond only compounds their misfeasance.
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)
11mo
The anagrams for "Whit Babcock" (using all letters exactly once, forming valid English words or phrases) include the following:
- Aw ***** Bock
- Back Bit Chow
- Back ***** Ow
- Back Bow Chit
- Back Bow Itch
- Back Cob Whit
- Back Cob With
- Backbit Chow
- Baht Cob Wick
- Bat Bow Chick
- Bath Cob Wick
- Cab ***** Wok
- Cab Bock Whit
- Cab Bock With
- Cab Both Wick
- Cab Bow Thick
- Catch Bib Wok
- Caw Bob Thick
- Chat Bob Wick
- Tab Bow Chick
- Tack Bib Chow
- Thaw Bib Cock
- Thwack Cob Bi
- Watch Bock Bi
- What Bib Cock
- Whack Bib Cot
- Whack Bob Tic
- Whack Cob Bit
(In response to this post by Atlee Hokie)
11mo
(In response to this post by MrBayAreaHokie)
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VPI 1924
11mo
Why waste money on ******* athletes!!???
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
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Stech
11mo
The best thing he could have done after saying them is we are putting together a transition plan to bring in a new skill set for AD, with an emphasis on fundraising and preparing for Conference changes at the Tier 1 level. We don’t have timelines finalized, but I want to help Virginia Tech prepare for the future. His whole presentation would have be received better by many donors and many more would be saying, “how can I help?” Instead of here is the problem, that we have known for several years.
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
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Vippie1
11mo
If he hadn't gone hat in hand to raise money for the most important reset in VT Athletic history to buyout Fuente and hired a prominent experienced head football coach to immediately turn the ship around....which is more or less what he promised. And instead badly misreading the market and VT attraction and ending up with a panic hire resulting with shoving VT further behind.
Yeah if that hadn't happened I feel better about his case.
(In response to this post by Stech)
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VTCALS72
11mo
No AD ever says that. or at least no non blueblood. They talk in lofty plattitudes but not that "bet my job" specific.
2nd, stop thinking that CBP was any more or any less of the best available to VT at the time. The coaches you feel we should have gotten, wanted no part of VT. A couple used VT to get raises and better offers but they weren't coming.
The bottom line is the pool of candidates who were serious about VT were recently fired and unemployed coaches who had some success in the past, a coordinator or position coach at a blueblood or a coach from G5 or lower.
Whit chose the one who knew the most about who VT is after the hot lower level previous coach flamed out.
(In response to this post by Vippie1)
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Stech
11mo
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)
11mo
we can attract good football coaches again.
Between the Fu/Baylor fiasco and the Andrea Adelson article, he is dead to the coaching community.
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)
11mo
impact the quality of the new AD they can attract as well. Ugly circle we have our selves in.
(In response to this post by NokieHokie)
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2hhoop3
11mo
appears to be a short timer thus his impact is more likely on the timing of candidate's interest than his action. The BOV with its politically appointed nature is a different question. The funding issue is significant but, one of a number of issues whose significance to a candidate will have varying impacts I think. The constant is the fanbase and their support both physically and financially. The physical would not seem to be a question and while the financial is a question that the candidate will have to wrestle with. The candidate will have to ask hisself/herself are historical results more a reflection of process or culture?
(In response to this post by Jwunderdog)
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Vippie1
11mo
Okay, so VT (in retrospect) didn't have the resources to attract a more experienced power football coach . Then what was really the point of going all in (which is exactly what that move was given the external circumstances at that point in time) in firing Fuente and hiring Pry? Is one to believe Pry was the plan all along? Or that Whit sorely and sadly miscalculated with VT's last best shot (which has lead to this desperate situation we now find ourselves in)? I'm going with the latter. Look, even a more prominent hire then Pry could have resulted with us being in the same spot- or not. But IMO he badly squandered our best hope of timely turnaround.
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)
V
VTCALS72
11mo
That is still clinging to the forelorn hope that the golden era was about what VT did and not what the hall of fame coach did. That bubble may come again but it is doubtful.
Now talking real baseline turnarounds, CBP in his 2nd season did that already by bringing us from the burning ashes of a football program to win 7 games in year 2.
You appear to still be clinging to a belief that much better coaches and players are just dying to come to VT If the AD and coach could just get out of their own way.
I will grant you one thing, CJF MAY could have stabilized a baseline some higher than where we are now. But he didn't get it done.
(In response to this post by Vippie1)
11mo
is dead in the water, and will never be able to compete again, and how the "good old days" will never come around again, and all the harsh realities, and blah blah blah blah blah, on and on.
We all just found out that the BOV and the president of the university had zero idea that VT was bottom of the barrel in athletic department funding in the ACC, because Babcock decided not to ring the alarm for, well, his entire tenure as athletic director, which also just happens to be the same timeframe in which both VT football and athletics as a whole took a head first dive off a cliff and continues to jet towards the bottom of the barrel.
The VT athletic department and, by extension, the football program, are funded at a level below some AAC institutions. THAT's why the football program has become a running joke. Not because the landscape doesn't allow VT to be competitive. We're getting exactly the results that have been paid for. It's not about being competitive nationally - VT isn't even competitive with Duke and Louisville. And, as I've said many, many times on here - if Clemson University in Fort Hill, South Carolina, that has on average 10k fewer undergrads and an estimated 100k fewer living alumni than Virginia Tech - if they can figure it out and be competitive/win the ACC, then there's absolutely zero reason VT can't do it. I and anyone else with the capacity for critical thought are sick and tired of the excuses and the BS.
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)
O
ombandit
11mo
couldn’t pay the asking price. If you can win at Iowa State you can win at VT
** Edited by ombandit at 8/19/2025, 9:59:31 PM
(In response to this post by Vippie1)
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saret
11mo
and poorer money management.
(In response to this post by ombandit)
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TDVick
11mo
sports over the past few years, correct? Yet that is exactly what we did. Poorly played. We field more teams than lots of schools with higher overall budgets. That is the headscratcher to me.
(In response to this post by saret)
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RJHokie
11mo
athletic director.
(In response to this post by TDVick)
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TDVick
11mo
(In response to this post by RJHokie)
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saret
11mo
sports.
Link:
Cuts
(In response to this post by TDVick)
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RJHokie
11mo
I believe Clemson cut men’s swimming/diving some years ago, but added softball and women’s lacrosse. Not sure about others.
(In response to this post by TDVick)
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Stech
11mo
have all seen this in a leader, and these leaders are death by a thousand cuts so to speak. It’s probably better to have a SonBit, that no one really likes and once they lose…gone! Al Groh comes to mind 🤣, although I never knew him, but I know many Hoos who felt that way.
(In response to this post by Vippie1)
11mo
As soon as VT does that, they’ll increase their budget more. VT also needs to address how to maintain staying at the top. I hope they continue to stay on top of this by calibrating the budget frequently and remain committed to being at or near the top
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
11mo
Scrub the other accounts, quit having the university charge the athletic dept for parking spaces on campus (was 9 dollars per space to now 3 per space. WHY EVEN CHARGE.
It appears the university has alot of these back charges that go against the athletic dept budget. (like marching virginians WHY are they not funded as part of part of the music department???? that would free up budgets for there (same for pep band as well)... WHy is the maintenance of the of the marching virginians building charged to athletics???? its a music program of hte university.
IF the raise student charges to UVA level they gain 20 million. So Our current operating budget is 144 million next year that could be 164 milliion easy... Work that naming rights NOW, and get a national brand who pays the big bucks. All rights are on the table. Amazon colliseum, Toyota Stadium and nationwide field.
(In response to this post by hokieball)
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saret
11mo
Whit's presentation re: reducing the cost of some services to the AthDept, or shifting the cost of those services elsewhere. I can see reasons to do some shifting, with some negatives aspects that could be incurred. Doesn't look like Whit was very introspective in his analyses or his presentation.
(In response to this post by 1947Sunbowl)
11mo
Typical fund raising staff for a 200 million dollar program have over 100 orofessionals with expertise in fund raising . Many still think we can do it wirh w couple of folks making phone calls.
Now rhe question is does whit have competent managmemt who can operwte in this world. The family hires or insdiers dont help. They come in cheap versus finding and paying fhe best
Sugge
(In response to this post by saret)
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saret
11mo
However, cutting some unnecessary expenses would help mitigate somewhat. Just one example, the AthDept is spending $500,000 per year LEASING seat backs in Lane Stadium that no body asked for or like. Again, Whit is fiscally irresponsible.
(In response to this post by 1947Sunbowl)
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2hhoop3
11mo
is not a long term strategy to growth and success. It may be a short term strategy to jettison deadweight and refine processes to be more efficient but, top line revenue growth is the long term ticket.
(In response to this post by saret)
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saret
11mo
management etc. is the stew that leads to better efficiency. But all are needed, to varying degrees to be make the stew not only efficient, but edible.
(In response to this post by 2hhoop3)
11mo
I think this board would be much happier and supportive of him if he had delivered this message 3 yrs ago and actually hired a qualified football coach.
For whatever reason, his acknowledgement of reality now does not excuse his responsibility to know and act on the situation when it was obvious to everyone where this was going.
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
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RJHokie
11mo
(In response to this post by VT ChemE 1986)
11mo
He is not the AD for a large football playing university.
(In response to this post by RJHokie)