Chris Plonsky Texas Women's Director of Athletics, Warde Manuel UConn AD, Michael Kelly Chief Operating Officer at College Football Playoff, Whit Babcock University of Cincinnati AD, Jeff Bourne JMU AD, and John Ballein. Very disappointing list to me other than Babcock and maybe Manuel. But then again, who the heck is Greg Roberts? Doubt he really has access behind the scenes.
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I'm disappointed none of us are listed.
Shoot, I forgot to submit my resume. I wonder if they're still taking applications...
That's a pretty long list. Maybe Brady Taylor should start showing interest. (no offense to the boy; saw an opportunity)
As long as you attach a sweet PowerPoint with your application, you should be fine
I don't think Roberts would be invited to sit on the committee - that would be about the only way he would know any names.
It'd be funny/cool for The Key Play to "endorse" a candidate like how major newspapers do for presidential elections.
Any candidate that reinstates "Stick it In" has my vote
And my axe!
Ah, I see what ya did there, Gimli...
What's disappointing about these candidates? Who were you hoping for?
Actually, the more I think about I like this list other than Ballein and Bourne. I just think we shouldn't be looking to take someone from inside the university (Ballein) and someone from an in state school like JMU (Bourne.)
My thoughts exactly.
My only question is....
Can he be Athletic Director AND Fullback?
You could split him in two, and have leftovers to serve as President and downfield blockers.
rADgers
Roberts has been covering the Hokies for a loooooong time (going back to his WDBJ 7 days). I would say he has the inside scoop.
That being said...meh. I wouldn't say any of these candidates scream fundraising and outstanding fan experience (at their schools)....the two biggest things we need.
I thought he was on WSLS Channel 10? Or was he on channel 7 before I arrived in Blacksburg in 1990?
I think you're right...i do remember him doing the high school football Friday show (I was a local, so I grew up watching him).
First impression... underwhelming. John Ballein and Jeff Bourne? Really?
Did some googling though.
Michael Kelly is intriguing. In addition to CFBP COO he was on some super bowl host committees and an ACC commissioner: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-kelly/22/b2/2bb
Not sure what to think about Warde Manuel, need to read more. He's under 50 though: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/genrel/manuel_warde00.html
Others speak well of Whit Babcock: http://www.gobearcats.com/genrel/babcock_whit00.html
Even has a Twitter account:https://twitter.com/WhitBabcock
Kelly is very interesting. ACC ties, bigtime college football ties, in the business/fundraising world. I like that he has little of the traditional AD management team experience. I'm in favor of a non-traditional selection.
Kelly is an interesting candidate... although this bar/restaurant interview is the only thing I could find on him...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e0d52U8tu0
Babcock has the resume and would probably be good hire for VT.
oh those I would prefer Babcock. Cincinnati is not a huge booster school but he's been able to get a lot out of them over the years.
Kelly would be interesting as one would assume he is very football oriented and may push things like coaching salaries to the next level.
Agree with other about Ballein and Bourne. I would not go in-state. I personally still harbor some bitterness towards Ballein from Tyrod's pro-day. Completely unorganized event and didn't prepare him with even an understanding of the rules which led to Tyrod having to throw to substitutes found that day. Plus he has been around VT a long time and boosters are on a downward trend at the moment. I don't see him energizing that crowd that already know him or of him.
curious, why is no one talking about Plonsky? because she's a she? because it's tu? because she isn't a full fledged AD? just glancing at her profile on the tu site tells me she has probably been doing MORE for a LARGER Athletic Dept than our entire senior Athletic Dept staff have been doing for years...
i don't mean that as some backhanded knock on Weaver and co, i'm a long time JW supporter on most things, but seriously, comparing the tu Athletic Dept to the Tech Athletic Dept is more of a joke than comparing us to JMU...seriously.
none of these candidates (if it's an accurate list) jumped off the page at me, but if i had to pick a favorite, it would be her. internal shouldn't even be considered, JMU shouldn't be considered, the others i'll give the benefit of the doubt, but IMO, her resume looks like the resume of someone we should be looking for...
I really don't know anything about Plonsky to give any opinion. I have known of or read about most of the others though.
I agree though, Plonsky is very intriguing candidate.
I was thinking the exact same thing about who is responsible for more budget than Plonsky, and as I understand it, Texas women's athletics overall are one of the closest to being profitable of any women's programs in the country. I don't know how much Plonsky has to do with that, but she is managing a budget that has to be near to or equal VT's overall budget right now.
As a few others have said, stealing the playbook on the CFP by bringing in Kelly also has a poetic ring to it.
I do agree though that whoever it is had better be able to fundraise with the best of them as several posts have notably pointed out on how lacking we are in contributions from the fan base.
Agreed, she has the credentials.
I would avoid Bourne like the plague. He's run that basketball program into the ground and wanted to not renew Brady last year, then Brady won the CAA (or whatever conference they are in) tourney and left Bourne looking like an idiot.
I know Ballein is capable, but we gotta get out from under this old-boys-network. And, frankly, I'm shocked that McCoskey isn't the in-house choice, not Ballein.
I think McCloskey has health issues of her own, and will retire shortly after an AD is announced.
Gotcha. He has had a helluva career, from Frank Beamer's secretary to twice-interim AD.
*she, I believe.
http://www.hokiesports.com/staff/mccloskey_sharon.html
sorry, type-o, not ignorance.
Plonsky and Kelly are intriguing candidates based on a quick google search. Babcock and Bourne seem unexciting but certainly capable. Manuel's resume is fine, but would he really be looking to move on after being hired at UConn just a year ago?
I was under the impression that the committee was keeping the AD search completely under wraps and that nobody was hearing any inside scoop. I have some basic questions -
1. Since Roberts is not on the committee, who is his source, or sources, and what's the motive for leaking this information?
2. Is the information accurate, or has it been thrown out to deflect attention from the actual slate of candidates?
3. Or, is this a committee-sanctioned leak designed to gauge the response to the possible candidates?
There are probably more questions, but these will do as starters.
Probably #3. I would say that the committee is interested in seeing the communities response, but they are probably also down to 2 or 3 candidates right now.
I would also guess that Bourne (with his VT connections), Ballein (obviously) are thrown in to show that the search included the VT connected names. Also with a lady candidate and a non-white candidate, both of whom are quite worthy of the position, it shows that the search committee considered diverse candidates with strong resumes.
My guess is that it's Babcock with Kelly as the wildcard.
I think its probably pretty obvious the committee is reading The Key Play as we speak.
What were the feelings of Weaver before he was hired? He was AD at Western Mich. before he came to VT and whatever you think of his deficiencies (paying coaches, FB scheduling, etc), he certainly has some strong positives; namely Lane Stadium expansion / facilities improvements and athletic dept budgeting.
None of these names really jump out to me, but I don't recall Weaver jumping out at the time and we could have done a lot worse.
Agree with what others have said that the new AD needs to make strides in fundraising and improved fan experience w/ a focus on whatever it takes to put VT back on the level Clemson & FSU currently enjoy in the conference.
Just two that I see as the next AD at VT, Mike Kelly . He has a lot of ties with the ACC and the head office of the ACC. Could run VT as a money maker in Sports. The AD from Cincinnati , Babcock. I believe he could fit in at VT, bring the BB programs back to a ACC level and he has done great in Fund Raising there. These two I like. I hope I didn't put a curse by picking them...
saw on twitter VT is down to 3 finalists, but no word as to who they are...any insight on this board? mentioned a story on WSLS tonight, but i don't live there...
From what I gather, Babcock will be the guy. Ballein definitely isn't getting it and that is probably good news for some of the third floor people, though I'm sure there will be turnover anyway since some of the people will retire this summer.
When do you think they will announce it?
Since the beginning they have always aimed for the first couple days of February. The 3rd is a Monday so maybe then, but there is a basketball game on the 1st so they could do it before the game.
They have already had the second round of interviews or told the candidates that are still in the running that they have a second interview.
On Greg Roberts, he used to be Sports Director at WSLS Channel 10 in Roanoke. I know at one time he had a connection to Beamerball.com, not sure if that still applies. Also was a sideline reporter for ESPN back in the days after Channel 10.