Bitter blog - A Q&A with Virginia Tech AD Whit Babcock, Part II

By: Andy Bitter on May 23, 2014, 12:39 PM | 23 comments

A holiday weekend is rapidly approaching, so I'm rushing out Part II:

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/columns_and_blogs/blogs/andy_bitter_virgin...

Forums: 
Football Forum
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Comments

wisec4g's picture wisec4g | 12 years 1 month #

The best days are ahead for Hokie Athletics

VT '10--US Citizen; (804) Virginian By Birth; (979) Texan By the Grace of God.

Rick Monday... You Made a Great Play...

I also root for: The Keydets, Army, TexAggies, NY Giants, NY Rangers, ATL Braves, and SA Brahmas

BWade's picture BWade | 12 years 1 month #

I mean what other words are there to describe how much this guy gets it. The way he talks about his communication with Beamer and the way Buzz talks about him, you can tell everyone loves him. The momentum in Blacksburg is picking up speed at a startling pace.

8300A_Hokie'12's picture 8300A_Hokie'12
🏝NO BAD DAYS🏖🤙
| 12 years 1 month #

Thanks a lot for these Andy. Im absolutely pumped about the way Whit thinks and where he has us headed

"The Big Ten is always using excuses to cancel games with us. First Wisconsin. Then Wisconsin. After that, Wisconsin. The subsequent cancellation with Wisconsin comes to mind too. Now Penn State. What's next? Wisconsin?" -HorseOnATreadmill

Alum07's picture Alum07
🦃 LEG KING 🦃
| 12 years 1 month #

AB: Is that something you would re-examine, particularly after upping the commitment to the basketball assistant staffs salaries?
WB: "But Buzz [Williams] probably isnt in the top five paid coaches in the ACC. And coach Beamer, I dont know, maybe hes fourth or fifth as well, but you could certainly make the argument that coach Beamer should be the highest paid. You always look at it. You dont want to sit and just be content, but its something you evaluate at the end of each year and you go through with your head coach, and if you can make some improvement staff-wise, great. But if having the biggest budget and paying the most equated to winning every game, then Ohio State and Texas and Florida would be undefeated. Now, theyre really good. But youve got to have good people. Youve got to pay market value. And youve got to find people that are the right fit for Virginia Tech. And I love the makeup of our staff right now on our football side. Actually, its as good a group of coaches collectively across the board in every sport that Ive ever been around. And I believe this year well have our highest Learfield Directors Cup finish as an entire department in history. Weve finished in the top 25 to 30, hopefully better. I believe our highest ever finish before was 34th out of 119 or so. And that was last year. So this year ought to be our highest finish across the board collectively in Virginia Tech athletics in our history."

For those of you worried we might not be able to afford who we want as a coach when Beamer retires, re-read that section. Whit gets it. He knows we should already have the highest paid coach in the ACC, and now that this mindset is there, you better believe he'll get whatever guy he wants when that time comes. The more this guy speaks, the less and less I am worried about the future of Virginia Tech athletics.

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

ohherro's picture ohherro
🥁STICK IT IN🥁
| 12 years 1 month #

A holiday weekend is rapidly approaching, so I'm rushing out Part II:

Translates to: I'm going to the beach now! Peace out, bitches!

(edit: I can't spell "peace")

Andy Bitter's picture Andy Bitter | 12 years 1 month # ^

I'm actually not going anywhere. But I doubt many people will be at their computers the next couple days once work/school lets out today.

ohherro's picture ohherro
🥁STICK IT IN🥁
| 12 years 1 month # ^

AB: [I gleefully outline the Bitter Plan I wrote about last June -- no divisions, three fixed rivals, five rotating matchups that allows you to play everybody in the league home and home in a four-year cycle]

WB: "Yeah, and you know what. I think its a good model. Theres just more desire to stay in our current divisions and see how the playoff structure works. On down the road, your model could very well be the one we take. Do you want a commission check for that?"

Are you happy that you didn't just get a "nod and smile"?

Andy Bitter's picture Andy Bitter | 12 years 1 month # ^

He might have been giving me the "nod and smile" treatment. He disguised it well if he did.

VPIhokieME's picture VPIhokieME
'_'
| 12 years 1 month #

wow. just read through all of that...If AB and WB spoke as slowly as I read, that conversation would have needed a couple of intermissions...maybe a lunch break.

anyway, I'm really pleased with what I read. First, Andy, those were great questions. Well done!!! Secondly, Whit is sharp. I think he's on the ball and I'm optimistic about the future of VT athletics.

Onward and upward

VTGuitarMan's picture VTGuitarMan
🎸OG LEG KING 🎸
| 12 years 1 month #

No cake vs. pie question? I thought for sure it would be the closer for Part II.

In all seriousness, though, the questions you asked were fantastic and I was thrilled with Whit's responses. Thanks, Andy, for all your hard work and clearly high level of preparation.

"Exit light..."

Alum07's picture Alum07
🦃 LEG KING 🦃
| 12 years 1 month # ^

He's responded before. The answer was pie

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

VTGuitarMan's picture VTGuitarMan
🎸OG LEG KING 🎸
| 12 years 1 month # ^

I knew I liked him.

"Exit light..."

Hokemon''s picture Hokemon' | 12 years 1 month #

I am a Whitness!

GO HOKIES!

GO HOKIES!

vtandy's picture vtandy | 12 years 1 month #

Turkey legs for all. This pleases me so much.

ricksmith's picture ricksmith | 12 years 1 month #

WB: "Yeah, UVa will always be our rival. And thats great competition. I have a lot of respect for them. Thats a good question. I think you can develop them. I think they have to happen on their own. But youve got to play them frequently for that to happen. I mean, South Carolina-Clemson is a pretty darn good one. Florida State-Florida, those are pretty good. So I would be open to that. Maybe West Virginia becomes that, although were only playing them three times in the next eight years, is that right? So its a little hard to develop that, but I dont know.

I love Whit as much as the next Hokie, but this quote terrifies me. I know he has a connection to WVU, but I hope this doesn't lead to a future annual rivalry with the cousins. I know Whit communicates with the fans as much as any AD, so maybe we can make it clear to him that most of the fanbase would prefer Tennessee over WVU.

We are the Hokies. We will prevail. We will prevail. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

buggzy's picture buggzy | 12 years 1 month # ^

Tennessee has to prefer us back...i don't see them having any interest in creating a rivalry that never existed. let's enjoy the Bristol thing, and MAYBE get a later home and home out of it if all goes well, but i wouldn't expect any more than that...

I don't have to take this abuse from you, I've got hundreds of people dying to abuse me.

ricksmith's picture ricksmith | 12 years 1 month # ^

I agree that an annual OOC rivalry would require both programs to find it beneficial. I suppose my point was that Whit used to work at WVU, so he may find it easier and more logical to reignite that series. However, he may be unaware of the fact that many Hokies refuse to go to Morgantown. It's obviously not a requirement to have an OOC rivalry; I would actually prefer to continue not having one rather than WVU reappearing on the schedule every year.

We are the Hokies. We will prevail. We will prevail. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

buggzy's picture buggzy | 12 years 1 month # ^

i miss having an OOC annual rival. it was uva then wvu for a couple years before we shut it down (for good reason at the time). i've had some terrible experiences in morgantown, so i wouldn't suggest just throwing them back on the schedule, but let's see what happens with the home and home. if things have improved, i would love to get that rivalry back. if not, i would say no one currently fits the bill as a "rival", but if something develops through future games, i'm all ears.

I don't have to take this abuse from you, I've got hundreds of people dying to abuse me.

NotoriousZSB's picture NotoriousZSB | 12 years 1 month # ^

I hated WVU, and I was sad like most of us around in the early 2000s, when that rivalry died. I don't understand why you wouldn't want to play them besides the conference prestige of trying to create a rivalry with an SEC school over a Big 12 team. They will qualify in the new playoff future. Acknowledging I think Tenn is a great fit geographically, and does make a lot of sense if we wanted to try that out. I would much prefer to play WVU on a regular basis because the hate was/is real there. I just have so many more feelings about WVU than Tennessee in the context of emotion which is key for a rivalry. It's what makes our games with Miami and UVA so good

That said I think you could get both if you played one every other, it would be often enough to have rivalry relevance, but avoids loading up any one year as a mad house if they're both highly ranked.

ricksmith's picture ricksmith | 12 years 1 month # ^

I understand where you're coming from. I have never been to Morgantown, but my older brother and his friends have shared some of their horrible experiences with me. Combined with many secondhand stories from Hokies and even posts on this website, I'll never go. That is why I brought this up, and also why I mentioned Tenn. I feel like beginning a rivalry with the vols would be the next best thing. However, I do plan on giving our game at FedEx a shot if that comes to fruition, so perhaps I'll change my mind.

We are the Hokies. We will prevail. We will prevail. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

swvadon's picture swvadon | 12 years 1 month # ^

It is extremely debatable if 'most of us' were upset at ending the WV games. I expect that most Hokie fans did not mind ending the series. I absolutely was glad to see it end. I have experienced first hand just how horrible their fans continually are, and I mean a massive number of their fans, not isolated fans. I also have heard reliable stories from many others that reinforce that negative characterization. It's not at all about the teams being competitive, it is ALL about the fans being abhorrent.

ProudHokie's picture ProudHokie | 12 years 1 month #

Every time you read anything Whit says you feel better about the future of Hokie land. We are so lucky we hired him and I hope he stays for a long time.

Hokemon''s picture Hokemon' | 12 years 1 month #

Whit has an uncanny knack for saying all the right things
AND
telling us what we want to hear! Its a beautiful thing!!!

GO HOKIES!!!

GO HOKIES!