Hearing that VirginiaTech AD Whit Babcock is among the leading candidates - and perhaps the No. 1 candidate - to replace Ian McCaw at Baylor— Jason King (@JasonKingBR) July 12, 2016
I didn't see anything about this so I'm starting a new thread about it! It seems like peak offseason is in full swing
Any thoughts about this? Does this have any ground? Any #Sauces inside the department that we can speculate on? I really hope this doesn't take hold. Whit has done so much good for the Athletics Department
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Unless they are backing up the Brink's truck, I wouldn't touch that dumpster fire if I were him.
Are we sure he isn't rumored to go to Texas A&M?
Seems like they are always hanging on our Orange and Maroons trying to poach.
Hoping he is only a candidate in their eyes. Would hate to see him go.
Are they even gonna have enough bodies for a football team next year?
Hopefully they do not have any Baylor branded Lamborghini's laying around.....
That's all we need. I can understand why Baylor would want him. Maybe the mountains are in his blood too thick to change to sage brush.
AD searches are almost as crazy coaching searches. Glad we got Coach Herman and Coach Smart when we did.
Dammit all to hell, why you got to start a Tuesday like this?
Here's some encouraging news
Praise Jebus!!!!
It's that time of year again
This would be a really strange move, and seemingly a step backwards in Whit's career. Also, Whit's stated multiple times he's home in Virginia.
To play devil's advocate, strange things in college athletics do happen. (Buzz to Tech shocked everyone in college basketball.) Given the current state of Baylor's athletic department, in order to land a big fish like Whit they'd have to aggressively pay and sell the satisfaction of a rebuilding job.
With all that said, it would be more believable if it was Texas A&M.
So, exactly the Buzz scenario. Well crap
Seems like he has enough of a rebuilding job here
Heavy rumors to Buzz being out the door last spring to TCU before Jaime Dixon threw his name in the hat. That is a shock to me, the TCU hoops job was selling nothing but hope, promises and wishes. Similar situation here with Baylor AD job.
Maybe you're comparing a blank slate with a broken slate covered in that sidewalk chalk that doesn't come off.
Zing!
Certainly doesn't seem like the type of thing that Whit would do, why leave 'home' for a mess considering that he's getting paid plenty of money in a town with a very low cost of living -- but I don't know that backwards is accurate -- Baylor has a $1.168B endowment, is a very good school in TX which is about as college sports crazy as it comes. They're private so I don't know their current Athletic Department budget but ultimately they could probably beat Tech in a bidding war.
OK, so it's highly unlikely that he'll go to Baylor (as per the tweet above) but this now has me wondering.... What schools would be enticing enough for Babcock to leave VT?
The guy is a Virginia native and everything between him and VT just seems like a perfect fit. Besides the fact that some schools can pay more money, are their legitimate contenders out there that could steal Babcock from us? I know we're not "blue blood" athletic program but we're not without.
Maybe I'm being naive and I'm just used to people sticking around Blacksburg for a long time, but even before I clicked this thread, I really wasn't worried that he was leaving. So what schools should have me worried, one day down the road?
JMU?
Honestly, I would believe that before someone claims Alabama or Southern Cal
anOSU, Bama, Mich, UGA and Texas.
Texas? Perhaps money trumps all, but the headache that comes along with managing all the stakeholders, people in your ear and politicking would seemingly be a deterrent for a person like Whit. He has the Virginia Tech athletic department in his palm, and there's something to be said for that level of control.
I see Whit as a guy who is willing to take on a challenge of the money is good. Sometimes the best people at their job like the toughest assignments, I think Whit is that kind of leader.
But I also see Whit as a Beamer type that would have more satisfaction taking on the challenge of getting VT to that level, than jumping ship for a "higher tier" job. But then again, everyone has a price.
That's a whole different challenge right there.
Baylor doesn't need a great Hokie architect to fix their dumpster fire. They're more likely to need a great Hokie Fireman!
He strikes me as someone who would not sacrifice the level of control he has at Tech to embrace a pawn's role of leadership.
I agree, the job would have to include control.
#NextACCCommish
Stanford? At Stanford you get to compete at the highest level in all sports, but (I think/assume) you get to deal with donors who are a little more rational than those of Texas, USC, etc. As a private school, you get to keep budget and whatnot secret, so you're open to significantly less public scrutiny.
Relevant: Interesting read
Were I a neutral 3rd party, Stanford would be tops on my list as a recruit, coach AD etc.
The backtrack begins:
"Could be #1 guy" to "well, he might be in the mix."
yeah, something something Bleacher Report..blah blah
not surprised
"I'm with Bleacher Report, the #172 sports news source in all of sports"
I'm not sayin', just sayin'.
via GIPHY
Can't embed on iPad, but he just threw his own info out.
https://twitter.com/jasonkingbr/status/752969165623787520
Classic journalistic example of throwing shit at the wall in hopes something sticks. You see it with every job opening out there and it gets tiring
Yeah, the BR Reporter must be pissed he can't get the Lambo again this weekend. Had to get some page hits this week.
I could see him leaving to any of the top 2-3 schools in a P5 conference - somewhere that has a significantly larger athletic budget, a wall of recent championships and significant influence over the conference. Possibly Florida, Bama, Texas, Oklahoma, OSU, Michigan, etc (aka, one of the top 10 jobs in the country).
Whit is relatively young - his career is not necessarily over and one of those jobs could both elevate his career and lead to bigger roles as a conference commissioner or NCAA lead. We need to realize that Whit, Buzz and Fuente are always going to mentioned as candidates to leave as long as they are doing well at Tech - too young and successful to assume they will be in bburg for 20 more years, #FirstWorldProblems
Woke up this morning to Twitterverse being very adamant about Whit being happy and staying home.
Glad this was just a false alarm!
In terms of programs similar to Virginia Tech, I'd be very worried if I heard Texas A&M, or especially UGA were poking around for him. Lots of similarities between Athens and Blacksburg. And the actual UGA Alums I've met are mostly classy people and fans (the horrid SEC homer UGA fans are the ones that have never set foot in a UGA academic hall, and usually not even set foot in any college classroom).
Clemson and USC-e are also both programs with similar towns and deeper pockets.
FTFY
UGA had almost the exact same problem we had, with an AD who wasn't able/willing to invest enough to put them over the top and a new hire who's given them a shot in the arm. From all the fans I've talked to who follow the program very, very closely, they are thrilled with the new guy.
Yeah, Kirby will be a big hit. They needed to move on from Richt in the worst way.
Greg McGarity's (the current UGA AD) actually not very well liked either.
Read this in a rush and saw "Gary McGarity" and thought, "That poor guy's parents have a sick sense of humor. What'd they name is sister, 'Charity?'"
Met a reporter once who was named Judith Baroody. You tell me what you'd be thinking...I was.
That you shoulda called her "Tooty"
Initial thought, "Judy".
Then I remembered a teacher we called Big Booty Judy in HS.
How about "Big Booty Baroody" (if applicable).
Baylor's athletic department is a dumpster fire right now. I really can't see any AD in the prime of his career, secure in his current position, and without ties to Baylor, wanting to touch that job with a 39-1/2 foot pole. Until they get their house in order, Baylor's options seem limited to the following generic candidates:
1. Up and comer from a lower-tier program wanting to make a name for him/herself
2. Baylor alum wanting to help the alma mater set things back on the right course, probably as a last gig before retirement.
3. Recently or soon-to-be fired AD willing to take just about any job.
Careful, someone somewhere is stoking the fires to make a 39-5/8 foot pole.
I'm a big WB fan, but have you seen his arms? No way he's got the upper body strength to wield that beast. I still feel safe.
I view Whit and Buzz the same way. As happy as I am that they are Hokies, I feel like it's inevitable that a bigger program will swoop them up. For those guys is a business move and I respect that.
I didn't see Buzz leaving for a 2nd tier Big12 job and I don't see Whit Babcock doing it either.
The biggest problem I see for keeping Whit Babcock (and for VT athletics as a whole going forward) is if phase 2 of Whit's program to dramatically increase athletics revenues fails due to a lack of alumni/fan/regional business willingness to participate at the level needed to make VT competitive on par with the top athletic programs in the country.
I worry if anyone can get the fundraising right if Whit can't.... his bread and butter is in fundraising, and if he can't turn it around... I'm not sure anyone can
"...and for VT athletics as a whole going forward..."
I don't know Whit at all but with the within-conference problems Texas causes when they wield their outsized financial and political clout, and the outside-conference risk of realignment, the Baylor AD job (as well as a few other schools in that conference) is probably a pretty stressful position to be in. I couldn't see him moving over there given our conference stability.
Has any checked Flight Tracker?
Whit is clearly interviewing with Lewis Univ & Southern Illinois
We're screwed
I know that Baylor clearly has major issues right now, but is it really that much worse than Virginia Tech. They have won multiple national championships, this horrible situation will be moved on from in a few years (cough Penn State). I love Virginia Tech, and I think that we have one of the best schools in the country, but if you look beyond football, and realize that he will be way over-paid and have great job security because of the situation he faces, then I don't feel like it is a worse job.
That being said, I love what David Teel reported about no truth to the rumors.
I view Baylor as a 90's internet firm. Making and spending lots of money but do they have staying power on the top level? Will their donor base fad away of they stop having success? What happens if the Big 12 breaks up?
is anybody else even slightly concerned at how vehemently they're denying the allegations? Maybe it's just me but it seems like a lot of times when a coach comes out and says that they are definitely not going anywhere the next thing you know, they're gone.
That being said, I'm fairly confident Whit isn't going anywhere any time soon. I actually believe him. But I wanted to point out that just because they say he's not interested doesn't mean that he's not interested.
No because they're desperately trying to fundraise and the easiest way to undermine those efforts is to allow the thought that the guy asking for the money is about to bolt to another school
Yes...I have the exact same thoughts!
Sure seems to be working hard at locking up his top coaches for longer contracts considering he's apparently foot out the door
Good job, BR!
http://www.chron.com/sports/college/article/Mack-Rhoades-to-be-new-Baylo...
Missouri's AD is expected to be named Baylor's AD
oh you mean the guy who oversaw the entire football team go on strike and get the president fired? great move baylor
brickhaus nailed it above with his prediction
To be fair, it wasn't all that difficult to predict. But I appreciate the recognition nonetheless.