Tim Sands was the first domino to fall at the behest of the football booster lobby at Virginia Tech, and the second, Whit Babcock, fell on his sword today, announcing his, ahem, “retirement,” effective July 1, at which point Babcock will become the “athletics director emeritus.”
Translation: he still gets the $1.24 million per year owed to him through June 30, 2029, to offer advice.
Not a bad gig, if you can get it.
This all started with the news involving Sands, who announced back on April 9 that he intends to step down in the coming months, allowing the school to find a replacement and undergo as seamless a transition as possible, which is mighty swell of him to do, considering.
ICYMI
We reported on April 10 that the move, which some saw as being politically motivated, was in fact motivated by the desire of football boosters to get rid of Babcock, who oversaw the end of the Frank Beamer era and hired two successors to the legend whose tenures failed miserably – Justin Fuente, fired in 2021, and Brent Pry, fired last fall.
Their issue: six losing seasons in the last eight years.
I mean, I can feel their pain there.
The boosters are using the leverage given them by the launch of the school’s Invest to Win initiative, a scheme rolled out last summer that has set a $229 million fundraising goal with the stated aim to modernize Tech Athletics.
ICYMI
The bulk of that money – $120 million – is budgeted to come from private donors, who have been making it clear behind the scenes that they don’t want the guy who pushed Beamer out the door, and then had to fire the two guys he had replace Beamer, to be the guy anymore.
To make that happen, Sands, who had already signaled his intention to retire in 2027, needed to go, to allow the Board of Visitors to get a new president in place, so that this new president could, in turn, hire a fresh new AD.
This new “emeritus” position is a way to allow Babcock, under contract through 2029, under a compensation package that, as noted above, pays him $1.24 million annually, per data from Sportico, to save face.
“Serving as Virginia Tech’s Director of Athletics has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Babcock said in a statement featured in a press release from Virginia Tech Athletics announcing his “retirement.”
“For me and my family, this wasn’t just a career stop, it was my dream job and a homecoming of sorts. To return to Virginia, to serve this university, and to be part of a community that lives and breathes Hokie sports, has meant more than words can express,” Babcock said.
ICYMI
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Of note: Babcock is quoted in the release that he had been “considering this type of transition, likely next year.”
“The demands of the role and the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics have required a lot of thoughtful reflection regarding my work-life balance, my desire to focus on family, my health and the next chapter for me,” Babcock said.
“I know that now is the right time to retire as AD and allow new leadership and new energy to carry the momentum forward,” Babcock said. “When you can’t continue to give it 100 percent every day, it was just time.”
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Chris Graham
