I wrote a couple of weeks back about Virginia Tech basketball coach Mike Young maybe being on the hot seat, for probably obvious reasons.
Then we got word from a Tech insider that, even if Whit Babcock, the AD, wanted to make a change, he couldn’t.
The reason being: no money.
I’m trying to get to the bottom of things on that, but the folks at Tech Athletics are doing their best to channel the lack of transparency that I’ve come to expect from UVA Athletics.
Which is to say, yep, I sent emails to two athletics communications staffers asking for copies of the contracts of Young and the football coach who is also under some fire right now, Brent Pry, and the answer was: you’re going to need to FOIA that.
So, I won’t know exactly what the situation is with the details of the contracts for Young and Pry for at least five working days.
What I’m looking for most: the buyouts if Virginia Tech cuts bait with one or both.
I’m throwing Pry into the mix here with Young because, you may remember, Babcock had Pry make a run of staff changes in the offseason, and then some of Pry’s guys made their own staff changes, by running off to find jobs on other staffs.
ICYMI
- Brent Pry is making changes with his Virginia Tech Football staff; Tony Elliott is standing pat
- Virginia Tech Football: Did Brent Pry throw his O line coach to the wolves?
Pry is three years in, and he’s 16-21, with a 6-7 record in Year 3.
One more mid year like he’s had in the first three, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Babcock would show him the door.
Which has to be a factor with respect to Young, who is 103-79 in six seasons at Virginia Tech, 11-13 this season, after back-to-back 19-15 seasons following the surprise run to the 2022 ACC Tournament title.
Young has two one-and-done NCAA Tournament appearances, as a 10 seed and an 11 seed.
This, after taking over for Buzz Williams, who had led the Hokies to three straight NCAAs in his last three seasons, including a 26-9 record and Sweet Sixteen in 2019, the year that Virginia won its national title with Tony Bennett.
As much as Babcock might want to recapture the magic of 2019, football has to come first.
The insider who told us about the money issues two weeks ago was telling us a story that I’d been told a couple of years ago by another Tech insider, that Virginia Tech is largely tapped out in terms of being able to ask more from its donor base.
That, of course, can be hard, borderline impossible, to verify.
A quick look at the Knight-Newhouse finance database shows that Virginia Tech reported $27.6 million in donor contributions in fiscal year 2023, $10 million less than what UVA is reporting from its donors, which I wouldn’t view as a substantial gap.
A separate analysis specific to NIL monies, which I present with a grain of salt, because it’s an estimate, and NIL collectives are privately controlled, and under no obligation to be transparent – how does that work as a preface to say, it could all be BS? – has Tech $5 million behind UVA in NIL spending last year.
I note that the estimate is based on last-year numbers, because that would have been before UVA Athletics announced several multimillion-dollar NIL gifts, ahead of landing one of the nation’s top football portal classes in the 2024-2025 offseason.
What I’m getting at is, it looks like there could be a couple of things going on here at the same time.
One, there may be a money issue, if the insiders have it right – and while I’m not telling you who they are, they’d know, trust me.
Two, if there is a money issue, in terms of, how much is available, you’d have to prioritize, if you’re Whit Babcock, and if you’re prioritizing, you’re probably thinking, football first.
Bottom line: if what I’m being led to believe is true, Tech might just be stuck with Mike Young, for however long he has left on his contract.
I’ll know more on that, I hope, soon.
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Chris Graham
