Virginia Tech | School announces members of football coach search committee

Virginia Tech is making public the members of the search committee tasked with leading the effort to find a new head football coach, and it includes some heavy hitters.

The heaviest hitter, Frank Beamer, isn’t on the list – I’m not actually surprised by this; his kid, Shane, is the head coach at South Carolina, and who knows, Shane Beamer may end up getting a look here, not that we should expect he’d leave a better-paying job in a bigger league to walk in his father’s footsteps.

Bud Foster represents the Frank Beamer constituency on the search committee; Foster, of course, was Beamer’s right-hand man for 29 years.

The first name on the list, which was presented in alphabetical order, but anyway, he would have been first on my list, assuming Beamer wasn’t available: Bruce Arians, former Tech QB and grad assistant, who won a Super Bowl as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.

The other football name on the committee is Eddie Royal, who I assume is there because he’s on TV, if you count ACC Network as TV.

The other names, I don’t necessarily get – business types Bridget Ryan Berman, Lynne Doughtie, Brad Hobbs and J. Pearson, all Virginia Tech alums, with Hobbs and Pearson serving on the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors; and Ryan McCarthy, a VMI alum who serves on the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

---

ICYMI

• Virginia Tech | Board of Visitors approves $229M athletics funding plan

---

“This committee represents the spirit and strength of Virginia Tech athletics and Hokie Nation at the highest level,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said, per a media advisory from Virginia Tech Athletics sent out on Friday.

“I am confident in their ability to identify a coach who can lead our foot ball program with passion and integrity, inspire our student-athletes to excel, and position the Hokies to deliver the sustained success that our university community and fans expect and deserve,” Sands said.

“With the support of our Board of Visitors, Virginia Tech has never been better positioned to compete at the highest levels of the ACC and nationally,” said Tech Athletics Director Whit Babcock, who has struck out twice with his football-coach hires in his 12 years as AD.

“This committee brings star power, experience, and a true passion for Virginia Tech. Together, we are determined to find the right leader to move our program forward,” Babcock said.