What exactly did AD Jim Weaver say about Virginia Tech and the SEC on Tech Talk Live last night?
Twitter was abuzz last night with comments Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver made about the SEC last night on the Hokies’ weekly radio show Tech Talk Live, but it appears they were taken out of context.
I didn’t hear the show myself, so I was a little shocked when tweets began popping up saying Weaver had said Virginia Tech had “potential interest” in the SEC. The Hokies athletic director chooses his words very carefully and it would be surprising if he made that bold of a declaration in public.
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Thanks to Bill Roth, the voice of the Hokies and host of the radio show, I got to listen to the audio. Here’s the full question and answer in context:
Roth: Finally, and then we’re going to go to other things, we just won an overtime game, it’s UVa week, got an unbeaten basketball team, but I’m going to ask this anyway: Mike Slive and the SEC say they’re going to start their own network. If they follow the Big Ten model and want to get East Coast schools, do you anticipate Virginia Tech being contacted for that league?
Weaver: Wow. That’s hard one. I’ve really never thought about it, because the discussion has just come about, obviously in the last two or three days. I’m going to have to defer my answer on that, if I can, because I haven’t really given it any thought. I think there could potentially be some interest, but I don’t know how much if any.
Hearing the whole thing, it’s pretty clear Weaver was referencing if the SEC would have interest in Virginia Tech, not the other way around. And even then, he hedged quite a bit. I have a call in to Weaver, who, based on quotes he gave David Teel of the Daily Press late last night, will probably reiterate that Virginia Tech isn’t going anywhere.
Now, what does that mean? In the grand scheme of conference realignment, not a whole lot. These things usually don’t play out in the public’s eye. News of Maryland’s departure from the ACC didn’t break until the school was essentially ready to vote on the matter.
But as for Weaver expressing publicly that Virginia Tech has interest in leaving the ACC for the SEC, that didn’t happen last night.
November 21, 2012 - 9:25 AM
Us in the SEC. Hahahahaha I am laughing so hard here. We better get some offensive coaches if we ever did leave the weak ACC. We lost to 2 Big East teams this year and we seriously think we could have beat any SEC team? We would even be out coached by Derick Dooley and he got fired. Lets stay in the weak ACC and also schedule teams like Austin Peay and JMU. Oh wait we lost one of those. No wait let’s join the MAC maybe just maybe we could win that conference with the offensive coaches we have. I love my Hokies but enough is enough. If Weaver won’t fire Spriney and Newsome then someone fire him. We have the talent it’s the poor coaching.all I want for Christmas Santa is some new coaches.
If they really want to compete for a NC in football there is no better conference to be in than the acc. They can be good enough from time to time to go undefeated in this league but I seriously doubt if they could ever attract the talent to become an undefeated squad in a power sec. The sec has ebbs a flows on the extreme which means when it is up it is near impossible to go undefeated, when it is down it is irrelevant because of the extreme high, the acc has for the most part remained constant. Some folks claim they are down but the truth is there has never been a time when the ACC had half or more of thier schools with a real shot at the NC in the same season. The acc has had 1-4 really goog teams at one time. Stay in the acc and you have more potential.
VT in the SEC would thrill Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
Kirk,
Pretty sure VT could beat Kentucky and probably Auburn this year. And could probably give MSU a heck of a game.
Is the ACC weak in football? Yes. VT went 2-8-1 in its first full year in the BE, it took a while for VT to win the conference (1995 actually, although technically was tied in 1995 and 1996 and didn’t win outright until 1999). The point is VT rose to the challenge.
VT entered the ACC and dominated immediately, which was a suprise. This year is a bit of an anomaly, but the road to the ACC championship game still goes through Blacksburg, just ask FSU who was lucky to escape with a win. FSU loses that game and CU goes to the ACCCG. Don’t kid yourself, VT is still a force to be reckoned with in the ACC.
I don’t think the SEC is the right home for VT and I don’t think VT (or UVA either) brings much to the SEC. The ACC is where VT has always belonged. I think the ACC survives to be the 4th megaconference over the B12, which has experienced defections from ONE THIRD of its original members which includes charter members Nebraska and Colorado (of the Big 8). As soon as Texas and Oklahoma head to the Pac 14 to save their skin, the Big 12 goes the road of the Big East and the ACC survives as the 4th megaconference.
Whether they are the 4th best 16 team megaconference or first matters not.
If a school ever would go into obscurity by going into the SEC, it would be VT. As they say don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Be happy where you are folks. 50 million is a lot of pesos.
nice points, Bob H
Okay, we’ve had a bad year and the doom and gloom is expected.
However, the thought that VT could not excel in the SEC is ridiculous. Yes VT lost to Alabama and LSU in convincing style, but I seem to remember beating Alabama and LSU in the last dozen year or so too. Pretty sure they were in the SEC then. Lost to UGA in Atlanta, practically a home game for them, in a game we dominated and took the foot off the gas pedal. Pretty sure we beat Tennessee. So don’t start saying we couldn’t compete in the SEC particularly when we would be more likely to keep some of that 5 star talent that leaks out of Virginia to the SEC. Probably wouldn’t be a dominant team like Alabama or LSU but we would be no slouch either. Having said that I can’t see the SEC being that interested. VT doesn’t exactly dominate any TV or media markets. More likely FSU, Clemson or Miami pushes over and the remnants of the Big East drift to the ACC or should I say continues to drift. The ACC is once again is commiting to becoming a basketball conference with the addition of Pitt, Syracuse and probably UCONN and VT is never going to fit that model. There’s nothing left for us here and a switch to the SEC would definitely be the way to go…I just don’t think the SEC is that interested. What you’ll here from current ACC members like VT is “We don’t want to leave the ACC” but out the side of their mouth they’re saying “but we don’t want to be left behind in a decimated ACC football conference either”. Hopefully Weaver is positioning us to be considered if someone is going to be poached.
VT can compete in any conference and a move to the SEC would only make us stronger.
I think VT could compete in the SEC if they ever end up there. There have been five teams from the SEC that have played and won the the championship and VT has beaten 3 of the 5 at some point in the past. Plus, VT has played in a BCS championship game so it could be said that at least they would be the sixth best team in the SEC if they were there. Oh, they also beat Texas A&M in two consecutive years, I believe. Going on to a replacement for Maryland, I think the ACC should invited UCONN, Louisville and Cincinnati into the conference. That would open up a market fairly close to NYC (UCONN has had a deal with SNY out of New York) and into Ohio. My two cents worth.
Red Wolf
SEC said NO to Miami log ago. That’s how they ended up in the BE and later in the ACC. Miami is a pro sports city, doesn’t travel well, and doesn’t even come close to filling its own home games.
SEC would be better off with Southern Miss or ECU which have rabid fan bases.
FSU is obviously eyeing the SEC and vice versa. But, what does that do for the SEC? You already have the Florida market with UF. UF and FSU play each other every year anyway. FSU didn’t even dominate the weak ACC this year. FSU has been throttled by the likes of Wake Forest, and not very long ago. What do they really bring to the SEC?
Clemson voted for the $50M exit fee. Don’t kid yourself. That says what it says- we are staying in the ACC.
One has to question, I think, the prestige and “integrity” of the B10 who had to offer big $ to get a lower end and financially inept ACC school to jump ship. As opposed to the other BCS conferences that require an entrance fee.
Newflash to the Big 10: “Sometimes you get what you pay for”. Get used to playing in front of high school sized crowds at UM…..
The SEC is not taking FSU, GT or Clemson. If or when the SEC expands, they will take a North Carolina or Virginia school. Both of which are Old South states as all the other SEC schools are in. Excepting Missouri and Kentucky which were once Border States highly sympathetic to the South. This is the southern mentality, Period! Now the reason Slive wants one specific school in Va & NC. It has 100% to do with TV sets and the new burgeoning SEC Network. It is 100% about money! The reason VT or any team over there accepts an SEC invite will be 100% about money! I’ve followed this awhile, misquote or whatever? This Weaver dude has changed his tone! LOL He would be an idiot not to!!! The SEC would make VT football better as it does with every other team that has joined. Give Missouri some time.
Tech would do well to consider playing in the SEC. To the people saying Tech would bring nothing to the SEC is ridiculous, they actually bring a few different assets with them… The Washington D.C., Northern VA and Norfolk, Newport News and Virginia Beach markets as well. Tech also has a very SEC feel to their stadium. With the additional revenue Tech could add on to their stadium, possibly going over the 80,000 seat mark. Tech is also getting ready to build new athletic facilities and would give the SEC a significant bump academically. The recruiting boost and shared revenue would obviously be the biggest perks to a Tech team that significantly does more with less than most teams around us. Ole miss I’d one of the worst teams in the conference and They are the front runner for the number one prospect in the country, do that shows you the power of that conference and the ability to herd in the top talent in the country. Also the idiots who say that tech better get some new coaches obviously don’t realize that moving to a different conference takes between 3-5 years in most cases, which is basically the time that Beamer has remaining on his contract. What would be better than having a new promising coach lead us into a new promising era for the Hokies???
I’ll respond to Red Wolf up there. The SEC did not refuse Miami in 1990, Miami refused the SEC. Miami and FSU were both Independent Powerhouses back then after having been sucko in the 70′s. The SEC offered them both before they took South Carolina for that East side. Rumored that they feared the power of the SEC would knock them off their lofty pedestals. Miami went Big East as FSU went ACC. SEC offered Texas and Texas A&M before it took Arkansas for the West. The West was decided much earlier as Arkansas was only West option. The SEC waited all summer in 1990 for FSU and Miami to weed themselves out.
Culturally and athletically VT belongs in the SEC. We would bring the DC and Va TV markets that the SEC wants and our fans, atmosphere and game day environment are perfect fits for the SEC. We had a bad year this year, so did Auburn and they still belong in the SEC. To say that we couldn’t compete is total horsesh!t, as has been said we’ve beat LSU, Bama, Tenn, and Texas A&M. We are overall a very good football program but to be the best you have to play the best and by being in the SEC and playing hard games every week we will improve. Also by joining the SEC we would be able to keep a lot of this in-state talent here with us and be able to poach into the SEC footprint with more success during recruiting. While the 10 win seasons and conference championships might not come with as much regularity, when they do come they will be that much sweeter. We may not win immediately in the SEC but we can definitely win.
The hokies could easily compete in the SEC no question in my mind and the SEC teams would love to recruit the 757 with some consistency trust cause it has some of the best talent in the nation year in year out. I mean look at the talent that comes from that part of the state every year!!!!! Iverson,Vick ,Bruce Smith LT(the greatest Lb ever harvin etc shall i continue? I remember when they went to the ACC and they were picked to finish 6th in the coastal thetre first year and i laughed cause i knew we would dominate the ACC like we have.