AD Jim Weaver: Virginia Tech not considering leaving ACC
Colleague Mark Berman sat down with Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver earlier this week to discuss conference realignment.
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Weaver said he doesn’t feel a need to get the Hokies involved in the latest shuffling. A quote from the article:
“We are more concerned of being in a home where we believe it’s the right match for our academic institution as well as the athletic aspect of our institution and where it makes sense for us to be. When you analyze some of the moves that have been made, some people have a lot of travel to do.
“I don’t think you make the decision based on money alone. I think you’ve got to ascertain, ‘Do you have enough funding? Are you able to continue as you are without falling backwards?’ I think it’s those type of approaches that have to be reviewed, as opposed to saying, ‘Oh, they’re getting $6 million more a year than we are, we need to go there.’ Because team travel can eat up some of that money really quickly.”
Weaver went on to discuss whether he thinks any more realignment will take place, how much he thinks travel costs factor in, whether he thinks the SEC would have any interest in the Hokies and how much stadium size would factor in to any future decision.
December 8, 2012 - 10:58 AM
Weaver is an ass clown, that extra money the SEC TV deals get could be used to improve our facilities and stadium.
Why improve the stadium when you are now on a downhill slide, VT’s record next season will be a paltry 4-8. You people just can’t seem to see what is going on at the Hokie Nation. Very few good recruits now, no offensive coaching and definitely a head coach that is in yesteryear.
We’ve got the best recruiting class coming in than we’ve had in 5 years and next years is going to be even better. If you are not a Hokie fan why flame when your team couldn’t beat a high school team. One bad year is not a downward spiral, Tech will be back better than ever and all you haters will be eating crow. We continue to out recruit that other school and continue to beat them year in and year out. Do some actually research Barry not just a one year sample, you just show your ignorance.
Excuse us if we don’t respect your ability to see the future Barry.
FSU>GT
Weaver says in this article there has been no interest from the SEC, if I remember correctly during his radio Q&A a few weeks back he said there had been some SEC inquires. He keeps saying Lane doesn’t have the seating to bring in the revenue that SEC schools bring in, again, if I remember correctly Weaver is the one who opted for all those VIP rich donor boxes and whatever else they have in the west stands addition instead of adding 20,000 seats. Seems to me Weaver and Beamer went to spin school together and learned those lessons well. Maybe they could use some of the funds they had left over last year to put windows in their offices so they can see the real world.
If the truth be told, the hokie nation don’t want to go to the SEC. No more 10 win season’s and more Russell Athletic Bowls if they went bowling at all. They could not recruit with the SEC, which is another big reason. They will continue to win 7-8 games were they are in the weak acc. Don’t sacrifice the players for money.
You are dreaming Alice if you think Tech has the best recruiting class in the last 5 years. They had 4 slightly more than marginal players that left last year,i.e., Wilson, Boykin, Hosley and Coale. They don’t have anyone that good now or in the immediate future. Logan Thomas showed how inconsistent and overated he was this year when he didn’t have any good players around him. Do you really want us to believe the Hokies will be better next year? One doesn’t have to do a whole of research to figure that out. Just watch the team.
Weaver knows that for Tech to go to the SEC would be a disaster. There are no cupcakes to play in the SEC. Weaver knows that to schedule all the Cupcakes you can means more winning seasons, more bowl games and more money. Don’t say the SEC has no interest in Tech. Tech has no interest in the SEC. If they are smart they will stay away from the SEC.
More money in the ACC from bowl games? It’s been pointed out again and again that the bowl money is (unfairly) distributed equally among all the schools in the conference. SEC has better bowl games and brings in more money because of it
Barry – Since you’re such an expert on VT who do they lose this year? Are they irreplaceable? Do you really expect us to believe you know how good our backups are?
We will find our real soon how we stack up for the SEC after the Bama game
Don, you are right on the money. I have been saying this for years. VT has always been smart in their scheduling of less than mediocre. I remember several years back they scheduled LSU when the Tigers were awful and Tech beat them by a couple of touchdowns and Tech raved about beating LSU. A few years later they had to play a real LSU team and were bombed back to the stone age of reality. Same thing happened with Alabama a few years in the past. Generally Tech is exposed for the football fraud that they have a history of being, especially against top 5 teams and in competitive bowl games. You be the judge after looking at the facts
Virginia Tech does not need in the SEC with the present program and the present philosophy of the team. It is not SEC mentality.
There would have to be a change in the program to compete in the SEC.
Maybe joining the SEC would allow the program to upgrade to the SEC mentality, but if that did not happen it would be a disaster for Tech.
It the team plays the opening game against Alabama next season the way the team has played this year it will be a brutal defeat for the team.
The difference between a national level team and the program at Tech will be obvious.
Why goto the SEC where they’d be a bottom rung team, fighting it out w/ Vandy and Ole Miss… This 20 year bowl streak was built on beating bottom feeder programs… Don’t want to mess that up.
Sure there is interest from the SEC….Kentucky could use a win every now and then.
Why does it take the Roanoke Times and WDBJ7 forever to report it when the Hokies lose or play badly? When they win, the story is on the page in 30 seconds. That is not very objective sports news reporting.
Based on Weaver’s comments it seems the best thing for VT football would be to play schools within walking distance that have stadiums smaller than Lane.
Good thing VT got rid of all those long trips to Boston, Miami and Syracuse by joining the ACC! What a joke!
VT upper ech folks keeps talking about the SEC and their interest or lack of, whatever. Seems to me the more you keep talking about something, either way, you will stay interested, even if you say otherwise.
VT in a typical good year for them would have a 6-7 win season in the SEC. Possibly the 2011 team but definitely the 2010 and several others would have no problem winning at least 6 in the SEC. The word is getting out more and more every year that the ACC is a crap conference. The money and respect gap between the other BCS conferences is widening. I see no benefit from staying in it. Weaver throws out $6 million and that may or may not be accurate today but whatever the number is will only get bigger in time as conference realignment continues
Based on VT’s performance this season do you really think the SEC is interested in them? Maybe as a cellar dwellar competitor for Kentucky, that would be about it. Get real people, comparing the ACC to the SEC is like comparing the Oakland Raiders to the New England Patriots.
If the VT football hand is forced, then the school leadership (Steger, Weaver, and Beamer) will cut and run just like any other school would. IT is just going to take one major chip or two to fall to start the domino affect.
And Barry, quit whining like your team hasn’t beaten our team in 15 years despite having “better recruiting classes” many of those years..
OH. That’s right. They haven’t…
Barry defines the word troll. Do not respond to him. I never have before and I never will again.
People can believe that the SEC is the NFL but VT would be respectable in a normal VT year. Games like the 42-10 beatdown UGA put on GT would be rare
I believe VT in the SEC would improve recruiting. How about this….if it isn’t happening right now, why fret over it? Now while I hope for changes on the offensive coaching staff, I am not throwing our team under the bus. Yes we have beat major football programs. The LSU we beat was still Lsu. The Alabama we beat was still Alabama. By the other rationale, that team that lost to Pittsburgh this year wasn’t VT. Teams do cycle up and down. Barry from Ivy, isn’t there a GT or UVA forum you can frequent? You post some of the most ludicrous fecal matter that I have seen here.
Like the LSU game a few years ago, right? A normal year for VT usually includes 8 cupcake games and this year they couldn’t even beat those teams. Were very fortunate to beat them last year; they played one good team last year and that team beat them twice or should I say “beat them down” twice.
The SEC is not interested in how good our football team is, they are looking at the money. We are in a great spot to expand their television market. The same reason the ACC took Pitt and Syracuse away from the Big East, they wanted to expand their TV market.
Yep. 8 cupcakes. Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, GEORGIA TECH, Duke. There’s 5 cupcakes there!
That was a year VT was breaking in a new O-line I believe. LSU was the first game of the season. By the end of the year, or right about the time UGA is raping GT, VT was a better team
VT would be at the bottom of their division in the SEC until they get good coaching. No, playing a cupcake schedule and winning 10 times in a weak conference plus added cupcakes does not a good team or good coaching make.
The Hokies have a terrible record playing top 10 teams because the Hokies are never good enough to beat top ten teams. They are perennially outcoached. Our offense is offensive. Unless Beamer grows the stones to make needed changes, we will always be a second rate team. Since Beamer clearly won’t, we are stuck at second rate until he goes. Frankly, he is paid way too much to avoid getting OC/QBC that are competent.
Auburn just hired Malzahn.
Why? Well, he is an excellent coach who took a perennial doormat Arkansas State team to a 9-3(7-1) record this year. Arkansas State put up more points against Oregon this year than everybody except USC.
Do you think Stiner would take Arkansas State to 9-3?
Until we get good coaches we will always be second rate, no matter what conference we are in.
I would be shocked if the SEC even wanted the Hokies. As others have said, it would only be to have another team competing with Kentucky for last place.
The scary thing to me is that Weaver, Beamer and even Dr Steger could be making these critical decisions. I am “only 50″ and it is hard for me to comprehend how quickly and dramatically the landscape is changing. As good a job as these men have done over the years, Tech needs a new generation of leadership to position themselves for the future. That is not necessarily a knock on them, it is true regardless of any business or venture. Tech needs another Dutch Baughman or Dave Braine as well as a forward thinking Board of Visitors. The only consolation in Weavers ridiculous, blindly loyal to the ACC statements is that he has hopefully about as much influence on Techs athletics future as I do.
ACC, SEC what difference does it make?
According to the ancient Mayans we are all
toast on 21 Dec. anyway.
Football is an evolving sport, (helmets, facemask, low top cleats,
forward pass, shotgun formation etc)
Conferences evolve also.
2014: 4 “super conferences” playoff format, who knows how VT will fare?
I guess we will just have to wait and see.