On College GameDay Saturday, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that Virginia Tech's future with athletic department funds was expected to add nearly $50 million to the athletic department budget by the end of the month. There is a Board of Visitors meeting set for Sept. 30 to announce its plans.
The BOV released its agenda for next week's meeting and is expected to vote to increase athletics budget spending by $47.1M for this year and go up over the next four years to almost $50 million next year. It's safe to say that this is a crucial development as the school looks to add its next football coach.
Virginia Tech to compete with top ACC schools
This would be a monumental move for the school and its athletic department. The current budget of $122 million is at the bottom of the ACC, coming 14th. That's not going to provide enough resources to compete with the bigger schools. I know, we're not breaking any news there.
In a press release from the school, in order to reach their goal over the next four years of $229 million, Virginia Tech is looking to raise $120 million, with the remaining expenses coming from institutional support and bridge funding. Game changer.
This is a dire time in athletics for Virginia Tech, especially football, and this is long overdue. Athletic director Whit Babcock went to the BOV last month with a presenation and made a strong case for adding funding and money to the department.
Next Tuesday is a big day for Virginia Tech with a vote and with a program-changing hire for the next football coach, a job once seen as one that couldn't attract a top coach, now all of a sudden should be appealing to a lot of coaches around the country. The next couple of months in Blacksburg are the biggest in some time, and hopefully, this is just the beginning of turning things around quickly with athletics.