The College Football Playoff announced it will expand from 12 to 24 teams next year. That news wasn’t mentioned during Monday’s meeting of the athletics committee of Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors. But the committee did hear a presentation about how a boost of athletics funding is being used.
Last year, Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors approved an increase of nearly $230 million dollars to improve the University’s athletics department over four years.
$15 million this year is going towards upgrades on Lane Stadium and other athletics facilities. More than double that, about $32 million, is mostly funding scholarships and salaries for new coaches, said Brandon Hall, chief financial officer for Virginia Tech athletics.
Jim Miller, the board’s rector, said they want to see a more detailed breakdown of that budget at their next meeting.
“Most people on this board would love as much information as we could possibly have,” Miller said. “Since you’re the athletics CFO I think it does fall to you to ensure that that level of detail is provided.”
In addition to the funding, the university has also made changes to its athletics leadership in the past year. Virginia Tech replaced its head football coach and its athletics director. The new athletics director, Brian White, told the board about a new performance tracking system they are starting. It will analyze how university teams are performing each year.
“Many of you are tracking all of our sports, but in part football receives the most attention,” White said. “And 6-3, we’re very encouraged by our start. And very impressed by our football staff, football players with Franklin and the program he’s building.”
Virginia Tech’s football team lost last week to SMU and will play Stanford this Saturday.
On Wednesday, Nov. 11, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands will host a fireside chat with NCAA President Charlie Baker and Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Brian White to talk about the future of college athletics. Their conversion will take place at 1 pm and will be livestreamed.
