Pitt officially joins the ACC on Monday. I’ll skip the snide commentary on the pretty-boy country duo concert that Pitt has to promote the move. This past week also marked the ten year mark of Virginia Tech and Miami joining the ACC. No one disputes the success of the move financially. For Virginia Tech — much more than Miami — it has been an unprecedented period of growth and success (except for the whole basketball thing) in their athletic department.
Nothing has transpired since to counter what Hokies athletic director Jim Weaver told me in May 2008 about the move.
“The best thing that has ever happened to the university both academically and athletically is the invitation from the Atlantic Coast Conference,” he said then. “There is absolutely no downside. None.”
Indeed, ACC membership has enhanced Tech athletics financially, competitively and academically. And while the Hokies’ non-revenue sports don’t approach the elite level enjoyed by league rivals such as Virginia, Duke, North Carolina and Florida State, they have improved exponentially.
That progress is most evident in the Directors’ Cup all-sports standings. From 1994-2004, Tech’s average finish was 91st, its best 63rd. Since starting ACC competition in the 2004-05 academic year, the Hokies’ average finish is 43rd, with bests of 35th in 2011 and ’12.
Labeled as a “football school,” Tech has won four ACC championships in its marquee sport. During the same nine-season span, Florida State has won two football titles, Clemson, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech one each, the latter vacated due to NCAA sanctions.
But the Hokies’ non-revenue programs have been far more successful than anyone envisioned, earning ACC titles in men’s and women’s track, men’s cross country, softball, wrestling and men’s golf.
Obviously, the football success overshadows everything, but don’t discount the overall success that the athletic department is enjoying.
Now I don’t think that much of the Director’s Cup. In no small part, because for a school like Pitt, things are stacked against Pitt. It favors huge sprawling athletic departments that compete in certain sports. The more sports in which the a school simply competes, a school is already assured of finishing at least in the middle of the pack.
Pitt doesn’t field teams in many of the teams that are counted in the Director’s Cup (like men’s and women’s lacrosse). Heck, Pitt only offers 17 athletic programs in the athletic department and the Director’s Cup tabulations are based on 20 athletic programs. By contrast North Carolina offers 26, Virginia has 23. Even Louisville offers 24 programs. Go figure in the Director’s Cup standings UNC finished 8th. Louisville went 38th and Virginia 20th. Pitt had a horrid year and finished 109th.
But that’s a bit of a tangent (a bit?). The point that I was trying to make is that VT has made great progress in all their programs as reflected in their movement in the Director’s Cup. They’ll never compete for the top of the list, but they look respectable.
As they have had an increased athletic budget they have expanded their athletic department modestly, and put more money into all sports. They haven’t gone out and made expensive coaching hires in the other sports. In fact they have been downright cheap. Their last six coaching hires in the athletic department have all been from promoting from within (including their baseball coach this past week) — with less than stellar results it seems.
Still, the football success and improvement in the Director’s Cup makes it look like VT would be what Pitt would want to emulate (only with basketball success as well). But is that really the case?
Here’s the thing that must be acknowledged. Even before Virginia Tech entered the ACC, they had a football program that was not just stable and successful. It was thriving. They had played for the national championship only a couple years before. They were already making investments in their athletic department and individual programs. They also entered the ACC at what can only be considered the perfect time.
Florida State was just starting their stumble and bumble period. NC State was reached a brief moment with Chuck Amato and were sliding back. UNC never could quite make it. Miami was also falling. Clemson was Clemsoning. From a football standpoint, they came in and at a perfect time to be a force, and — absolutely to their credit — took advantage of it. The Hokies maintained their top-tier position. Until this past season, their stumbles were still much smaller than any other program in the ACC.
I hate calling it simply luck for Virginia Tech. They just happened to have the best timing. Things actually worked out as well as could be hoped. The only luck was in the timing just happening to be perfect.
It reminds me of the Cleveland Indians in the 90s. The perennial mess of a franchise that became the model in 1994-1995. They invested heavily in their farm system. They forced the new stadium that was lovely and loaded with new and bigger revenue streams. And somehow it all timed out exactly at the right time.
The park opened. The fans came. The farm system talent panned out at a remarkable rate. They started winning. The fans kept coming since the team kept winning. It was not simply a miracle or luck in the timing. It was claimed to be from meticulous planning/scouting/development. Everyone wanted to believe it because then it could be copied. It could be reproduced by others.
After that, every franchise from the Pirates to the Tigers to the Mariners to the Rangers to the Padres and so on tried to copy (or at least claim the same plan). Not to mention sell that to their fanbases and municipal/county/state governments to pay for that expensive new ballpark as what they could do. That they would get their new ballpark to bring in/back the fans just as their new and improved farm system produced the talent and then there is a winner. The fans would keep coming. The civic pride would swell. The money would flow to the area. All would profit.
No one else, though, could nail the precise timing. The Tigers opened Comerica and struggled for several years. I think we all know about the Pirates. It takes more than words and an outline of a plan. It takes a lot more pre-planning and earlier investment. And even then it still requires a significant amount of luck to have it all come together at exactly the time you project.
Virginia Tech has a lot of what Pitt should and want to aspire to achieve as they enter the ACC. There’s plenty to learn and even emulate from what they have done. It’s not going to be nearly as easy as it now appears to have been for the Hokies.
For those that don’t know, fully funded means the max number of scholarships allowable per NCAA. Please note, aside from football and basketball, most other athletes get partial athletic scholarship plus whatever other aid they can qualify for.
Next step is to make sure all the other sports are competitive before adding more sports ie. LAX.
This is a big step.
The BigEast made VPI, as it was known as for most of it’s football existence. And that was a none to glorious past before Beamer got them on track after a rough beginning to his tenure.
The BigEast was pretty good for everyone in football…….except PITT !!!!
(well maybe Temple too ) sad very sad
IMO, we’re either going to be really good or really bad.
But I don’t expect us to be very good this year.
Neither does 5 Dimes. They rated all 125 FBS schools with a projected over/under on wins.
He she is :
Only condolence is the Hoopies are on par with us, while the Pedos……..well…see for yourself
🙂 What a joke these networks have become !
Yes Dan, agree and the fact Pitt still has Lacrosse as a clube sport shows that it is not a ‘full’ athletic program.
Lacrosse is blowing up across the country and has been in this region for 10 years. It became the major sport for my twin boys and is a great sport to keep playing in college and beyond.
RMU has a full team but we don’t?
UPone
Lacrosse? Okay, but at the risk of sounding like a damaged CD…ice hockey should come first. Boston College manages to have varsity hockey. So does Robert Morris, who hosted the NCAA Frozen four at the Consol Energy Center this spring. I care not that it isn’t an ACC sport.
the next pitt QB i think will be wade freebeck from FL
I’m some what disappointed, I was under the impression Keller was a lock to play for his Uncle/Godfather. I think the BOT was too !
While I like him not bowing down to Shell, how can you not land your nephew/godchild ???
What’s his name ! Adam Sandler er something !
Look at the Ivy league–hell look at Bucknell.
Strip away the football program and Pitts’ athletic teams resemble Duquesne.
Simply put, Pitt is not in the mix for athletics. Not even close. I bet if you put Cyanide Steve’s salary per sport, he comes out as the highest paid AD in the country.
That is absurd!
But hey, someone has to be 109 don’t they!
– ‘Werewolves of London’ Warren Zevon, 1977
Call me crazy, but I think we are going to surprise some people in Football this year.
With a better O-line, and strong Tight ends we should be able to control the ball. Finally with a q-b that can throw more than 10 yards, we can go down field once in a while.
With the defense staying on the sidelines, they should be good enough to get some three and outs.
Donald will be playing for a pro contract, linebackers are better and d-backs are strong.
Hopefully, no more deer in the headlights at crunch time.
To spin it the other way, at least he’s from South Fla.
I like hearing the pre-camp optimism from gc, each and every season, hope springs eternal. One important point that he left out of that post however is that HCPC & Co. will have one full year of coaching under their belts at Pitt, which will be huge in regards to improved coaching this season. Many have complained of the House hire, due to the no DC experience issue but that in itself adds continuity to the defense utilizing the same coach stepping up into that DC position. The same personality, coaching style and familiarity trumps the anticipated learning curve at the DC position, IMO.
The players also will benefit from having the same staff and system in place for two seasons in a row and that hasn’t been the case for three seasons. Consider that ONLY the upcoming RS Seniors on this squad have had that advantage in their Pitt careers and it is pretty amazing that Pitt has been able to keep their heads above water in the W-L% during that troubled period. That is probably going to be the ultimate wild card affecting the unknown upside potential of this squad in 2013.
I’m also encouraged by the fact that with the Pirates 1st place standing in the division, the hometown crowds have come out to support the Bucs. As many others on this blog have suggested, the cure for the empty yellow seats of Heinz Field at Pitt games has a simple solution, just win baby, win!
If Coach Chryst can get that equation correctly calculated, then many of Pitt’s current issues will simply fade into ancient memory soon enough.
Keller Chryst, when you think about it, it is understandable this the kid is not coming here…. I mean its Stanford… education (Ivy league west), location, and just a bit of a reputation developing great quarterbacks.
The fact they are family could also play a role… often for ‘professional’ growth it is better separate family in terms of ‘working directly’ for an uncle.
his father is nearby and the HC of St 49ers was Stanford coach, etc. etc…. so he will be plugged into that football scene as well.
I personally would have been shocked if he did come to Pitt… and the fact he did not visit is less a slap in the face… if he had visited and there would hav been all the buzz about him visiting, interviewed (“so, how was Pitt?”)… and then he says no…
Better off that he tells a probable true story which is Stanford wanted him, he just finished a camp there… precisely as it is been spun in this article.
Can’t see this kid keeping himself in shape for a whole year before playing. My guess is; we never hear of him again.
Don’t know if he is better than Bertke, but believe this is a significant pick-up, if no other reason, he is from Florida
Chapman will be kicked off the team.
No college team keeps 5 scholarship QB’s on the roster. 4 scholarship QB’s on roster is typical.
It would seem that Freebeck was waiting on Keller Chryst’s decision.
Anderson, Voytik, Bertle, Freebeck (Chapman? is kicked off team)
Paul Chryst knew Keller Chryst decision long ago. The chance of landing Keller was slim to none.
wbb, what are you smoking to think Pitt had a chance to land Keller.
All I know is the Keller committed to SU, and 2 days later, Freebeck committed here
First, much like the star ratings and recruiting rankings, the Directors Cup is only a barometer.
No one accused me, but I would like to state on my own, I did not conveinently leave out that it goes by 20 teams, or up to 20 teams to get the scores that make up the rankings.
I knew that going in, and wondered why we don’t have 20 ath. sports for men and women.
Actually, it brings up another point of our Athletic Director.
Why do we only have 18 sports? The university is rolling in money for research, SP said donations are up in sports. The university is supposed to be an academic juggernaught and powerhouse now.
(Cue in known excuses for eveything Pitt at this time. Not enough money, not enough enrollment, urban campus, not enough alumi, not enough donations, cold weather school, pro sports town, private school, pubic school, state related school, private school with public ties. etc. etc.)
Anyhow, figured I’d do a little research just for kicks. So along with the school name, next to them will be their Directors Cup rank, #of varsity sponsored sports and undergrad enrollment of the school and pub or priv.
SCHOOL—-D.C.Rank—–Sports—–Enrlmnt–Pub-Pr.
N. Car.—–8———–25——–18,579.—PUB.
N.D.——–9———–22——–8,371.—-prv.
Fla. St.—-11———-19——–31,851.—PUB.
DUKE——–12———-24——–6,484.—-prv.
Virginia—-20———-25——–10,951.—PUB.
NC ST.——34———-21——–26,176.—PUB.
VA TECH—–36———-21——–23,859.—PUB.
Louis.——38———-21——–15,893.—PUB.
Syracuse—-39———-18——–14,798.—prv.
Maryland—-44———-19——–26,826.—PUB.
Clemson—–52———-17.5——16,562.—PUB
Miami——-71———-17.5——10,368.—prv.
Ga. Tech—-74———-17——–14,527.—PUB.
B.C.——–76———-23——–9,088.—-prv.
WAKE FOR.—98———-18——–4,815.—-prv.
PITT——–109———18——–18,427.—Hybrd?
Well, one could use these numbers to make many different arguments, pros and cons, and all of the whys???
It does seem to show that schools with 20 or more sports are higher.
However, what is the excuse for being last (9th out of 9) with the schools that have under 20??
Ok, schools with the same # of sports or less.
Last again, 6th out of 6.
Can’t be enrollment, we’re 6th out of 15 in the ACC.
Public/Private, good number of both ahead of us in standings and number of sports.
Can’t be population. We’re 4th or 5th in city size, 3rd or 4th metro.
Could it be who has been running the ath. dept.?
Is it just a matter of ath. money?
Surely with the ACC money coming in, we should see improvement in our athletics, and should be able to field a couple more sports.
Perhaps mens and womens lacrosse, seems to be a popular sport across the nation, especially in ACC country.
Look out Wake, we’re setting our sights on you!!
*info from ACC wikipedia
**17.5, Clemson and Miami only do diving, no swmg.
P.S. if this chart becomes a mess when I hit submit, kindly dismiss and move on. I’m not trying again.
P.P.S. Gettysburg fantastic. Too many people but what are you gonna do, 150th anniv.. Left family out there, working tmrw and heading back out Tues.
I had all the columns lined up though.
Why does it decide to smoosh my columns together and delete some of my dashes to do this.
Oh well.
Losing steel industry, population decline, and on and on, one would think no one is left in W.Pa.
Here is the governments Metro Statistical Data on cities with “metro” areas. There are 381 metro areas according to the gov., Pittsburgh is still 22nd in the country.
Still a massive amount of people in W.Pa..
I even doubt that VT would have been invited to the ACC had they just were no-name independent VT (formerly VPI)