Figures.
Whit Babcock @GoBEARCATS will indeed be named @hokiesports next AD. Official announcement is expected Monday. http://t.co/7qdBkubm5h
— College AD (@collegead) January 24, 2014
Cincinnati fans know better than most that this is the way of the world, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't suck. I can't even be mad at Whit, Virginia Tech is a good job* with a big fan base and in his home state. It was always going to be a big ask to get Whit to stay at Cincinnati if UVA or Tech came calling, ditto for West Virginia though it never came to that.
His tenure spanned just two years, but he did more to progress the Bearcats athletic department than Mike Thomas did in 6 years. Thats not really hyperbole, its an objective fact. He got the Nippert project, that had been sitting on Thomas's desk for almost the duration of his tenure, to actually break ground. He locked down Mick Cronin and sent shockwaves through college football by bringing Tommy Tuberville in. Perhaps most importantly of all he taught the Cincinnati community an important lesson.
It is far better to hire an associate level person from an athletic department that is proven successful than it is to try to bring someone in who has run a smaller athletic department and have them scale up their ideas. That should have been the lesson of Bob Goin, but he became one of many entities swallowed whole by the Huggins/Zimpher kerfuffle.
The University of Cincinnati is signaling very clearly their intentions. Paying Tubs 2 million a year, spending 86 million on the expansion of Nippert stadium, the aggressive non conference scheduling in Football all point to the same thing. Cincinnati is in a position where they are aspiring to overcome their present circumstances. The hire of the next athletic director has to reflect that. So get ready random second tier employee at a power five school, CIncinnati is calling, and you really should pick up the phone.