Former UC AD has mixed emotions for 'Babcock Bowl'
Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com 1:18 p.m. EST December 23, 2014


Former University of Cincinnati AD Whit Babcock (Photo: Enquirer file)

Whit Babcock saw it coming, but he was not upset when it happened.

Former University of Cincinnati athletic director Babcock will have mixed emotions when his current school, Virginia Tech, plays the Bearcats in the Military Bowl on Saturday (1 p.m.) in Annapolis, Maryland.

Babcock left UC to become Virginia Tech's AD last January.

"Murphy's Law, it figures we'd be playing Cincinnati in Year One," Babcock said jokingly, in a telephone interview with Cincinnati.com this past week. "As we were tracking our bowl options, I kept seeing that come up."

Some believe Babcock left UC because Virginia Tech is among the Power Five leagues (Atlantic Coast Conference) and UC is not (American Athletic Conference). For Babcock, the most important factor was that he is a fifth-generation Virginian from Harrisonburg, Va.

"Virginia Tech is probably the only other job I would have taken," Babcock said. "The chance to come home was just a really unique situation."

When Babcock left UC, senior associate athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois became interim AD. Mike Bohn was named UC AD about two weeks later, and Reed-Francois eventually followed Babcock to Virginia Tech as executive associate AD.

One of Babcock's big moves at UC was to hire Tommy Tuberville as football coach on Dec. 8, 2012. Tuberville recently was asked if he had spoken to Babcock about the Military Bowl.

"The Babcock Bowl?" Tuberville replied, grinning. "We haven't talked about that yet. We're looking forward to seeing Whit and his family up there. I appreciate the opportunity he gave me here."

Before the 2014 season, Tuberville complained about a schedule that saw UC having two open dates to begin the year. Babcock, in turn, blamed himself for the schedule in an August telephone interview with Cincinnati.com.

The schedule alterations did allow UC to set a marquee home-and-home series with the University of Miami Hurricanes. UC visited Miami this year (a 55-34 loss), and the Hurricanes will visit refurbished Nippert Stadium in 2015.

"I think (UC) people, now that it's behind them, will be glad that the Miami Hurricanes come in next year," Babcock said.

Babcock said he always will have UC in his heart.

"I want to emphasize how much my family and I enjoyed it there, how well we were treated," he said. "I'm looking forward to seeing coach Tuberville and everybody. This is the only three hours of the year that I won't be rooting for UC."

BEARCATS ARRIVE: The Bearcats flew Tuesday to Washington D.C., where they will stay in advance of Saturday's game. The Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is about a 45-minute drive from D.C.

Quote:MILITARY BOWL

Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech

Saturday, 1 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (Annapolis, Maryland)

TV: ESPN (Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway, Paul Carcaterra)

Radio: 700 WLW-AM (Dan Hoard, Jim Kelly Jr., Tom Gelehrter)

Records: UC 9-3, Virginia Tech 6-6

He shouldn't have any mixed emotions... I don't. I hope we humiliate VTech to the point they fire Babcock.

He's not our AD anymore. Screw him.

I've got no ill will towards the man. I thought he did a fine job while he was here. He made a lateral move and got to go home, into a position with more stability due to conference association. If I was from that area, I probably would have made the same decision.

(12-24-2014 07:22 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  He shouldn't have any mixed emotions... I don't. I hope we humiliate VTech to the point they fire Babcock.

He's not our AD anymore. Screw him.

For once Im with you Jerry...

I like Whit and hope UC extends an invitation to him to attend a game in Ono's suite at Nippert.

I don't get the animosity towards Whit. He brought in TT, hammered out the Nippert project, that puts him on my good list.

I liked Whit as the UC AD and wish him nothing but the best... except when his school is competing against any UC team of course. I hope the 'Cats roll on Saturday... but would feel the same way regardless of who the opposing coach or AD or whoever happens to be.

That said, I hope that the UC athletic administration maintains a positive and active with Whit, Va Tech and the other UC athletic "alumni" around the P5 conferences. The more people that see UC in a positive light, the better it is for our school, our athletic teams and ultimately our ability to move into a P5 conference. Last night Dayton played Georgia Tech in hoops... was it just a coincidence that GT's coach is former UD coach Brian Gregory? I can think of alot of worse teams to have on a football or hoops schedule than VaTech.

Thanks Whit for everything you did for UC... but I hope the Bearcats have a huge day and a convincing win over the Hokies on Saturday.

(12-24-2014 08:54 AM)apoe Wrote:  I don't get the animosity towards Whit. He brought in TT, hammered out the Nippert project, that puts him on my good list.

Those are two huge accomplishments. No one is perfect, but he definitely helped our program.

It's not so much animosity, but he was here and now he's not.

Frankly I don't get all this "mixed emotion" stuff. Whit's got "mixed emotion." Butch's got his UC stuff all over his house and office. Yada, yada, yada... Whit's got a job...at VPI.

I've moved on. He should as well.

Nippert project was ready when he showed up. He got credit for that for just breathing. Seriously, the contracts and plans were nearly final. He treated basketball like it was a gigantic pain in the neck and made the staff deal with crazy constraints. He captained the Titanic with regards to a lot of the non-revenue sports. Color me nonplussed with him. Solid C of an AD.

(12-24-2014 09:25 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Nippert project was ready when he showed up. He got credit for that for just breathing. Seriously, the contracts and plans were nearly final. He treated basketball like it was a gigantic pain in the neck and made the staff deal with crazy constraints. He captained the Titanic with regards to a lot of the non-revenue sports. Color me nonplussed with him. Solid C of an AD.

BAM

Nothing against Whit, but I always chuckle when guys justify a move by stating that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get closer to family, or whatever. If USC came calling and offered him the AD job there, he'd be only too happy to leave those family ties in the dust, stating that it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be close to where they made the movies he enjoyed as a child. Or whatever...

The Bearcats could do themselves a big favor by treating Virginia Tech to an ass-kicking on Saturday.

(12-24-2014 09:25 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Nippert project was ready when he showed up. He got credit for that for just breathing. Seriously, the contracts and plans were nearly final. He treated basketball like it was a gigantic pain in the neck and made the staff deal with crazy constraints. He captained the Titanic with regards to a lot of the non-revenue sports. Color me nonplussed with him. Solid C of an AD.

All of this. Solid C as an AD, nothing more.

I thought TT blamed him for the scheduling problems, if so c-/d+

(12-24-2014 12:50 PM)@ES Trader Wrote:  I thought TT blamed him for the scheduling problems, if so c-/d+

He did, and I know the basketball coaches were not fans of him at all. He was no near the AD some are making him out to be. As rath said the whole Nippert Expansion was all but settled before he arrived.

(12-24-2014 01:03 PM)Marcus Wrote:  

(12-24-2014 12:50 PM)@ES Trader Wrote:  I thought TT blamed him for the scheduling problems, if so c-/d+

He did, and I know the basketball coaches were not fans of him at all. He was no near the AD some are making him out to be. As rath said the whole Nippert Expansion was all but settled before he arrived.

How did Whit have this teed up for him? Thomas said there was no market for premium seating and luxury suites?

http://csnbbs.com/thread-640985.html
Formulating a plan to upgrade Nippert Stadium was one of athletic director Whit Babcock’s top priorities almost from the moment he arrived at the University of Cincinnati after his hiring in October, 2011.

Twenty months after Babcock was introduced as UC’s athletic director, the school announced on June 25 that the Board of Trustees had approved plans for an $86-million renovation – the first for Nippert since 1992 - that will increase seating capacity to roughly 40,000, financed by private donations and revenue from premium seating that will be built on the west side of the stadium.

“A lot of things conspired to make this happen,” said Larry Sheakley, one of the top financial supporters of UC football. “Whit has been a huge part of that, plus the fact that some people woke up and saw what was happening in college football and started looking at the landscape and said, ‘We either have got to get in or get out.’ The president (Santa Ono) has done a great job of backing athletics. And the board really stepped up and realized the value of athletics and what they can do for the university.”

“I was really pleased when I asked if anyone had looked at that and they said, ‘We’ve done study after study after study,’ ” Babcock said. “It had either never been pursued or they just never found a model that worked. I just took a small piece of that study and said, ‘Let’s lock in on this.’

“There’s a lot of people to study. You don’t have to be the smartest person to figure it out. Kansas State is a project that we looked at a lot. Missouri is doing some stuff, so obviously I had some relationships there. It doesn’t take much to call some people and ask them, what did you price (premium seats) at? What sold and what problems did you have?”

Babcock was fine, but we are no worse off with Bohn at the helm. In fact, his history with the Big 12 may pay off.

As long as Santa Ono sticks around, our athletic programs will continue in the right direction.

I wish no ill will on WB. However, I would like nothing more than our guys beating his guys on Saturday and he can continue on with his mixed emotions. Now is the time, this is the place...

"Babcock Bowl" - LOL! - that's the last thing that was on my mind, but maybe that is an indication of what I think about Whit, since I have forgotten about him already I didn't really see too many others mentioning it prior to Chris posting this article. Of course, leave it to the Enquirer to fan the flames

Jerry, based on your first post in this, it doesn't exactly sound like you're "over it"