Former Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver has passed away at the age of 70. Weaver, who retired at the end of 2013 due to health complications (Parkinson’s disease and multiple back surgeries), was living in Blacksburg.
Weaver served as Tech’s athletic director from Sep. 24, 1997 through Dec. 31, 2013. When he joined Virginia Tech, the Hokies were members of the Big East in football and the Atlantic 10 in all other sports. Under Weaver’s watch, Virginia Tech transitioned through the Big East for all sports (2000-2004) and into the ACC on July 1, 2004.
Virginia Tech had an athletic budget of approximately $17 million in fiscal year 1997, and by the time Weaver retired, the Hokie athletic budget had grown to approximately $70 million, on revenues of $73 million. Weaver was known for running a financially sound athletic department, and in the financial reports provided to TechSideline.com by Randy Jones, dating back to FY2000, Weaver ran the department in the black every year.
Weaver was also known for his devotion to growing Virginia Tech’s facilities, and under his watch, a facilities construction boom of over $200 million took place, most notably including the 2002 Lane Stadium south end zone expansion ($37 million), the 2005 west side expansion ($52 million), and the 2009 Hahn Hurst Practice Center for basketball ($21 million). The just-completed football indoor practice facility, which was initiated during Weaver’s tenure, cost $21 million.
Despite all this construction (and aided by the generosity of Virginia Tech fans), Virginia Tech’s athletics indebtedness only increased by $40 million under Weaver, from $12 million in FY1997 to $52 million in FY2014.
Weaver was a Penn State graduate who played and coached under Joe Paterno. He served as an athletic administrator at Florida, UNLV (AD 3 years), and Western Michigan (AD 1 year) before coming to Virginia Tech.
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A man with class, dignity, intellect and prudence. He did so much for our University over the years and he will be well remembered by the Hokie faithful for a long long time to come. What a legacy he left! God bless his family in this difficult time. Our thoughts are with them all.
Thank You Jim for all you did for VT. God Bless you and your family.
Jim – You meant the world to Va. Tech and your contribution to our university made us one of the best, if not the best, in the country. Our best to your family.
Willy & Carol
Jim could of easily “moved on” after getting us in all sports in the Big East and playing for the NC. But he saw more potential and a rabid fan base hungry for more. Thank you for guiding us “back home.” God Bless.
God Speed Mr Weaver..thank you for a job well done and a life well lived. VT is much the better for your many contributions.
Thanks, Jim. Much respect.
Jim really understood athletics from a macro perspective and was the impetus for all the changes in the overall outlay to the athletic dept., buildings, fields, stadiums, etc. Despite all the fun we’ve had a his expense (chocolate chip cookies, ”stick-it-in”, etc), he was a good guy. God bless Jim Weaver.
I’m thinking one of the great “non-events” of his tenure was not over-spending on the west side expansion, the $52 was a nice right-sized increase in stadium capacity, a lot of us thought we were going to need more with the Hokie’s football trajectory. That was a manageable number, when the recession hit in 2008, you didn’t really hear about the indebtedness: non-event b/c of prudent debt.
Mr. Weaver was above all else professionally a man of integrity. He guided VT through some rough times, and always did so with class and decorum while representing VT. I think maybe his health problems probably limited him somewhat late in his tenure, and that probably led him to not doing due diligence on some of the hires we all questioned. Above all else, though, he represented VT well. A job well done, Mr. Weaver. Godspeed and the Hokie Nation I am sure will hold you and your loved ones in their prayers. Once a Hokie, always a Hokie.
Jim Weaver was an excellent AD and a good man who loved Virginia Tech dearly. He was taken from us too soon and he will be sorely missed. Every VT fan owes him a debt of gratitude for the prudent and professional way in which he managed the explosive growth of our athletic department.
I remember when Mr. Weaver was introduced at his first press conference. It was obvious he was a man who meant business. He was the right man at the right time and we all should be thankful he was on our team. He had a great run. Thanks Mr Weaver.
See you on the other side of the veil brother.
VT has lost a dear friend and a good man. He was definitely instrumental in guiding Tech to the Big East and the ACC. I was one who questioned some of his hires and often wrote him expressing my concerns. He always replied with a personal phone call and showed he was interested in hearing my opinions and was a gentlemen in our discussions. Rest in peace Jim and thanks for being a great Hokie! Our prayers are with your family and those mourning today.
Godspeed JW. And thank you for your fiscal responsibility, a trait lost on many these days. You have guided VT through some of its most tumultuous moments (especially with respect to conference realignment and exponential growth) all while keeping us in the black.
Make no mistake, although some may not have agreed with some of your hiring decisions, your management has laid the foundation for a lot of what WB is able to do with the program as your successor. Thank you for caring for VT as much as you did and for putting VT in a position to be successful for years to come.
Well said.
Well said about a man who should hear “Well done!” for all he has brought us to and through.
Go Hokies!
Agree with your assessment.
Very well said sir. It aggravates me to know end how some berate Mr. Weaver about some small matters they deem so important, without being able to comprehend the weight of the BIG picture. Jim did more for ‘our’ University than most realize. He is second to none, not even Frank Beamer or Charles Steger. RIP our Hokie brother.
“He is second to none, not even Frank Beamer or Charles Steger.”
Are you serious? Are you suggesting that Jim Weaver was more important to the university than Beamer or Steger?
Wow. That’s more than a little over the top.
RIP Mr. Weaver from all Hokies!
RIP Jim. I didn’t expect this quite this soon. He was a good man.
God bless JW’s heart