Virginia Tech hires pedigreed Brian White from FAU as athletic director
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Brian White, who gave Dusty May his first head-coaching job and worked alongside Lane Kiffin for two seasons, is Virginia Tech’s next athletic director, the school announced Monday evening.
White has led the department at Florida Atlantic for eight-plus years and has overseen a 625% increase in donations since 2021, according to the university’s website. In 2024, he negotiated a stadium naming-rights deal with Flagler Credit Union worth $22.5 million over 15 years.
But the Owls, who moved from Conference USA to the American Conference three years ago, reported a modest $49.3 million in 2024-25 athletics expenses to the U.S. Department of Education, about one-fourth of what Virginia Tech projects in coming years after the infusion of additional campus support, a campaign the Hokies call Invest to Win.
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“Few institutions in college athletics possess the combination of tradition, passion, institutional support and untapped potential that exists at Virginia Tech,” White said in a statement. “I am excited to partner with Coach James Franklin as we continue building a championship-caliber football program.
“That same commitment to success will extend across all 22 sports as we work alongside our exceptional head coaches, dedicated staff and talented student-athletes to compete for championships.”
A 2006 Notre Dame graduate, White is the son of former Fighting Irish and Duke AD Kevin White. His brother Danny is AD at Tennessee, his brother Mike the basketball coach at Georgia.
Mike White was Florida’s head coach in 2018 when Brian appointed May from his staff to lead FAU’s program. Five years later as a No. 9 regional seed, May’s Owls advanced to the Final Four.
May guided Michigan to the national championship this past season and is reportedly set to become the Dallas Mavericks’ head coach.
White inherited Kiffin at FAU, but after the Owls’ 2019 Conference USA championship, Kiffin left for Ole Miss. FAU football has struggled since.
Willie Taggart went 15-18 in three seasons, Tom Herman 6-16 in two years. The Owls were 4-8 last season, their first under Zach Kittley.
A former administrator at Louisiana Tech, Tulsa, Army and Missouri, White succeeds Whit Babcock, who served 12 years in the position and is remaining with Tech for three years in an emeritus role.
Much as he did with Kiffin at FAU, White arrives at Virginia Tech amid football promise rooted in an accomplished, big-personality coach. The Hokies hired Franklin in November, and the ensuing months have teemed with recruiting and fundraising success as the program seeks to reverse a slide from national prominence embodied in five losing seasons in the last six years.
Franklin served on the search committee that interviewed several finalists in Northern Virginia in the last few days.
“We were looking for a leader with impeccable character, along with the appetite and urgency to help our football program win at the highest levels,” Franklin said in a statement. “Brian embodies those qualities.”
Virginia Tech will introduce White at a news conference Wednesday morning at Lane Stadium.
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com
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