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Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver will be stepping down next month, for health reasons, after 16 years running the Hokies' athletic program.

Jim Weaver: "I have had the pleasure of serving a great university and working with outstanding staff and coaches. I am very proud of our many accomplishments. We compete and win. We have some of the nation's best fans and, most importantly, our students graduate with a first class education. However, leadership of this important university role requires active engagement. I am not able to do that at this time. The department is in good shape, but I am not."

Weaver, 68, told The Roanoke Times he needs to have both hips replaced. He also has had multiple back operations and was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2004. He will retire Dec. 31.

Jim Weaver: "It's just been too much, with the back I've had -- the repeat back surgery after the bowl last year, I just think the time is right now for me to retire and spend time with my son and wife."

Weaver is the second-longest tenured AD in the ACC, behind Ron Wellman at Wake Forest.

Under Weaver, Virginia Tech moved from the Big East to the ACC and became a Top 25 football program. He also has spearheaded extensive facilities upgrades across the athletic department. Just last month, he was nominated for the 2013 Discover Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award, given annually to somebody who displays courage on or off the field.

Sharon McCloskey, senior associate athletic director, will serve as interim athletic director effective Jan. 1, 2014. Ray Smoot, former chief executive officer of the Virginia Tech Foundation, will chair a national search for the next athletic director.

A replacement is expected to be selected in early 2014.

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Here is a sentiment from a Va Tech fan: I never want anyone's health to be an issue. Although Weaver has some accomplishments, facility upgrades and football success, he has got some issues too. He fired our basketball coach in a terribly timed move, promised a prominent hire, and hired a no name. Did same thing with women's team too! The only reasoning he gave was they didn't want to be team players within athletic department? Greenberg was a winner and was building a foundation, and was not given the same patience as Beamer. Also, he stated that VT fans didn't consider WVU an important rival, only to retract his statement when public outcry came against him. I'm hoping VT hires someone who cares about the overall success. I sincerely wish him the best and his success is without question, but I hope next AD can get Basketball programs on the right track.

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I agree it is a shame someone has to step down due to health ailments --- Though, it may be a timing issue for him as well.

Jim Weaver has been as loyal an AD could be with regards to his football coach. And yes, Beamer certainly deserved some of the latitude he received, after growing the football program to a national competitor.

But, Beamer's mystique has dwindled on much of the Tech faithful, and the what have you done for me lately mentality that overrules the office ideology can put excessive pressure on the figure heads. And alumni support may be frustrated, watching the program that saw so much success, starting to lose its ground.

Stepping down was clearly inevitable, yet, stepping down now, may be his last act of loyalty to Beamer, in that he does not now have to fire his friend, Frank.

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Could be. Beamer might see the writing on the wall and step down himself. Virginia Tech isn't even having that bad of a year as they probably won't lose for the rest of the regular season, equating to a 9-3 finish. Sure they shouldn't have lost to Boston College and probably Duke, but upsets happen. I've felt like Beamer was getting stale for a while and I even thought he should have stepped down the year VT lost to James Madison (after that they won out), but overall he's about as consistent as they come.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side. I thought just about anyone other than Lloyd Carr would have had Michigan competing for national championships. And then we got Rich Rodriguez

Beamer is not yet Bowden but I fear it's getting close. Special teams used to be called Beamerball now it's just embarrassing. Beamer got the program to turn the corner but he's never been able to deliver the end game. He's probably got a couple more years before they make any move.

Hogwash! Beamer's going nowhere, nor should he. He is nowhere near where Bowden was in his final multiple years of mediocrity and NOTHING can compare to Paterno/Sandusky fiasco. Regardless of what you might hear on social media and internet boards, I can assure you that 95% of Tech supporters have Beamer's back and enough patience to let things play out. Beamer will retire on his own terms and I fully expect, as do most of us true Hokies fans, that it will occur at the end of his current contract which keeps him in place through 2016.

But I can understand Cane from the Bend wanting to promote some nonsensical disconnect between Hokies fans and Beamer - after all, I'm sure you're tired of getting your butt kicked by him.

I'm not saying this is the case with Virginia Tech, because I don't know, but sometimes with older coaches recruiting becomes a chore. When that happens it isn't that the level of coaching drops off it is the talent isn't there. I have seen that happen a couple of times. Even with coach Hayes. He wasn't as aggressive a recruiter in the seventies. Tressel's staff wasn't as aggressive at the end.

It's too bad you feel that way about me Fanatic. I understand your passion, but I never said a bad thing of the Va Tech program.

Of course I know you're jaded when any `Cane talks about your team, as you have said in the past, that you were raised to hate Miami . . . just try not to read things into a post, that simply aren't there.

I am not just a fan of the Hurricanes; I have also supported strongly what ever conference we have been in. In some cases overtly so with regards to the ACC.

And, I always give credit to the team who beats us, and express my frustrations with the `Canes performance, even when we're winning.

When everyone in the conference improves, it makes the conference look better recruiting wise. (even if that means Virginia Tech winning)

Sometimes it's not what you want it to be . . . as this has nothing to do with Hurricanes angst against the Hokie nation, such as you'd prefer it to be.

However, sometimes it's harder to see the writing on the wall when you're a supporting fan. But telling me that you don't feel some of the frustration with your team, is just downright denial.

And, if Beamer's contract is up in 2016 (which I did not know), then yeah, he'll probably be stepping down.

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'Cane.....

First off, you should know me well enough to know my last line was (a little bit) tongue in cheek.

Second, of course there is some disappointment over the last couple seasons, but there is also realism that a run of 10+ win seasons is going to end sometime and everybody needs to regroup, reload, and regenerate. This train ran a lot farther than I ever thought it would. In all honesty, I said Beamer needed to go after the 1993 Independence Bowl season because I didn't think he was the one who could take the program higher than a minor bowl. Two years later, we were beating Miami for the first time ever and knocking off Texas in the Sugar Bowl. Four years after that, he had us in the NC. And when everyone said VT would be a mid-level team in the ACC when we entered the conference in 2004, he won 4 championships in the first 7 years. So let's just say that there have been naysayers for a long, long time.

Finally, forgive me if I sounded offended, but I found it ironic that the one starting this thread was a Miami fan after your record against him dropped to 10-13, including 3-8 since 2003.

I look at the team's record, over what teams have beaten us.

Records vs a team means little (less we talk fsu/florida), when the current standing record is a 3rd consecutive loss.

Losing to Va Tech doesn't mean that much to me; Unless our record has us in contention for something more than runner up in the conference.

Miami hasn't got the team to compete for the conference title, let alone to compete on behalf of the conference in a major bowl. We would be a terrible representative.

We lost to Duke. That disappoints me more.

We had a chance to score, and take the lead . . . we had the opportunity to go for it on 4th down & 2 when the game was still within reach, but punted, and Duke scored by just running virtually unopposed down the field.

Duke may have the best team that I can ever remember them having. But the Canes gave up in that game, and it showed.

We lost to Virginia Tech . . . I don't think, outside of the media's propagation, or the raving mad Hurricanes fan, that those who follow our team, were all that surprised.

I'd care a lot more, if I though our team was better. But, I didnn't think we deserved to win that game.

Overall, our record has been less than desirable vs the Hokies in the past ten seasons . . . then again, overall, our record vs competition in general has been less than acceptable, for a `Canes fan.

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No doubt that the Hokies have fallen off...Losing last year to FSU. Miami, and Clemson was forgivable but the losses to Cincinnati, UNC, and Pitt were not.

And this year? Losing to Maryland was unforgivable. I'll give a pass on Duke since Duke might actually be decent.

Vileborg wrote:Beamer is not yet Bowden but I fear it's getting close. Special teams used to be called Beamerball now it's just embarrassing. Beamer got the program to turn the corner but he's never been able to deliver the end game. He's probably got a couple more years before they make any move.

I can agree with this. He's been around a while and has not delivered a major championship in some time.

Of course we can say that about all but a handful of coaches across the country.

Spence wrote:Of course we can say that about all but a handful of coaches across the country.

Yes, including Mark Richt.

BUT Beamer is the senior coach in College Football. I think he started in 1989.