Brad Wurthman
Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced the hiring of Brad Wurthman as Senior Associate Athletics Director for external operations on Friday.
Wurthman will oversee ticketing, marketing and promotions, HokieVision and hokiesports.com. In addition, he will serve as the department’s liaison with IMG College and other key partners and constituents. He will also manage Tech’s community outreach and fan engagement efforts, as well as future sport oversight responsibilities as assigned by Babcock.
The Hamilton, Ontario, Canada native comes to Virginia Tech from the University of Illinois, where he served as the Associate AD – Marketing/Fan Development since November 2014. In that role, he oversaw marketing, ticket sales, branding, customer service, game day experience and event production.
“Brad will provide excellent leadership for our external team and should help us continue our collective momentum in Athletics,” Babcock said. “He brings a wealth of experience and creative ideas to Virginia Tech. He’ll help us as we strive to get better as a department. I’ve watched Brad continue to grow and evolve as a leader since we both worked together at Cincinnati. He possesses an excellent talent for developing memorable fan experiences which will assist us in further strengthening our connection with Hokie Nation and Southwest Virginia.”
“I am humbled by the opportunity to join the Virginia Tech Athletics’ staff,” Wurthman said. “I’ve been fortunate to serve alongside Whit in the past and am excited to join the team there. I thank all of those who have helped me get to this point and cannot wait to get started in Blacksburg with this incredible group of staff, coaches, student-athletes and fans.”
Wurthman was promoted by Babcock to Associate AD, Marketing, Sales and Communications in May 2012 during their stint working together at Cincinnati during Babcock’s tenure as UC’s athletic director from 2011-13. Wurthman began his career with the Bearcats as manager of ticket sales and events in 2007 before his role expanded to include marketing, sales and fan development. During his tenure at UC, the school’s football gameday presentation was consistently recognized by national media outlets as one of the best environments in the nation.
A NACMA board member, Wurthman began serving a four-year term with that organization in June 2016. Prior to beginning his career in collegiate athletics, he worked as a coordinator of marketing, youth programming and merchandise for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
The valedictorian of McMaster University’s Class of 2007, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business in May 2007 and later received a master’s degree in business administration at UC in 2010. He will begin his duties at Tech on August 14 and will be joined in Blacksburg by his wife Shannon.
Babcock indicates that Tech plans to make another executive staff hiring announcement next week as part of a strategic restructuring of the VT Athletics administration.
