Hall of Fame wrestler hopes to build Tech program
Tom Brands, who won gold at the 1996 Olympics, has led the Hokies to a 10-4 record.
By Jim Reedy
The Roanoke Times
BLACKSBURG – In seven months as Virginia Tech’s wrestling coach, Tom Brands has discovered his sport is viewed a little differently in the Atlantic Coast region than it is back home in Iowa.
“Even though there’s a commitment to it, “he said, “people still don’t get it. “Brands gets it. He was an NCAA champion three times at the University of Iowa, that most storied of college wrestling programs. He won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2001.
Since boyhood, the sport has been a tremendous part of his life, helping to develop core values – discipline, accountability, an affinity for hard work – he carries with him today. As much as he coaches the Hokies on their technique, he coaches them on their attitudes and commitment to the sport. That, he said, is the sine qua non in wrestling.
“That’s how I was coached and that’s how I was raised, “Brands said. “Your athletic ability and your wins and losses is a direct: almost a representation of how you live your life. If you’re a 75th percentile wrestler, you’re probably a 75th percentile person from a commitment point of view. I was never that way.”
Gradually, the Hokies have come to understand. Some are still learning to devote themselves entirely. But the sacrifices are made immeasurably easier by the tangible successes they have produced. As they prepare to host Maryland on Saturday, the Hokies own a 10-4 record in dual meets this season. In the past three seasons, as Keith Mourlam concluded his eight years as head coach, Virginia Tech was 11-35.
“It’s a lot different, “said Steve Borja, a junior who was named ACC wrestler of the week after defeating Frank Cornely, the defending ACC champion at 184 pounds, in Virginia Tech’s 25-11 win against Duke last weekend. “Pretty much everything’s changed. Mostly our intensity and our goals have all changed for the better, and it’s all because of Coach Brands.”
Brands and his young assistant coaches – distinguished fellow Iowa alums Wes Hand, Doug Schwab and Lee Fullhart – still have much work to do to make Virginia Tech a contender on the national level. In four meets against top-25 opponents this season, the Hokies are 0-4, including a 38-0 whitewashing at Iowa earlier this month. But much progress has been made, perhaps more than could have been expected in such a short time.
“I think our guys have learned a lot about commitment and … more than anything they realize that when you take on a challenge, you go all the way, “Brands said. “Before, I think it was more or less a hobby with them. That’s kind of a strong word to use, but that’s what I feel like. And still, with some of them, it’s still a hobby. It’s hard to knock that out of them when it’s been ingrained …
“We’ve got a lot of young guys that can accomplish great things. But I don’t know if they see it that way. I think they see it as being more competitive in the region. That’s what we’re trying to change.”
Brands, 36, joined the Hokies after 12 seasons as an assistant coach at Iowa. He had been interested for some time in running his own Division I program, but he was selective, aiming for one of the fewer than 20 programs that he judged had the necessary financial resources to compete at the highest level.
Virginia Tech fit the bill. Expecting a bigger slice of conference revenue with their new membership in the ACC, the Hokies boosted the wrestling team’s scholarships closer to the NCAA maximum of 9.9 and authorized the hiring of Schwab as a second assistant at 80 percent full-time.
Those steps have been important, Brands said, but the program still needs better salaries for the assistant coaches and most important, better facilities. At 2,600 square feet, the team’s current practice room is “what we need to get by on a bare minimum scale, “he said, but championship programs need 5,000 or 6,000 square feet of uninterrupted space.
“We have two posts right in the middle of our room, “Brands said. “It’s heresy. It really is.”
Jon Jaudon, Virginia Tech’s associate director of athletics for administration, said the athletic department is working on Brands’ concerns. He said he and athletic director Jim Weaver met Monday with Brands and Hand, his top assistant coach,to discuss their facilities options.
“We share Tom’s vision for where he desires to take the program, and are going to work as quickly as possible to fulfill the needs that he has indicated to us to take his program to the highest level, “Jaudon said, choosing his words carefully. “I cannot put a timetable in years when that’ll come to fruition. … We may renovate space for Tom. We may produce new space for Tom. That decision has not been made at this time. But we’re analyzing all those possibilities as we speak.”
Meantime, Brands and his wrestlers look ahead to the final two months of the season. A handful of Hokies, led by junior 133-pounder David Hoffman, are contenders for spots at the NCAA individual championships. Next season they will be joined by a five-man recruiting class that is regarded among the best in the nation.
“We’re not exactly where we want to be, but it’s coming, “senior 157-pounder Reed Carpenter said. “I think we’re getting there.”
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