Virginia Tech acknowledges involvement in #WakeyLeaks

Virginia Tech Athletics Director Whit Babcock says the university has learned that a former assistant football coach received game plan information from an inside source prior to a matchup with Wake Forest University in 2014.

In a statement released by Twitter this afternoon, Babcock said: “We have recently been made aware that a former Wake Forest staff member provided one of our former assistant coaches some game plan information prior to our game in 2014.”

Statement from Director of Athletics Whit Babcock pic.twitter.com/4OK6iT8YS6

— HokieSports (@hokiesports) December 15, 2016

Wake Forest University recently disclosed that Tommy Elrod, a radio analyst employed by sports marketing company IMG, leaked confidential and proprietary game information to other teams over a period of three years. Elrod had previously worked as an assistant coach for Wake Forest University’s football program, but was not retained when Coach Dave Clawson was hired in December 2014.

Pete Moris, a spokesman for Virginia Tech’s athletics department, told Triad City Beat that he does not know the name of the former assistant coach who reportedly received the game information from Elrod. Asked whether the university plans to investigate the matter and whether he could find out the former assistant coach’s name, Moris declined to comment beyond referring to previous official statements.

Babcock went on to say that the department does not believe that the information was shared by any other staff members or utilized during the game.

“We hold ourselves to a higher standard at Virginia Tech,” he said. “We are disappointed and embarrassed that this type of information was distributed to, and apparently received by one of our former assistant coaches. The distribution of this type of information among peers or rivals is wrong and not in the vein of sportsmanship and integrity that we demand and expect, and for this, I personally apologize to the coaches, student-athletes, administration, alumni, students an fans of Wake Forest University.”

Frank Beamer, the former coach at Virginia Tech, and Bud Foster, the program’s current defensive coordinator, said yesterday that they had no knowledge of the matter.

“We will, of course, comply fully with the ACC and all relevant parties as this unfortunate situation unfolds,” Babcock said.

Wake Forest University announced on Tuesday that it launched an investigation following a Nov. 12 game with the University of Louisville “to determine if confidential and proprietary game information had been compromised,” adding that the investigation was “comprehensive in nature” and not limited to the Louisville game.

In response to the statement from Wake, University of Louisville Athletics Director Tom Jurich acknowledged that a member of the football team’s staff had received information about the rival team’s plays from Elrod.

“Our offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway and Tommy Elrod have known each other since 2007,” Jurich said. “Lonnie received a call from Elrod during the week of the Wake Forest game, and some information was shared with him that week.

“Among the communication were a few plays that were sent and then shared with our defensive staff,” Jurich continued. “None of the special plays were run during the course of the game. Our defense regularly prepares for similar formations every week in their normal game plan. Any other information that may have been discussed was nothing that our staff had not already seen while studying Wake Forest in their preparations for the game.”