UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Former Penn State football student-athlete and assistant coach and long-time Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver passed away Thursday morning in Blacksburg, Va. He was 70.
A 1967 graduate of Penn State with a degree in psychology and rehabilitation education, Weaver played center and linebacker on the football team for head coaches Rip Engle (1964-65) and Joe Paterno (1966). The Harrisburg, Pa. native (William Penn High School) then assisted the coaching staff for two seasons while earning a master’s degree in education.
Weaver earned a full-time coaching position on the Nittany Lions’ staff in 1969 as the interior offensive line coach. During his six-year tenure on the coaching staff, Penn State posted undefeated seasons in 1968 and ’69 and played in five bowl games – the Cotton, Gator, Sugar and Orange (twice), winning in Dallas and both contests in Miami.
Weaver served as the Director of Athletics at Virginia Tech from 1997-2013, retiring at the end of the calendar year due to health reasons, concluding an administrative career that spanned three decades. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2004.
In 2013, then Penn State Director of Athletics Dave Joyner and Weaver announced the first gridiron meetings between the Nittany Lions and Virginia Tech. The Nittany Lions will travel to Blacksburg in 2020 and the Hokies will visit Beaver Stadium in 2025. Weaver coached Joyner at Penn State, with the offensive tackle earning first-team All-America and Academic All-America honors in 1971.
Weaver left Penn State to serve as the offensive coordinator at Iowa State in 1973 and he was the head coach at Villanova in 1974. He moved into athletic administration as an Associate AD at Florida from 1983-91. Weaver then served as the AD at UNLV for three years and the AD at Western Michigan for two years prior to his arrival at Virginia Tech in 1997.
Under Weaver’s leadership, Virginia Tech moved into the Big East Conference for all sports, except wrestling, starting in 2000-01. His ability to get the department on solid financial footing, his emphasis on facilities and his strong oversight in the areas of NCAA compliance set the groundwork for the school’s invitation into the Atlantic Coast Conference for all sports starting in 2004.
In 2009, Weaver won the prestigious John L. Toner Award presented by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. The award is given each year to a director of athletics who has demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics and particularly college football. He also was named the AD of the year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in May, 2014.
Weaver is survived by his wife, Traci, and four sons – Josh, Paul, Cole and Craig. Funeral arrangements are to be announced.
Information from Virginia Tech Athletics was used in this story.