VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Brandon Elliott is used to juggling administrative duties with his responsibilities as Virginia Wesleyan's head softball coach, but now he's set to oversee the Marlins' entire athletic department.
Elliott, who was the school's Deputy Athletic Director for Advancement, was announced as VWU's new Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics on Monday. He will continue in his role as head softball coach. Elliott replaces Andrea Hoover-Erbig, who departed to take the athletic director job at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
"I've been at Virginia Wesleyan since I was 18-years old," Elliott said Tuesday ahead of softball practice. "I've never left and my wife's an alum. It's just, my kids grew up here, everything in my life is right here and to be here what looks like the rest of my career in whatever capacity that is, not a lot of people get to say that."
Elliott, a 2003 graduate of Virginia Wesleyan, was a member of the Marlins' baseball team and is in his 19th season leading the VWU softball program. He's led the team to three national titles (2017. 2018, 2021) and captured career victory No. 700 last month. This year's showing may be the best yet from Wesleyan, as the Marlins enter the NCAA Tournament 45-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country.
In addition to softball, he's also been part of shaping VWU Athletics. Now he will take over the big chair.
"I think the biggest piece of this, to allow me still to coach, is to build a support staff around you," he noted. "Andrea's built an unbelievable department full of some unbelievable coaches, young and old and experienced. Dr. Miller and the Board of Trustees have come up with a plan to support me so I can serve in both capacities at a high level. I'm crazy excited about it."
Hoover-Erbig has been Virginia Wesleyan's Director of Athletics since 2021 and was a successful volleyball coach for the Marlins prior to taking over the department. Elliott will look to continue the success and says he'll lean into his strong staff of coaches and administrators to help in creating success.
"There's some excitement, there's some nerves," he smiled. "I'm going to mess it up for sure, but I'm going to lean in on a lot of people that have taken care of me."
Elliott's immediate focus is on the NCAA softball tournament, which gets underway Thursday as the Marlins host John Jay to kick off the regional. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m.
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