The Epitome of a Hokie: Mike Burnop’s Hall of Fame Career

Over the past 40 years, Virginia Tech fans have endured plenty of change in the football and men’s basketball programs, but there has been one constant: Mike Burnop calling the games on the radio.

Burnop is now known as one of the most iconic voices in Hokies history, but his career in Blacksburg began on the gridiron. A native of southwest Virginia, Burnop arrived in Blacksburg in the 1969 and left as one of the greatest tight ends in program history.

“It was interesting because when I was in high school, they recruited me when I was pretty young and at that point in time, they were going to the Liberty Bowl, so I thought that this was a nice transition and things are going well,” Burnop said. “It was kind of a natural fit [to go to Virginia Tech] and it was a lot of fun.”

After attempting to play professionally, the future hall-of-famer returned to Blacksburg with no intention of ending up on the air. However, the opportunity arose in 1983 for Burnop to put the headset on, and he hasn’t taken it off since.

“It was kind of strange and odd how it happened because I had no experience,” Burnop said. “The first game we did, Virginia Tech was opening up with Wake Forest in Lane Stadium, but Wake was playing Appalachian State in Winston-Salem. [Play-by-play broadcaster Jeff Charles and I] went down there and sat on the top of the the press box and went back and forth on a Marantz tape recorder.”

While Burnop began as just the football analyst, he quickly became a fan favorite and jumped over to the men’s basketball broadcasts as well. This is an extremely rare feat as very few analysts double-dip to call both major sports. However, in 1996, Burnop began as the basketball analyst and has held both positions for nearly 30 years.

“His personality translates to anything, so people just want to hear him,” play-by-play broadcaster Jon Laaser, who spent seven years in the booth with Burnop, said. “Not necessarily break down ball screen coverages but the overall vibe of the game.”

One of the large reasons that Burnop is so popular among fans is his relationship and chemistry with long-time broadcast partner, Bill Roth. The on-air partnership is still adored by the Hokies fanbase almost a decade since their last broadcast together.

“Mike and I would have to share rooms on the road back in the day. I’ve spent over 400 nights in a hotel room with Mike, that’s over a year of my life,” Roth said. “I think the chemistry is genuine and it’s reel and even if we weren’t broadcast partners, we’d still be buddies and I think that always came through on the air.”

The duo spent 27 seasons on the airwaves together and called some of the greatest moments in Virginia Tech history, including the program’s only trip to the national championship game, the game that Burnop recalls as his favorite moment in the booth.

“We’re playing mighty Florida State, the legendary Bobby Bowden and the great athletes that they had and we’ve got Michael Vick and Corey Moore and our defense, that was a phenomenal game," Burnop said. “I’ll never forget that experience. We didn’t win the game, but that’s a priceless and really memorable experience.”

The two Hokies legends now get the opportunity to reunite in 2022 after Laaser stepped away from his position earlier this year. Roth, who has since returned to Blacksburg as a professor of practice, will return this season as the voice of Hokies football alongside his long-time partner and friend.

“We always joked about getting back together to do something over the past seven years, but I’m really excited, that’s the lure of this,” Roth said. “It really feels like a band reunion tour, but it’s not just a one-year thing. It’s like The Eagles getting back together for their reunion tour and they haven’t stopped. I think that’s what this will be.”

With the duo reunited in the booth, fans will once again turn their radio dials every Saturday to hear Burnop and Roth’s rapport and call of the Hokies game. Over 50 years since Burnop first became a Hokie, there are few who epitomize Virginia Tech quite like the legendary analyst.

“I would not have had the success I ultimately had without him,” Laaser said. “Obviously it was a thrill for me to be paired with him because he was already a legend, and if you can’t have chemistry with Mike, you’re probably in the wrong business.”