after 1996, however, peele had little success with the spartans. unc greensboro followed up their big south championship with a 10–20 regular season, and then left the big south in 1997 to join the southern conference. the spartans finished at or near the bottom of their division in both of their first two seasons in the socon, and after four years in greensboro, peele left the spartans and took an assistant's job with the virginia tech hokies.