MU AD search...

[LastWarrior]

Anybody have any early favorites??

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=527546

AD search will take some time
By DON WALKER
dwalker@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 6, 2006

The search for a new athletic director at Marquette University will last until at least the summer of 2007, a top MU official said Friday.

Steve Cottingham, senior associate vice president for the university, said he would lead the process, with other top administrative officials assisting him.

Cottingham will also act as interim athletic director when Bill Cords leaves the position at the end of the year. Cords announced his retirement last month. He had been athletic director since July 1987.

Cottingham said there already had been inquiries from potential candidates. Asked if he was interested in the position, Cottingham said his primary focus was to get the best person for the job.

With Marquette's membership in the Big East Conference, the job will likely attract some top candidates.

Mike Cleary, executive director of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, said schools of MU's caliber needed candidates who are skilled at generating revenue for the athletic program.

"It's a fact of life today that athletic directors have to be conversant in business and marketing," Cleary said.

Although Marquette does not have a football program, he said, there might be candidates who have a football background who would be interested in the job.

That was the case with Cords, who came from Texas-El Paso, which had a football program.

Another possibility, Cleary said, is a candidate from the Big East Conference who is familiar with the Marquette program and the conference.

Tom Crean, men's basketball coach, said a new athletic director must understand the "landscape of a private institution." An athletic director like Cords, he said, understood what it meant to be a coach, and that's what Marquette should be looking for in a new one.
From the Nov. 7, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

[iamthelorax]

This position really has great potential.  MU is a major school, with a top 25 basketball program, strong soccer programs (though the men didn't show it this year), and some top notch facilities.  There's also room for growth -- which might appeal to some charismatic candidates as well.

I will be very disappointed if a forward-thinking candidate is not hired.

[mu_hilltopper]

To some extent, though, all the heavy lifting has been finished.  Big East.  Al Center.  Both BBall coaches under long term contracts.  ESPN deal (with BE).  Other than a MU football program fantasy, what's left for the next AD?

[LastWarrior]

I still hold out hope for a football team... I've already picked out our uniforms too...



and

[iamthelorax]

Actually, there's room for growth without football.  La crosse would be one option, as would some other Olympic sports.  The scholarship issue is the biggie...but I seriously think there's room to grow here.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It makes me nervous that one of Fran's best friends will be leading the Marquette athletic department and leading the search for a new candidate.   


Maybe that is why Fran has been so pleasant to MU fans the last two weeks...it's the only thing I can think of...we're not in Lent are we?   

[ChicosBailBonds]

My short list of candidates would be (no particular order)


Doug Elgin - Commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference  (outstanding manager, great vision, gets it)

Vince Cicero - VP Marketing, Cincinnati Bengals (former ASST AD at Marquette.  Marquette MBA - also gets it)

Mack Rhoades - Athletic Director University of Akron (former Blue & Gold employee at MU, Associate AD at UTEP)


And my crazy pick:

Bob Harlan - Green Bay Packers (Marquette graduate and former employee of the Marquette athletic department)