BleedGopher
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per McFeely:
But if Goetz is not a shoo-in, and the search truly is open, somebody should call the athletic department at the University of Iowa and ask to speak with Gene Taylor. He’s the deputy athletic director at Iowa, under top dog Gary Barta. Taylor should be a top candidate for the Gopher job.
You might be rolling your eyes, if you know who Gene Taylor is. Yes, he was the athletic director at North Dakota State for 13 years. NDSU is the college here in Fargo, where these words are being produced. I covered Taylor and his athletic department for all 13 of those years. You might be saying, “Here we go. The hometown rube is cheerleading for his guy.”
Maybe there is an element of that, although you should know Taylor and I aren’t close friends and we knocked heads more than a few times during his stay in Fargo. It was a working relationship: me doing my job as columnist and talk-show host, Gene doing his as the boss of NDSU athletics.
But I do believe Taylor did a helluva job transitioning NDSU from a Division II school with a good history of football success into a mid-major Division I program that has exceeded expectation in pretty much every area — from winning to national media coverage to fundraising to running a fairly clean ship (there was a stretch when NDSU’s football program had some issues with players running afoul of law and order, but more on that later). Other than women’s basketball, Bison teams have had success across the board since the move to Division I. It was a foundation set by Taylor (and NDSU’s presidents).
http://mcfeely.areavoices.com/2016/04/01/hey-gophers-give-gene-taylor-down-in-iowa-a-call/
Go Gophers!!
But if Goetz is not a shoo-in, and the search truly is open, somebody should call the athletic department at the University of Iowa and ask to speak with Gene Taylor. He’s the deputy athletic director at Iowa, under top dog Gary Barta. Taylor should be a top candidate for the Gopher job.
You might be rolling your eyes, if you know who Gene Taylor is. Yes, he was the athletic director at North Dakota State for 13 years. NDSU is the college here in Fargo, where these words are being produced. I covered Taylor and his athletic department for all 13 of those years. You might be saying, “Here we go. The hometown rube is cheerleading for his guy.”
Maybe there is an element of that, although you should know Taylor and I aren’t close friends and we knocked heads more than a few times during his stay in Fargo. It was a working relationship: me doing my job as columnist and talk-show host, Gene doing his as the boss of NDSU athletics.
But I do believe Taylor did a helluva job transitioning NDSU from a Division II school with a good history of football success into a mid-major Division I program that has exceeded expectation in pretty much every area — from winning to national media coverage to fundraising to running a fairly clean ship (there was a stretch when NDSU’s football program had some issues with players running afoul of law and order, but more on that later). Other than women’s basketball, Bison teams have had success across the board since the move to Division I. It was a foundation set by Taylor (and NDSU’s presidents).
http://mcfeely.areavoices.com/2016/04/01/hey-gophers-give-gene-taylor-down-in-iowa-a-call/
Go Gophers!!