You Make the Call: Who Should be the New Minnesota AD?

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Thank goodness no one has suggested Bob Stein yet.
 

list of Athletic Directors at the U (from Wikipedia)

1922-30 Fred Leuhring
1930-32 Herbert O. (Fritz) Crisler
1932-41 Frank G. McCormick
1941-45 Lou Keller (acting)
1945-50 Frank G. McCormick
1950-63 Ike J. Armstrong
1963-71 Marshall J. Ryman
1971-88 Paul Giel (men's)
1974-76 Belmar Gunderson (women's)
1976-81 Vivian M. Barfield (women's)
1981-82 M. Catherine Mathison (women's interim)
1982-88 Merrily Dean Baker (women's)
1988-89 Holger Christiansen (men's interim)
1988–2002 Chris Voelz (women's)
1989-91 Rick Bay (men's)
1991-92 Dan Meinert (men's interim)
1992-95 McKinley Boston (men's)
1995-99 Mark Dienhart (men's)
1999–2002 Tom Moe (men's)
2002–present Joel Maturi
From 1974 to 2002, there were separate athletic departments for men and women's sports.
 

Hollis was a basketball team manager under former head coach Jud Heathcote throughout his undergraduate education at Michigan State......hmmmm, John Anderson?
 



fan of Ray Williams said:
1922-30 Fred Leuhring
1930-32 Herbert O. (Fritz) Crisler
1932-41 Frank G. McCormick
1941-45 Lou Keller (acting)
1945-50 Frank G. McCormick
1950-63 Ike J. Armstrong
1963-71 Marshall J. Ryman
1971-88 Paul Giel (men's)
1974-76 Belmar Gunderson (women's)
1976-81 Vivian M. Barfield (women's)
1981-82 M. Catherine Mathison (women's interim)
1982-88 Merrily Dean Baker (women's)
1988-89 Holger Christiansen (men's interim)
1988–2002 Chris Voelz (women's)
1989-91 Rick Bay (men's)
1991-92 Dan Meinert (men's interim)
1992-95 McKinley Boston (men's)
1995-99 Mark Dienhart (men's)
1999–2002 Tom Moe (men's)
2002–present Joel Maturi
From 1974 to 2002, there were separate athletic departments for men and women's sports.
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1930-32 Herbert O. (Fritz) Crisler
For those that don't know, he went to Michigan and later had an arena(now center) named after him.
 

It seems pretty clear that the correct choice will be somebody that you and I have never heard of. Not a broken down old coach but somebody who has been in athletics administration probably his or her entire career. Clearly, this also needs to be a national search. There may be credible contenders with MN ties but there may not be. Of course, what I am describing is not at all unlike Maturi. So a visionary leader is only part of what you need. You also need an administration that is inclined to listen to and respect a visionary leader. Without the latter, you're never going to have the former.

Of all the names mentioned, Tony Dungy certainly would be a feel-good choice. And he may have the skills for the job. But if he does, it is not a product of his core career and training, it would be accidental to his career and training. A good search would figure that out.
 

Someone who puts football front-and-center and on the sides, in the back, and top and bottom too.

Football is the engine that drives an athletic department. Until they get that figured out (my entire lifetime and counting), the entire department will be playing chase-the-carrot. I would not hire anyone who doesn't believe this. I'm not saying get rid of all the other sports. With a successful football program, we can have all that too. Lots of $$$ left on the table in the last 40 years...............
 

Who cares if they are from Minnesota? I care about whether or not they are good at the job.
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As long as they aren't from Wisconsin. :)
 



I think the immediate question is; when do we find out IF we will get a new AD.
 


Minnesota roots/connections have no bearing whatsoever, and they shouldn't.

It will be someone who no one has ever heard of.
 




There are a handful of guys out there who came from no college athletics background.

Michigan's David Brandon was the CEO of Domino's Pizza before taking over.

Indiana's Fred Glass was an executive in Indianapolis before taking over.

Both have done great things, but both were alums of their respective schools.

Without bringing politics into it, what about U of M grad Tim Pawlenty? He'll be looking for work, is passionate about sports, helped spearhead the passage of the bill for TCF Bank Stadium, clearly has executive experience, can be creative, is absolutely media savvy, is well known, can clearly raise funds with huge connections to big money. I mean what other school could say they have a former governor running their athletic department??

That said, I know even if he wanted the job, politics would get in the way.
 

tjgopher said:
There are a handful of guys out there who came from no college athletics background.

Michigan's David Brandon was the CEO of Domino's Pizza before taking over.

Indiana's Fred Glass was an executive in Indianapolis before taking over.

Both have done great things, but both were alums of their respective schools.

Without bringing politics into it, what about U of M grad Tim Pawlenty? He'll be looking for work, is passionate about sports, helped spearhead the passage of the bill for TCF Bank Stadium, clearly has executive experience, can be creative, is absolutely media savvy, is well known, can clearly raise funds with huge connections to big money. I mean what other school could say they have a former governor running their athletic department??

That said, I know even if he wanted the job, politics would get in the way.
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Interesting suggestion. I kind of like it though. Regardless of how you do feel about his politics/how he handled being governor. He does have a strong interest in sports and is very media savy and well liked as a person (by most accounts). He obviously has a resume good enough to be governor, a job I'd assume requires more qualifications than AD, would be an interesting development if he actually expressed interest in the job.
 


I want the Baylor AD. I think his name is Ian McCaw. Baylor was coming off that crazy basketball scandal and was pretty much irrelevant in football and basketball in the Big XII, now they've got a top 10 basketball team and a Heisman Trophy. Plus he's from the Northeast and went to college in Canada so you know he understands hockey culture.

That said, I think he's heavily involved in the Baptist Church, so probably wouldn't leave Baylor for a raise, a bigger budget and more conference stability.

I would prefer somebody with AD experience, granted that's what we got with Joel. Just think we're in too precarious of a position to take a risk.
 

tjgopher said:
Without bringing politics into it, what about U of M grad Tim Pawlenty? He'll be looking for work, is passionate about sports, helped spearhead the passage of the bill for TCF Bank Stadium, clearly has executive experience, can be creative, is absolutely media savvy, is well known, can clearly raise funds with huge connections to big money. I mean what other school could say they have a former governor running their athletic department??

That said, I know even if he wanted the job, politics would get in the way.
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I don't see that happening. And if we're going ex-governor, why not Arnie Carlson? No one was a bigger Gopher fan than him. Though he may be too old to put in what the job would require at this point.
 

howeda7 said:
I don't see that happening. And if we're going ex-governor, why not Arnie Carlson? No one was a bigger Gopher fan than him. Though he may be too old to put in what the job would require at this point.
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Can't see them bringing in Clem's buddy, much as I love Carlson.
 

howeda7 said:
I don't see that happening.
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I agree. Unlikely he'd be interested and even if he was, politics would get in the way. And, to be clear, I'm not even suggesting it would be a fantastic idea. I'm just suggesting there might be someone out there with not much college athletic experiece with worlds of executive experience that would like the job and have a passion for it and be the person to push Minnesota to a new level.

The gig will likely pay 400K to 500K annually. Might be enticing to someone.

howeda7 said:
And if we're going ex-governor, why not Arnie Carlson?
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The guy is 77 years old.
 

NateDawgUM said:
Just think we're in too precarious of a position to take a risk.
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Some might argue we're in too stale of a position not to take a risk. I think the job needs a risk-taker. Someone who might not be afraid to offend some people within the U's heirarchy, be a creative thinker with a keen business sense, but also be someone who will not be scared to have fun with some things. There's absolutely no risk happening right now within the department. It is stale because everyone is afraid to offend or afraid to have fun.

Is there a single person in the U's AD's office who would have conceived of the basketball game on an aircraft carrier idea? No chance. And, if somone had, they would have been told about all the barriers it would take to overcome to pull it off, so let's not even attempt it.

The place needs a change of culture (to use a worn out cliche). Whomever gets the job needs to surround themselves with smart, creative people not adverse to taking an occasional gamble.
 

GopherJake said:
Someone who puts football front-and-center and on the sides, in the back, and top and bottom too.

Football is the engine that drives an athletic department. Until they get that figured out (my entire lifetime and counting), the entire department will be playing chase-the-carrot. I would not hire anyone who doesn't believe this. I'm not saying get rid of all the other sports. With a successful football program, we can have all that too. Lots of $$$ left on the table in the last 40 years...............
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Well told. I was in Target yesterday. Thirty feet of Vikings jackets, sweats, caps -- ONE Gopher sweatshirt.
 

tjgopher said:
Some might argue we're in too stale of a position not to take a risk. I think the job needs a risk-taker. Someone who might not be afraid to offend some people within the U's heirarchy, be a creative thinker with a keen business sense, but also be someone who will not be scared to have fun with some things. There's absolutely no risk happening right now within the department. It is stale because everyone is afraid to offend or afraid to have fun.

Is there a single person in the U's AD's office who would have conceived of the basketball game on an aircraft carrier idea? No chance. And, if somone had, they would have been told about all the barriers it would take to overcome to pull it off, so let's not even attempt it.

The place needs a change of culture (to use a worn out cliche). Whomever gets the job needs to surround themselves with smart, creative people not adverse to taking an occasional gamble.
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Why not get the guy with the finance show where he throws chairs?
 

scher215 said:
Interesting suggestion. I kind of like it though. Regardless of how you do feel about his politics/how he handled being governor. He does have a strong interest in sports and is very media savy and well liked as a person (by most accounts). He obviously has a resume good enough to be governor, a job I'd assume requires more qualifications than AD, would be an interesting development if he actually expressed interest in the job.
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To become Governor of the great state of Minnesota one does not need any qualifications, in fact the Governor can be one of the least qualified people ever suited to the job as long as they can get people to vote for them-- see Ventura, Jesse
 

Dr. Don is first on my list my a wide margin.

After that, it's a crap shoot, but one guy I would like to see merit some consideration is U grad and current Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson. Sharp guy with a long history in athletic administration. I went to college with his older brother (who was an absolute science brainiac) and got to meet Craig a few times. Just one of those guys you knew was going to make it big.

Craig Thompson Bio: http://www.themwc.com/staff/thompson.html
 

Minnesconsin fan said:
To become Governor of the great state of Minnesota one does not need any qualifications, in fact the Governor can be one of the least qualified people ever suited to the job as long as they can get people to vote for them-- see Ventura, Jesse
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Good answer.
 

I say Tubby Smith. That way he could hire a good basketball coach....j/k.
 

minngg said:
I say Tubby Smith. That way he could hire a good basketball coach....j/k.
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Plus, it's not every school who can say they have the messiah as their AD.
 

I'm not going to say who should be the new AD but I do agree it's going someone we have never heard of, unless they are get someone locally that people know like T-Paw. But I view the job as an AD has 4 major components that pretty much falls under. Finding someone who can do one or two things successfully isn't that difficult three is a challenge and four is pretty rare among AD's. They are as follows:

1. Hire great coaches and get out of the coaches way

2. Prevent large scale NCAA violations

3. Raise money for new facilities

4. Keep the department in the black

If any AD can do those four basic tasks they are going to be successful in their jobs.
 

We have plenty of candidates on this board who apparently have all the answers on what it takes to be a successful D-I AD. Prez Kaler should look at GopherHole before he looks anywhere else.
 

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