McNeely smart choice for post

Three wins. 30,000 fans. Zero bowl games. IU football. \nIn the football program's last four years -- all under coach Cam Cameron -- it has won 13 games, attendance has hovered at about 30,000 and the closest the Hoosiers have come to beating rival Purdue is six points; the other three losses came by a combined score of 149-27. \nThe football program is struggling, limping through one season after the next. It got a boost Thursday when the University announced it hired Michael McNeely, who sports a sparkling football background, as its new athletics director. The committee that chose McNeely should be applauded for its selection.\nAs football goes, so goes the budget. Tickets, concessions, merchandise, parking; it all brings in the money that helps fund other sports such as tennis, track and field and swimming.\nFootball is where the money is. But, there isn't much money to be had when only 30,000 fans stroll into Memorial Stadium for Big Ten games. Current athletics director Clarence Doninger, who McNeely will replace July 1, saw the program dip after three bowl game appearances from 1990-1993. IU hasn't earned a bowl bid since 1993's Independence Bowl loss to Virginia Tech. \nMcNeely was an assistant coach at Colorado, where bowl games are commonplace. McNeely has seen a program rise from the bottom of its conference, a task facing the Hoosiers. During McNeely's tenure at Colorado, the Buffaloes struggled, but did earn a bowl trip in 1985, McNeely's final season. \nAfter leaving Boulder, Colo., McNeely jumped to the University of the Pacific, where he boosted its budget. He worked as the director of operation for the NCAA. Then, he used his marketing skills to help the NFL's San Diego Chargers make ends meet, despite a discouraging win-loss record. McNeely has seen his share of floundering football, and he's made the most of it. Now, he'll get to do it all over again. \nIU needs to fill Memorial Stadium, something Cameron said was one of his most important projects. It hasn't worked. IU needs another string of bowl games. Once-struggling programs like Minnesota, Northwestern and Wisconsin have all made recent bowl games and there is no reason IU can't do the same.\nCameron said he wouldn't read into the committee's decision to hire what it called a "football guy," but he must get the hint. \nThe committee that chose McNeely understands the importance of football. It understands McNeely has the background and know-how to help Cameron and the football Hoosiers climb from the Big Ten's cellar. It understands basketball will forever dominate the campus, but football needs to be more than a punchline.\nStaff vote: 13 - 1 - 1