Hey folks,
By now, you might have seen the news that President McRobbie has officially named a search committee for the next athletics director. Chris has the release in a full post below this one, but I thought we ought to spin this forward and give some thoughts on a few of these names. On an interesting but not surprising note -- Stephan said in the release no one on the committee will comment publicly on the process until its conclusion:
1) Committee chair: Bill Stephan -- An obvious choice, Stephan is a McRobbie appointee, currently the IU Vice President for Engagement. Committees like this are often chaired (at least in my limited experience) by someone within the top levels of administration for any number of reasons. Stephan is a McRobbie guy, though, as I said above. He assumed his current position at McRobbie's bidding, and methinks he'll make a point of representing what McRobbie wants out of this search as best he can. Stephan also served on the Tom Crean search committee, so he's got some experience in this kind of procedure.
2) Head men's basketball coach Tom Crean -- I mention Crean here not because he's the most high-profile (and highest-paid) figure at the University, but because he's been appointed to this committee just months after coming to IU. Had McRobbie wanted more "IU experience" on this list, a more logical choice might have been Mike Freitag or Lin Loring. But it appears that was outweighed by Crean's importance within the athletic department, and thus
This signals to me that McRobbie is ready to hand Crean the keys to the Buick so to speak (and why not after Crean signed a contract extension that will have him at IU around the time my kids enroll in college). I would also take this as a sign of the kind of power Crean holds within the IU system. I'm not saying the Hoosiers' new coach strong-armed anyone into this position -- he ought to be on the committee, because he and the next AD will likely need to develop the same relationship shared between Rick Greenspan and one Kelvin Sampson. But putting the newest head coach in the IU Athletic Department on its second-most important search committee sends a definitive message about Crean's standing at Assembly Hall.
3) Former men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley -- A member of the committee that hired Tom Crean, Yeagley wields a large amount of credibility with IU crowds. He installed IU as one of a select few elite national soccer programs, and he's been an active member of the IU committee since his retirement.
4) Anthony Thompson -- Ditto for Thompson, who might be the most visible former IU athlete within the department. Thompson is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, having been inducted last year after owning the all-time rushing record for nine years. He's also the assistant director for development for athletics, and he is generally regarded as a favored son among IU fans.
5) James Winbush, dean of graduate studies -- Wimbush is notable on this community both for his place in the University - he is the only African-American dean on the Bloomington campus - and more importantly for his role as chair of the University Athletics Committee. The committee "has oversight and an advisory role" toward IU Athletics, and reports directly to the president, the AD and the Bloomington Faculty Council. As a member of this committee, Wimbush is essentially both representing the interests of IU faculty and picking someone he will be working closely with starting Jan. 1, 2009.
6) Mary Ann Rohleder, director of administratice services for athletics -- The Director of Administrative Services for IU Athletics, Rohleder "handles all human resource activities, including employee contract administration and policy and procedure development," according to her bio page on IUHoosiers.com. It also mentions she's served in a variety of other roles, including compliance. She's been with the department longer than just about anyone on the committee other than Yeagley -- 14 years -- and I would imagine she will try to bring to the table the perspective of the people who will be working for the future AD.
7) Bruce Jaffee, faculty representative on the Athletics Committee -- What that doesn't say is Jaffee is also the Big Ten's faculty contact, so he has far-reaching powers when it comes to IU Athletics. He's up there with Wimbush in terms of faculty representation and say-so when it comes to IU Athletics, and he'll likely bring plenty of experience and a rather unique perspective to the committee. He'll be another looking for someone he can work with when this process shakes out.
The rest of the list is the usual assortment of administrators and outside influences with IU ties, including connections to the IU Foundation, the Alumni Association and the Varsity Club. A full list can be found in the press release Chris has posted below this post. As always, comments are encouraged. We want to know what you think about this committee.
