. William Byrne, director of athletics
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Gannett News Service

"Certainly there are some wannabes who are trying to keep up with the Michigans and Floridas who probably shouldn't be (spending millions on facilities). But I think what happened was, there were years and years where people neglected their facilities. Now we're paying the price. I'm reminded of that old advertisement about the FRAM oil filter where the guy says, 'You can pay me now or pay me later.' Well, we're paying later."

Jeremy Foley, director of athletics
University of Florida
Gannett News Service

"I don't think that there's an organization in this country telling the universities, 'Don't build a new library, don't build a new fitness building, that's an arms race.' It's an institutional decision, and we're not doing this to keep up with the Joneses. We're doing it because we think it is the appropriate way to build our program."

Robert Frederick, former director of athletics
University of Kansas
Chronicle of Higher Education

"When Texas gives a salary increase to its football staff, (Big 12 schools such as Kansas) have trouble. The problem is, then Nebraska and Oklahoma and others say, 'We can't not be competitive there.' And there's a trickle-down effect: First it was football, then it was football and basketball, and now it's hitting all sports. Texas is paying its women's soccer coach $180,000 a year, and the rest of us (are paying) $40,000 to $50,000. Then, all of a sudden, the soccer coaches are moving up, and it's tough."

Governance

Max Urick, director of athletics
Kansas State University
The Kansas City Star

"Restructuring has ill-served college sports. Because there's no longer a Convention as we used to know it, we never hear how schools from other parts of the country feel about issues. There's no longer the dialogue among all the schools, no longer the exchange of ideas. What we have now is not a good system."

Multisport athletes

Jack Lengyel, director of athletics
U.S. Naval Academy
Athletics Administration

"I long to return to the opportunities for our student-athletes to participate in multiple sports. I believe the current trend for year-round sports is not in the best interests of our student-athletes' total development within an academic community. This single-sport-mindedness has created financial and staffing concerns within our programs and has required year-round support by athletic trainers and managers."

Sports marketing

Chris Plonsky, senior associate director of athletics
University of Texas at Austin
Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal

"We were selling game sponsorships to women's sports long before football. While it might be easier these days to sell football and basketball, there are numerous deals that can be done for the nonrevenue sports on a local and regional level. And those sponsor dollars add up."

Michael Veley, associate director of athletics
Syracuse University
Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal

"The biggest mistake sports marketers make is not knowing who their fan base is, what their customers' buying habits are. When people tell me, 'I'm a Syracuse fan,' the first question I ask is, 'What sport?' There is a big difference between our football crowd and our basketball fans, and the makeup of our lacrosse crowd is very specialized."