One thing that's hard not to notice in the 50 years that the NCAA staff has existed is its growth. It's gone from a community of individuals who did a little of everything to a small town of compartmentalized, specialized task masters.

For much of its existence, the NCAA staff comprised fewer than 100 members. But since 1985, growth has been almost exponential -- from 100 then, to 241 10 years later, to the current total of 330.

That growth didn't just happen on its own. As the Association's budget grew, its desire for programming did, too. Of course, the NCAA has grown as well. Since the first year of the staff in 1952, Association membership has climbed from about 400 institutions to more than 1,200 today.

Walter Byers, the NCAA's first executive director, tried to keep the staff numbers down. Louis J. Spry, a Byers hire who went on to enjoy a 30-year career with the staff, said the numbers were so low that at times staff felt stretched.

"There probably wasn't a single department head under Byers who wouldn't tell you that he got fewer positions than he needed," Spry said of requests for additional bodies. Particularly at Convention time, Spry said, when staff needs were greatest, the numbers seemed lowest. "Byers didn't want the membership getting the idea that we had enough people who could be gone from the national office that long," he said.

But then the Association began adding compliance programs, championships and services. "There wasn't a single department that wasn't affected by the membership's decision to sponsor women's championships," longtime staff member Lydia Sanchez said of the growth in the 1980s. "It was the most significant decision made by the membership to impact the staff."

Then the size of the television agreements boomed. With more resources came even more programming. With more programming came even more staff.

"The office has grown more than it would have if the resources hadn't grown," said Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany, who added that the NCAA has taken on a lot more than the four "pillar" areas on which it was founded. "Rules making and governance, enforcement, championships and communications are things the Association has done from day one and still does, but the NCAA also has begun providing services for which there is less than unanimous support."

In other words, Delany said, many NCAA programs are constituent-based and not Association-wide. "When you go down that road," he said, "you have to grow the staff along with it. The risk you face when you have lots of assets is that programs are created faster than their sunset."

In the 1990s, the membership became so uncomfortable with staff growth that Executive Director Richard D. Schultz placed a freeze on hiring. But that thawed later in the decade.

Now, staff inflation is at it again, but the boobirds have been quiet.

"We've been criticized for a long time about staff growth," said current NCAA President Ced Dempsey. "But now the membership is making the decision to increase the staff more so than it did in the past."

Dempsey said that is because any new legislative proposal now that includes a budget request must contain an "overhead" tax, or a cost to implement programming, including the cost of a staff member.

"That staffing need has been built right into the budget process," Dempsey said. "So in effect, the membership now makes the decision to grow the staff. And despite our continued growth, I haven't heard the usual complaints about the size of the staff."

-- Gary T. Brown