NCAA News Archive - 2007

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Hiring outside the lines - but inside the policy
Groups urge alignment between athletics and campus practices


Apr 23, 2007 10:58:21 AM

By Gary T. Brown
The NCAA News

In a recent edition of Athletic Man­agement magazine, a story about hiring ran with the following headline:

“Racing Against Time — You’re down a coach and the season is starting — what do you do? Abandon the traditional hiring process and start networking fast.”
To be fair, “abandoning the traditional hiring process” in the context of this particular article was meant to demonstrate how athletics directors (at high schools in this case) use technology to secure a replacement as quickly as possible under trying circumstances.

But some people believe athletics departments are increasingly “abandoning the traditional hiring process” to the point at which it jeopardizes the integrity of the search. Critics claim athletics often operates under its own hiring guidelines rather than the university’s and is not held accountable for the search committee composition or the diversity of the candidate pool. It’s no surprise, they say, that college football has few minority head coaches when searches are conducted in a vacuum — often over a period of days rather than weeks.

More college sports stakeholders are calling schools out on that aspect of hiring, including the Black Coaches Association, which issues annual report cards on how well institutions conduct their searches. The BCA last year gave four schools an “F” on the hiring time frame, which contributed to those institutions receiving a failing grade overall in their football searches.

BCA Executive Director Floyd Keith believes athletics — because of its unique needs when filling high-profile positions — has become too comfortable with its own hiring paradigm and should instead pay more attention to guidelines established for other campus positions.

null“Searches in athletics aren’t being done like they should simply because of the traditional notion that ‘we have to get this done immediately for recruiting purposes — we need to have a waiver — it’s an emergency hire,’” Keith said. “The pressures athletics departments face certainly are real, but 10 to 14 days isn’t asking too much. History shows that you can conduct an efficient and effective search in that amount of time. It has been proven that if you allow more time, you’ll be more inclusive in your search and end up with a more diverse pool. That much we know.”

Recently, an NCAA panel championing diversity and inclusion has recommended legislation that would require athletics departments to follow campus hiring policies. The Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning Committee issued a report at the NCAA Convention in January calling for institutions to indicate such compliance with campus hiring practices during their athletics certification or self-study processes.

Some people wonder why such regulation should be necessary. If athletics is part of the campus, they say, why would it follow anything but institutional hiring policies? The popular answer is because when Big-Time State University’s football coach resigns in November, Big-Time State’s AD needs to act fast to re-stabilize the position, not only for the current student-athletes, but also for those being recruited. The stakes are long, and time is short.

Charlotte Westerhaus, NCAA vice president for diversity and inclusion, said in most cases, institutions understand the pressures athletics departments face and are willing to collaborate on an accelerated search. Anecdotal evidence, though, indicates that some athletics departments operate on their own. Some searches are conducted over a period of days rather than weeks, which may compromise the goal of a diversified candidate pool. Many athletics officials believe, however, that athletics departments can have it both ways — a quick replacement scheme that honors diversity and inclusion.

“The bottom line is that athletics departments can accomplish their searches in about seven days and still meet diversity and inclusion (or affirmative action) requirements,” said Westerhaus, who chaired the committee that proposed the hiring-policy legislation.

Westerhaus, whose campus background includes having been the diversity officer at the University of Iowa, said the objective is a two-way street: Presidents, boards and the campus office for diversity and inclusion must understand that athletics has unique needs, and athletics must understand that it can’t just “abandon the traditional hiring process.”

The primary presumptions about why searches aren’t inclusive, Westerhaus said, are (1) athletics departments work independently and are not aware of school hiring policies; (2) athletics departments are aware of the campus hiring policy but do not trust the campus office of diversity and inclusion to work with them; and (3) the office of diversity and inclusion is not willing to respect the athletics department’s unique needs.

“This is no different than our stressing integration of athletics into the campus for academics and budgeting purposes,” Westerhaus said. “There must be communication between athletics and the campus when it comes to hiring practices. And the campus’ office for diversity and inclusion has to understand the athletics department’s unique needs and be flexible.”

An ongoing process

If that communication is in place and the working relationships have been established, Westerhaus said there’s a practical approach athletics directors can take to expedite an efficient search. She said ADs should have an ongoing candidate pool for key positions that includes diverse representation. That way, even in the case of a surprise resignation, athletics directors have a head start on a replacement.
“Good ADs have to know where the talent is at all times, even if they think they have stability in the coaching ranks. It’s important to have the search process be an ongoing endeavor, rather than start from scratch whenever you have a resignation or vacancy,” Westerhaus said.

That’s what Warde Manual does at University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. One of the few ADs to have recently hired a black head football coach, Manual said he tells his staff in all sports to maintain a file of coaches they hear about or meet who would be a good fit.

“Once you have your ongoing information about the pool of candidates, then just follow the process that exists on campus,” he said. “That’s the beauty of intercollegiate athletics — these policies and commitments to diversity are well documented by the university, and all we need to do is follow the process. That doesn’t mean we can’t do it in an accelerated fashion. All you have to do is know the processes that exist on campus and communicate with the president and other key contacts about the decision you want to make.”

In his case, Manual went from an­-nouncing a coaching change to hiring former Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill in about six weeks. Manual said he spent the first week dealing with internal communication and making sure his staff had everything in place, and then turned his attention to the actual search. He said he was not pressured by internal or external constituencies to accelerate the process, either. “The president was well aware from day one where we were going,” Manual said, “I laid out the process we would go through and he was very comfortable with that. I also included our human resources staff from the very beginning.”

Manual’s patience paid off. Ironically, Gill didn’t make the first radar sweep because the criteria called for candidates to be from the college coaching ranks. Gill was an assistant with the Green Bay Packers at the time. But a more inclusive search brought Gill into the fold.

“You have to understand the landscape of candidates out there, especially those diverse candidates who might be outside of your initial thinking,” Manual said. “It’s for your own protection, because you’re not always going to get your first choice — you have to be open to a multitude of candidates who might fit the criteria.”

nullColumbia University AD Dianne Murphy can relate to that. The football coach she hired — Norries Wilson — didn’t come up until she started making calls. Per BCA recommendations, Murphy called that organization and the NCAA, which led to a number of candidates who had progressed through the NCAA Men’s Coaches Academy, Wilson being among them.

“It goes to show that just because you may have a list of names at your desk that you shouldn’t consider other folks you learn about in other ways,” Murphy said.
Murphy said Columbia secured Wilson, also an African-American, in a matter of two or three weeks. “We knew in early November that we were going to make a change. That allowed us to create a plan and follow it. That plan included diversity, and we already had conversations with people on campus who supported what we were doing,” she said.

Manual and Murphy both attributed their outcomes to their schools’ commitment to diversity, and neither said their compliance with university hiring practices compromised their search.

“In the age of Internet and the amount of information available about people, particularly in sports — and with the number of quality search firms that can provide assistance — there’s no reason even an accelerated search cannot be diversified,” Manual said.

Murphy agreed, saying “If you’re committed to diversity, you can find diverse applicants. I don’t buy the argument, particularly in the high-profile sports, that there aren’t qualified diverse candidates. They’re out there. You may have to work at it, but you can find them.”

The BCA report card points out that the best way to find them is with a patient and coordinated search. The BCA’s Keith said schools that communicate with the BCA and the NCAA’s Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, take their time, diversify their search committee and follow campus hiring policies will almost certainly attract a diversified candidate pool. Following those steps also leads to favorable grades, Keith said, even if the institution doesn’t hire a black coach.

Manual said some athletics directors are intimidated by an extended search because they incorrectly equate patience with losing their top candidate. On the other side of the coin, some critics incorrectly equate an accelerated search with a non-diverse candidate pool. Manual said neither necessarily is true.

“In as little as three to four weeks, you can accelerate the process while including a diverse pool of candidates for a given position. The information is there and the process is there — people just have to follow it in a more accelerated timeline,” he said.

Manual said most campus presidents, boards and HR professionals understand that hiring for high-profile positions in athletics needs to be accelerated. “What often is missing in the process, though,” he said, “is their focus on holding athletics accountable for following the same process the rest of the campus does. Ultimately the AD and president are accountable for ensuring that the processes that exist on campus are being followed.”

Now, more and more watchdogs, including the NCAA and the BCA, are making sure that happens.

Coaching changes, 2006-07


Division I Football Bowl Subdivision

School    2006 coach    2007 coach
Air Force    Fisher DeBerry    Troy Calhoun (Houston Texans assistant)
Alabama    Mike Shula    Nick Saban (Miami Dolphins)
UAB    Watson Brown    Neil Callaway (Georgia assistant)
Arizona St.    Dirk Koetter    Dennis Erickson (Idaho)
Army    Bobby Ross    Stan Brock (Army assistant)
Boston College    Tom O’Brien    Jeff Jagodzinski (Green Bay Packers assistant)
Central Michigan    Brian Kelly    Butch Jones (West Virginia assistant)
Cincinnati    Mark Dantonio    Brian Kelly (Central Michigan)
Florida Int’l    Don Strock    Mario Cristobal [Miami (Fla.) assistant]
Idaho    Dennis Erickson    Robb Akey (Washington St. assistant)
Iowa St.    Dan McCarney    Gene Chizik (Texas assistant)
Louisiana Tech    Jack Bicknell    Derek Dooley (Miami Dolphins assistant)
Louisville    Bobby Petrino    Steve Kragthorpe (Tulsa)
Miami (Fla.)    Larry Coker    Randy Shannon* [Miami (Fla.) assistant]
Michigan St.    John Smith    Mark Dantonio (Cincinnati)
Minnesota    Glen Mason    Tim Brewster (Denver Broncos assistant)
North Carolina    John Bunting    Butch Davis (broadcasting)
North Carolina St.    Chuck Amato    Tom O’Brien (Boston College)
North Texas    Darrell Dickey    Todd Dodge (high school)
Rice    Todd Graham    David Bailiff (Texas State)
Stanford    Walt Harris    Jim Harbaugh (San Diego)
Tulane    Chris Scelfo    Bob Toledo (New Mexico assistant)
Tulsa    Steve Kragthorpe    Todd Graham (Rice)

Division I men’s basketball

School    2006-07 coach     2007-08 coach (background)

Air Force    Jeff Bzdelik    Jeff Reynolds (Air Force assistant)
Arkansas    Stan Heath*    John Pelphrey (South Ala.)
Binghamton    Al Walker    Kevin Broadus* (Georgetown assistant)
Bowling Green    Dan Dakich    Louis Orr* (formerly Seton Hall)
Butler    Todd Lickliter    Brad Stevens (Butler assistant)
UC Riverside    David Spencer    TBD
Chicago St.    Kevin Jones*    TBD
Colorado    Ricardo Patton*    Jeff Bzdelik (Air Force)
Colorado St.    Dale Layer     Tim Miles (North Dakota St.)
Denver    Terry Carroll     Joe Scott (Princeton)
Drake    Tom Davis    Keno Davis (Drake assistant)
Evansville    Steve Merfeld    Marty Simmons (SIU-Edwardsville)
Georgia St.    Michael Perry*    Rod Barnes* (formerly Mississippi)
Harvard    Frank Sullivan    Tommy Amaker* (Michigan)
Hawaii    Riley Wallace     Bob Nash* (Hawaii assistant)
Ill.-Chicago    Jimmy Collins*    Mark Coomes (Ill.-Chicago interim assistant)
Illinois St.    Porter Moser    Tim Jankovich (Kansas assistant)
Indiana St.    Royce Waltman    Kevin McKenna (Creighton assistant)
Iona    Jeff Ruland    Kevin Willard (Louisville assistant)
Iowa    Steve Alford    Todd Lickliter (Butler)
Kansas St.    Bob Huggins    Frank Martin (Kansas St. assistant)
Kentucky    Tubby Smith*    Billy Gillispie (Texas A&M)
Liberty    Randy Dunton    Ritchie McKay* (New Mexico)
Long Beach St.    Larry Reynolds    Dan Monson (formerly Minnesota)
Louisiana Tech    Keith Richard    Kerry Rupp (UAB assistant)
UMKC    Rich Zvosec    Matt Brown (West Virginia assistant)
Marshall    Ron Jirsa    Donnie Jones (Florida assistant)
Michigan    Tommy Amaker*    John Beilein (West Virginia)
Minnesota    Jim Molinari    Tubby Smith* (Kentucky)
New Mexico    Ritchie McKay*    Steve Alford (Iowa)
Northern Ill.    Rob Judson    Ricardo Patton* (Colorado)
Princeton    Joe Scott    TBD
Quinnipiac    Joe DeSantis    Tom Moore (Connecticut assistant)
Radford    Byron Samuels*    Brad Greenberg (Va. Tech assistant)
Robert Morris    Mark Schmidt     TBD
St. Bonaventure    Anthony Solomon*    Mark Schmidt (Robert Morris)
San Diego    Brad Holland    Bill Grier (Gonzaga assistant)
Santa Clara    Dick Davey    Kerry Keating (UCLA assistant)
South Carolina St.    Jamal Brown*    Ray Martin* (South Carolina St. interim assistant)
South Ala.    John Pelphrey    TBD
South Fla.    Robert McCullum*     Stan Heath* (Arkansas)
Southern Utah    Bill Evans     Roger Reid (formerly Brigham Young)
Texas A&M    Billy Gillispie    Mark Turgeon (Wichita St.)
Utah    Ray Glacoletti    Jim Boylen (Michigan St. assistant)
West Virginia    John Beilein    Bob Huggins (Kansas St.)
Wichita St.    Mark Turgeon    Gregg Marshall (Winthrop)
Winthrop     Gregg Marshall    Randy Peele (Winthrop assistant)
Wyoming    Steve McClain    Heath Schroyer (Fresno St. assistant)
*African-American


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