Over the past few weeks, prior to a decision being made, I was able to meet three of the four candidates for the Athletic Director position.
The only one I was not able to meet was Chris Park from Washington State. The other three I was able to meet in the following order, Jeff O'Malley, Andrew Goodrich and Christian Spears.
I will admit, after meeting them I would have assumed that that was the order in regards to who would get the job. I will say however, after speaking with Spears I told my wife that I thought he would be a very good Athletic Director in ten years.
My takes:
Jeff O'Malley - I have known Jeff personally for a little over a year. I went in biased, and thinking that i knew all about Jeff. I was wrong. I was highly impressed with Jeff. His background, the multiple levels of intelligence that he brings to the table, etc, were huge reasons why he was my favorite. I was also sold by the fact he has been at Marshall for two decades, loves this place, and in a short period of time he had already proven that he was different than his two most recent bosses. He had taken both the good and bad from Marcum and Hamrick and was using that to get better. Many people are acting as if it would have been the same old Marshall. My first response to that would have been, "so? whats wrong with that? We all built all had a hand in building this place."
Andrew Goodrich - Goodrich was a lot of info, a lot of "look at me," type of things. Seemed really good, but a lot of his conquests, had to do with increasing attendance at womens sporting events, or boasting about attendance at USF....when they were ranked second in the country in football briefly. I was not a fan at how he viewed our program and our facilities. I felt that, as an outside eye, he was far too harsh, and truly wanted to rip it down and start all over. We can be disappointed in some things, some paint, bigger bathrooms, concourse, etc, but this is not FIU, or Kent in the old days, etc. We have built something special here. Still, he was very impressive.
Christian Spears - I felt he was the weaker of the three. But he was an excellent communicator. He also questioned some of the same things Goodrich did, but he did so in a very impressive manner that was not offensive. He and Goodrich both spoke a lot about NIL, and transfer portals. I learned a lot about things that go on behind the scenes. I will say this. Many of you, as you should, do not trust the NCAA on how these things are going to play out, but these leaders of our athletics around the country, they know. They are out in front of it, and it starts with educating the student athlete, and they are doing an excellent job on it. I think you can see how Jeff and his staff were working it as well, especially with recent social media posts from Rasheen Ali. Spears is a footbal first guy. He knows it drives the department. Football will not miss a beat and will be given every opportunity to thrive under his watch.
In conclusion, i was very impressed with the caliber of candidate that wanted to be our Athletic Director. I was hoping it would be Jeff. I am content with Spears, although i do not believe he will be here very long. I think Spears will be successful here. I am pretty sure that fund raising will be one of the top goals of this position right now. In saying that, i have become very impressed with the leaders of the Big Green. For the last few years I knew that John Sutherland was a super nice guy. A guy that always remembered your first name, somehow, which i always thought was impressive because I am terrible at that. John and his staff must stay intact. I read some of you guys making comments at times on here, but call them, get to know them, go out to lunch with them. These guys and gals are the lifeline between the community and our program. They have been here through thick and thin. When bball or foobtall goes bad, they are there. They are not just there when we are winning. They did not just become soccer fans when soccer started winning. They were supporting every program, every day.
All three spoke about the history here and building on what we are.
What I hope happens.
Spears hits the ground running making some surface repairs in football, i.e. the Shewey Building, the end zone seats, a party deck, etc.
I hope that somehow we get Jeff O'Malley to stay, although he is going to be a wanted man, if he isnt already. I am telling you, this guy had it all, a five tool baseball player. I am not saying Spears doesnt, but he had it all. I have to trust President Smith, because he is a lot smarter than me, but to say i was shocked is a huge understatement.
The Big Green Department needs to stay intact. They have been permitted to think for themselves a lot more the last six months, and it is showing.
Ok, that is all I can think of now, i am sure i have left a lot out if you have any questions. Fire Away
The only one I was not able to meet was Chris Park from Washington State. The other three I was able to meet in the following order, Jeff O'Malley, Andrew Goodrich and Christian Spears.
I will admit, after meeting them I would have assumed that that was the order in regards to who would get the job. I will say however, after speaking with Spears I told my wife that I thought he would be a very good Athletic Director in ten years.
My takes:
Jeff O'Malley - I have known Jeff personally for a little over a year. I went in biased, and thinking that i knew all about Jeff. I was wrong. I was highly impressed with Jeff. His background, the multiple levels of intelligence that he brings to the table, etc, were huge reasons why he was my favorite. I was also sold by the fact he has been at Marshall for two decades, loves this place, and in a short period of time he had already proven that he was different than his two most recent bosses. He had taken both the good and bad from Marcum and Hamrick and was using that to get better. Many people are acting as if it would have been the same old Marshall. My first response to that would have been, "so? whats wrong with that? We all built all had a hand in building this place."
Andrew Goodrich - Goodrich was a lot of info, a lot of "look at me," type of things. Seemed really good, but a lot of his conquests, had to do with increasing attendance at womens sporting events, or boasting about attendance at USF....when they were ranked second in the country in football briefly. I was not a fan at how he viewed our program and our facilities. I felt that, as an outside eye, he was far too harsh, and truly wanted to rip it down and start all over. We can be disappointed in some things, some paint, bigger bathrooms, concourse, etc, but this is not FIU, or Kent in the old days, etc. We have built something special here. Still, he was very impressive.
Christian Spears - I felt he was the weaker of the three. But he was an excellent communicator. He also questioned some of the same things Goodrich did, but he did so in a very impressive manner that was not offensive. He and Goodrich both spoke a lot about NIL, and transfer portals. I learned a lot about things that go on behind the scenes. I will say this. Many of you, as you should, do not trust the NCAA on how these things are going to play out, but these leaders of our athletics around the country, they know. They are out in front of it, and it starts with educating the student athlete, and they are doing an excellent job on it. I think you can see how Jeff and his staff were working it as well, especially with recent social media posts from Rasheen Ali. Spears is a footbal first guy. He knows it drives the department. Football will not miss a beat and will be given every opportunity to thrive under his watch.
In conclusion, i was very impressed with the caliber of candidate that wanted to be our Athletic Director. I was hoping it would be Jeff. I am content with Spears, although i do not believe he will be here very long. I think Spears will be successful here. I am pretty sure that fund raising will be one of the top goals of this position right now. In saying that, i have become very impressed with the leaders of the Big Green. For the last few years I knew that John Sutherland was a super nice guy. A guy that always remembered your first name, somehow, which i always thought was impressive because I am terrible at that. John and his staff must stay intact. I read some of you guys making comments at times on here, but call them, get to know them, go out to lunch with them. These guys and gals are the lifeline between the community and our program. They have been here through thick and thin. When bball or foobtall goes bad, they are there. They are not just there when we are winning. They did not just become soccer fans when soccer started winning. They were supporting every program, every day.
All three spoke about the history here and building on what we are.
What I hope happens.
Spears hits the ground running making some surface repairs in football, i.e. the Shewey Building, the end zone seats, a party deck, etc.
I hope that somehow we get Jeff O'Malley to stay, although he is going to be a wanted man, if he isnt already. I am telling you, this guy had it all, a five tool baseball player. I am not saying Spears doesnt, but he had it all. I have to trust President Smith, because he is a lot smarter than me, but to say i was shocked is a huge understatement.
The Big Green Department needs to stay intact. They have been permitted to think for themselves a lot more the last six months, and it is showing.
Ok, that is all I can think of now, i am sure i have left a lot out if you have any questions. Fire Away
