My list of candidates to replace Jay Jacobs

[ChaddScott 57]

Having the opportunity to tour athletic departments and meet athletic directors from all over the country the past 7 or 8 years has given me a good understanding of what it takes to be successful in that seat. As an Auburn graduate, here are the candidates I hope Auburn reaches out to when looking for Jay Jacobs' replacement.

http://gridironnow.com/no-shortage-great-candidates-lead-auburn-athletic-department/

 

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,287]

1 hour ago, ChaddScott said:

Having the opportunity to tour athletic departments and meet athletic directors from all over the country the past 7 or 8 years has given me a good understanding of what it takes to be successful in that seat. As an Auburn graduate, here are the candidates I hope Auburn reaches out to when looking for Jay Jacobs' replacement.

http://gridironnow.com/no-shortage-great-candidates-lead-auburn-athletic-department/

 

Don't you have to post the content instead of just the link?

[AU64 10,122]

21 minutes ago, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

Don't you have to post the content instead of just the link?

Good point....I got tired of wading through the ads and changing screens......too much of a commercial presentation for this forum.    Just give us the facts...... 

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,287]

1 hour ago, AU64 said:

Good point....I got tired of wading through the ads and changing screens......too much of a commercial presentation for this forum.    Just give us the facts...... 

(It's really a shameless plug to his website)

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Quote

I’ve written about what Auburn should be looking for in its next athletic director. Now I’m going to write about who.

My list includes candidates considered among the absolute best in the field. That’s how I view this position. Auburn is not a stepping stone. It’s not a training-wheels job. I’m only considering candidates with a proven track record of sustained, high-level success.

Auburn ranked 10th during the 2015-2016 academic year, the most recent for which data is available, in total revenue generated from athletics and 11th in total expenses on athletics. Auburn annually finds itself comfortably inside the Top 20 in both categories. I know of no better, more definitive way to rank the power and potential of an athletic department.

Auburn fans should find the candidate pool exciting, I did. The athletic directors, athletic administrators, and search firm employees I contacted about the position provided me with a varied group of names, all of whom have the chops to lead Auburn to a very bright future.

If Auburn handles this search properly, Tiger athletics will be positioned for a great deal of on and off-field success for years to come.

I have divided my candidates into four groups, starting with the long shots.

They’ll probably say “no,” but you have to ask

Chris Del Conte

Del Conte’s name has been floated for every major Power Five athletic director opening in the past few years. It’s become almost a cliché to include him on these lists, but there’s a good reason why.

Talk to anyone inside the business about who the best is and his name will come up in short order.

Del Conte’s resume at TCU has it all: fundraising, facilities, vision, championships, academics, NCAA compliance.

He’s been at TCU since 2009, presumably turning down many other choice offers; there’s no reason to think he’d leave for Auburn – Texas also figures to have its eye on him – but there’s no harm in asking.

Jeff Long

After Long’s firing on November 15th by Arkansas, perhaps Auburn’s odds at attracting him aren’t as slim as I initially imagined when compiling my list.

I wrote extensively about Long’s accomplishments and character on the day he was dismissed.

RELATED: Jeff Long should go straight to the top of Auburn’s AD “wish list.”

Dan Radakovich

Radkovich killed it as the athletic director at Georgia Tech from 2006-2012 and he’s been killing it at Clemson ever since.

Radakovich can’t be credited with all the success taking place at Clemson, much of that belongs to Dabo Swinney – who he didn’t hire – and the football program, but he’s been there during the Tigers’ ascension and could bring that knowledge to Auburn.

Even just five years ago it would have been ridiculous to claim Clemson’s athletic department was on par with Auburn’s, let alone superior. The reverse could be true now. Radakovic has helped take Clemson to new levels and could do the same in short order on the Plains.

The might say “no,” but you have to ask

Jamie Pollard

Pollard has lead the Iowa State athletic department since 2005. He’s done everything possible in that time keeping the underdog Cyclones competitive on and off the field.

His hiring of little-known Matt Campbell – the then-36-year-old head coach at Toledo – is paying huge dividends with Campbell taking ISU into the Top 25 this season. The contract he crafted for Campbell which reportedly would see Iowa State receive a reported $9+ million buyout should he leave this year is further evidence of his shrewd administration.

He brought legendary basketball player Fred Hoiberg back to Ames before he left for the Bulls, and followed up Hoiberg with Steve Prohm who’s continued the Cyclones’ hoops success.

Pollard has a lot of experience hiring coaches because they generally leave him after proving themselves at ISU.

Pollard could/should be a candidate for the vacant Nebraska athletic director position and what interest the Midwesterner would have working in the Deep South I wouldn’t begin to guess.

Iowa State has one of the smaller budgets among Power 5 schools, what resources it does have, and the success it continues to experience on the field, are largely thanks to the work of Pollard.

Interestingly, Auburn University’s new president, Steven Leath, who took over this summer, served at ISU with Pollard in the same capacity for the previous five years. Whether Leath reaches out to Pollard or not, at least he knows what a great athletic director looks like up-close.

Whit Babcock

Virginia Tech Athletic Director Whit Babcock breaks my No.1 rule for replacing Jay Jacobs: he has worked at Auburn previously. Babcock’s time at Auburn came back around the turn of the century so I’m not holding it against him.

His varied experience across college athletics from West Virginia to Missouri to Cincinnati assures his ability to bring outside perspectives to the Plains.

Babcock is a well-known, heavyweight fundraiser, as he’s proven at every stop. At Virginia Tech, he’s building an impressive track record of hiring coaches as well.

Justin Fuente should be coaching football in the SEC, but for a combination of gaffes from SEC athletic directors and Babcock’s aggression in pursuing him. Fuente is leading a rejuvenation of the Hokies’ football program. Babcock snatched Buzz Williams from Marquette to rebuild the men’s basketball program, which he’s doing. He’s also made well-received hires for baseball and women’s basketball.

The more I write about him, the more I like him.

Babcock is a native Virginian with deep roots in that state and he signed a long-term contract extension in 2016, still, Auburn’s athletic department generated almost $60 million more in revenue for the 2015-2016 academic year than VT; it’s a more prominent job with more possibility.

Rob Mullens

Mullens has experienced the full spectrum of life as a major college athletic director at Oregon, seeing the Ducks play for a football national championship and then bottom out with a 4-8 season in 2016. He’s had to fire an initially successful football coach he hired, and replace him with another.

His choice of Willie Taggart to resuscitate with Ducks was unconventional, generating positive early results.

Oregon is a high-profile athletic department receiving plenty of national attention. He’s worked under a spotlight. He’s worked under pressure. He’s worked with a large budget. He’s worked through scandal. He’s worked with one of the most powerful boosters in college sports.

That’s the situation he’d face at Auburn.

Mullens’ seven years in Eugene, in addition to time spent at Miami, Maryland and Kentucky, give him the type of seasoning which Auburn would benefit from. Mullens wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the demands of this demanding position.

Mullens has no ties to Auburn, nor did he have any to Oregon when he took that position, he was simply deemed the best person for the job.

I think they would say “yes”

Dr. Derrick Gragg

Gragg is a Huntsville native who was a four-year letterman playing wide receiver at Vanderbilt. He’s been the athletic director at Tulsa since 2013, which may not impress you, but it should.

Tulsa punches far above its weight in college athletics.

The Golden Hurricane dominated C-USA on the field and have continued holding their own in the American despite having the smallest enrollment of any FBS school playing football – a little more than 4,500. Without a huge alumni base, that creates fundraising challenges the private school continues overcoming.

At Tulsa, Gragg fired head football coach Bill Blankenship, replacing him with Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery who’s taken the team to consecutive bowls before struggling this season. He was also tasked with hiring a new men’s basketball coach almost immediately upon his arrival. He found Frank Haith to replace Danny Manning. Haith led the program to consecutive post-season trips before a sub-.500 season last year.

Gragg was athletic director at Eastern Michigan for seven years before moving to Tulsa.

Don’t let his small school experience mislead you. His athletic administration career also includes stops at Missouri, Michigan and Arkansas – where he earned his doctorate in higher education administration. He also taught classes there. He’s also written a book.

Gragg has a great deal going for him.

He’s a former student-athlete. In football. Who played in the SEC. Bonus, bonus, bonus.

Growing up in Huntsville, playing at Vandy, working at Arkansas, he is well-accustomed to life in the SEC allowing him to hit the ground running culturally at Auburn. He should “get it.”

Leading Eastern Michigan and Tulsa, he’s had to do more with less. At Auburn, he’d have more to do more with.

Dr. Dannny White

UCF’s White, like the head football coach he hired – Scott Frost – will be a hot prospect for every major vacancy in his profession.

He should be, and his qualifications go far beyond an esteemed family pedigree. His father, Kevin White, is the long-time athletic director at Duke and generally acknowledged as one of the most effective athletic directors ever.

White not only hired Scott Frost for the Knights, he brought in new men’s and women’s basketball coaches who have led dramatic turnarounds there as well. The baseball program has also rebounded during his brief tenure – he’s only been in Orlando two years.

White has also landed a number of major donations despite coming to the program from the outside, as he’d be doing at Auburn. Way outside. White was the AD at State University of New York – Buffalo prior to joining the Knights. He does have SEC experience, having been at Ole Miss prior to SUNY – Buffalo.

Earlier stops included Cal State – Fresno and Northern Illinois.

He’s a former basketball student-athlete at Towson and Notre Dame, graduating from ND. His doctorate comes from Ole Miss in higher education.

His brother is the head men’s basketball coach at Florida.

It’s only a matter of time before White finds himself leading a major FBS athletic department; will it be Auburn? The Tigers’ leadership would be derelict in its duties not to talk to him about doing so.

A wildcard candidate – MAJOR wildcard

Damon Evans

Evans was a superstar as athletic director at Georgia from 2004-2010. His fall from grace was more stunning than his meteoric rise.

Evans was arrested for DUI in Atlanta in 2010. He tried to “do you know who I am” his way out of the arrest. It gets worse. A pair of red women’s underwear were in his lap at the time. The garment’s owner, not his wife, was in the passenger seat.

Evans was forced to resign shortly thereafter, as he should have been.

He’s been keeping a low profile ever since – until recently.

Evans has been working behind the scenes at Maryland since 2014. Earlier this fall he was promoted to interim athletic director for the Terrapins when the school’s acting AD decided to take a leave of absence.

Evans played football at Georgia, spent time in the SEC office, and at Missouri, before returning to UGA where he worked his way up to AD in six years.

I was living in Atlanta when Evans was leading the Bulldogs and he was a rock star. Probably too rock star in hindsight. But that was seven years ago and you would hope Evans has matured considerably since then. Finding that out is what interviews are for.

There would be uncomfortable moments during his introductory press conference where Evans would be asked about his arrest, but the press conference would last an hour, you’re hoping to hire an athletic director for the next 10 years.

Evans has long since paid for his crime professionally. He’s proven he can lead a major program to great success in the SEC once, Auburn’s second chance may provide the perfect opportunity to do it again.

 

[doverstutts 1,643]

except for radakovich, there is a lot of stupid in that article

[auburn4ever 1,266]

We think we to go outside of the Auburn family and has ZERO ties to the university.