D1.ticker - News from Thursday, January 19, 2017

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1.Question Throwback: Greg Byrne - Athletic Director - Outgoing Arizona / Incoming Alabama

Next 'Athletic Director in Residence' for ADU: Stan Wilcox - Florida State - Submit questions h ere

New Alabama AD Byrne introduced in Tuscaloosa. On why he made the move, "It's Alabama. As a guy that's been around intercollegiate athletics my entire life, it's absolutely the pinnacle. To have the opportunity to be here, I can't thank Dr. Bell and the trustees enough." Further, points to keeping the facilities portfolio in pristine shape, super impressed with overall culture & support for the Crimson Tide. More, including video of the presser. (link); Byrne sets the record straight on talk of his reported involvement at Florida, "First of all, I want to say that Scott Stricklin — the AD at Florida — is one of my very best friends. When I left Mississippi State, he replaced me. Sometimes things get out there in the media that gets a life of its own. I was never offered the Florida job. It wasn’t like one of those 'wink, wink, I wasn’t offered.' I was not offered the Florida job. Scott was and they have a great athletics director at the University of Florida. That’s worked out great for Scott and Florida. It’s worked out great for me, and hopefully, you all will say for the University of Alabama." (link); Solid Adobe Spark effort from the Crimson Tide with a visual story of Byrne's presser & first day. Dozens of photos capturing the key moments. (link)

How many days is "all but done?" Anyhow, former Tennessee FB HC Fulmer continues to comment on the Vols AD search. "I’m honored my name is out there and it's obviously a great opportunity for someone. Chancellor (Beverly) Davenport made it very clear that there's a process that she wants to go through and I'm going to respect that process. That's really probably as far as I want to go with it at this point. I think that's best for everybody." Fulmer did go a bit further, "Family is the key word. I think at this point we've struggled and missed a lot in the last few years with a lot of the change in leadership at the university, and not just in athletics. Dave Hart's done a really good job for his time there and we're at a crucial point. Again, I should probably stay away from that, but the Tennessee family, that's an important thing when you talk about our culture." (link)

Vice Sports' Hruby digs deep on LEAD1's aims with, "Are Athletic Directors Angling For A Washington Bailout Of NCAA Amateurism?" LEAD1 boss McMillen: "It's not going to be a big PAC. Very small. What kind of politicians will we support? If we have a profile, it will be bipartisan—people who played college sports, love college sports, people who take an interest in them and believe in them. [...] We have a committee that will decide our PAC policy, and it's not set yet, but I would say that we wouldn't get into contested races. We're not going to dig too deep." Hruby: "In the not-too-distant future, though, it's easy to imagine LEAD1 spearheading an inside-the-Beltway push against pay-for-play." Goes on to note how LEAD1 could try to influence nominees for the National Labor Relations Board & push for an antitrust exemption. Long piece, interesting piece & clearly a bit controversial. You should probably read it all. (link)

Oregon State Baseball HC Casey Q&As on a handful of items, including the recently concluded AD search that landed outgoing Pitt boss Barnes. Points to Barnes' fundraising chops, plus, "Very, very strong candidate, very good at what he does. Highly recommended. Just met all the criteria. And I'll tell you, the pool (of candidates) was strong. There were some unbelievably talented people in that particular pool." Indicates Beavers FB HC Andersen certainly had input on the matter, but ultimately Prez Ray made the call. Casey goes on to discuss facility improvements at Goss Stadium & his views on potential rule & scholarship changes. (link)

Wichita State WBB HC Adams-Birch "replaced" for tonight's home matchup with Bradley & Sunday's against Illinois State. AD Boatright indicates the move is in relation to "information recently received about the women’s basketball program." The Wichita Eagle's Solis points to sources who say Adams-Birch's team boycotted practice on Tuesday. As you may recall, the Shockers reviewed the WBB program back in the spring of 2015 after a rash of transfers & complaints of mistreatment. (link)

Louisville: Cards boss Jurich confirms his team officially responded to the NCAA's Notice of Allegations earlier this week, expects the process to go "well into the early summer." Serious construction is moving at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on the north end-zone expansion & the Adidas worldwide leadership team, including CEO Rorsted will be on campus next week. (link); Also, Louisville FB tickets for next year will see a $2 per game increase, slightly less than the $3 bump before last season. Executive Senior Assoc. AD Miller indicates the extra revenue will be pushed to help cover debt services with the aforementioned PJCS work. 2016 FB sales exceeded expectations by $1M. Concessions & parking by $200K. Volleyball moving home games back on campus to Cardinal Arena after a couple of seasons at the Yum! Center. (link)

The wife of former Texas FB student-athlete Ploetz sues the NCAA on the grounds of her late husband's death. From CBSSports.com's Dodd: "Greg Ploetz, who played defensive tackle for the 1969 Texas national champions, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) after his death. Stage 4 is the worst form of the disease." Ploetz: "Bottom line was, these men they literally lose their minds. […] My reason for filing a lawsuit is I'm a little bit upset with the system. No one seems to be listening. People seem to be listening but not the right people. […] He couldn't even use his cell phone. Watching him was hell." (link)

Retiring Cleveland State AD Parry comments on the challenges of losing student-athletes via transfer late in the sport calendar. "We all sat around last year and said, 'If three people were here.’ Bryn Forbes is at Michigan State, Trey Lewis is at Louisville, Anton Grady is at Wichita (State). If they were all here for their senior year, we should have been in position to win the league. But the world changed. It's hard to argue that they became better players, and they graduated. Well, at least two of them did. Bryn Forbes had a family issue. [...] I guess if there's a question, it's how quickly and how well were we able to recover from that? A couple of those circumstances, we didn't know until April that that's what they were going to do. There's nobody out there to get for next fall." (link)

New Texas FB HC Herman met with his team & their parents earlier in the week. One point of emphasis was insisting no conversations take place with the media about what's going on inside the program, "Our business is our business. If your son tells you something, it’s expected to stay within the family because that’s family business. And we need your support and we need positivity. Your sons are going to be better husbands and better fathers, better employees having been through the program in the love that we will share with them." (link)

From the NCAA Convention in Nashville:
+ USATODAY's Wolken live-tweeted highlights from NCAA Prez Emmert's speech, in which he focused on student-athlete health and well-being. Emmert "proud" about making the "right decision" to pull championships out of NC, notes "as a nation we're having a debate right now about fairness and opportunity." Also emphasized that diversity among S-As, coaches, admin needs addressing, and that destigmatization of mental health issues is still necessary. (link - scroll down)
+ Combating Sexual Violence session panelists included Army Superintendent Caslen, Oklahoma AD Castiglione, and former Oregon State student and rape survivor Tracy. Caslen: "To change behavior, you have to change education." To that point, Tracy notes intervention can come well before an attack by vocalizing one's stance, while Castiglione calls for the eradication of naivety that it can't happen among a particular group. (link - scroll down)
+ NCAA VP of Enforcement Duncan, while acknowledging that resolution of some cases takes longer than anyone would like, defends the steps his department has taken to shave months off of many cases. Also notes that high-profile cases that get into the public eye aren't a representative sample of his office's work: "What most of the membership doesn’t know about are the cases that we open, investigate, collaborate with the institution and ultimately close down without bringing formal allegations. ...Nobody’s tracking on those because the world doesn’t know about them and they’re confidential, so many are judging the timeliness of cases by a very small slice of our overall workload." (link)
+ An independent study done by the Sport Industry Research Center at Temple reveals that enforcement of NCAA rules is largely consistent across divisions. Conclusion: "NCAA conference membership generally has no influence on the severity of penalties," except in the case of P5 FB programs, which generally draw longer postseason bans. (link)
+ DI SAAC plans to recommend to the DI Council that legislation be drafted to eliminate the ability to take a spring break practice trip ala Michigan FB last year. SAAC co-chair Bramlett: "We all agree, that's something that should not happen. We're very adamant that, in your non-championship season, if you have a vacation period, it should really be a vacation period. If we're going to honor student-athletes' time, we need to honor to the utmost." (link)
+ The DI Board reaffirmed the requirements for DI membership. NC State Chancellor Woodson: "This was not a rubber stamp. It was a careful, deliberative review with a thoughtful survey instrument that was responded to well by the membership." (link)
+ More from USATODAY's Wolken via Twitter on S-A gambling survey data: 24% of NCAA male athletes across all divisions have gambled on sports in the past year, 11% of male S-As participate in daily fantasy sports (which 75% of S-As don't consider gambling), and 34% of male S-As believe they would make money if they did bet on sports (link - scroll down)
+ A super regional format has been added to the DI tennis championships. (link)

In observation of MLK Day, Vanderbilt sponsored a day trip to Washington, DC for 28 student-athletes from a variety of sports to help educate them on African American history. The group spent the day touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian and later enjoyed a guided bus tour of the capital's monuments and memorials. Vice Chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs Williams: "Student-athletes put so much time into doing their sport and academics, so a lot of the things we're able to offer, they don't get to do. This one was very interesting because as the group [of students] gets younger, you start to encounter people that don't really understand the history of it all. So, let's take a day, go back and actually educate." (link)

presented by Anthony Travel

Wisconsin AD Alvarez pens to the Badgers fanbase, says he's in favor of both an early signing period for FB in December & the addition of a 10th AC. "If you have someone who wants to sign in December, you sign him. You then know who's in your boat and who's still out there. If he doesn't sign, you just keep recruiting him until February. Overall, you get a much better idea of where you stand with your recruiting class. It might address all the commitments and de-commitments that have become a part of our landscape. As far as a 10th assistant, more than anything else, it's about taking care of and servicing the student-athletes you have on campus. You just need more people around for them. With another position, I'd use a 10th coach for on the field teaching. [...] I just wish they would do something with the total number that can work within a football department. Right now, there is no number. That's why some schools keep hiring people. They hire a former head coach who's out of a job, give him a title and decent salary. I'm sure they have duties and responsibilities for them. But the thing for me is holding everyone accountable." (link)

It's Personnel: South Carolina AD Tanner promotes Senior Assoc. AD for Development Crane to Executive Assoc. AD, points to Crane's excellent fundraising track record. (link); Virginia Tech AD Babcock turns to Cincinnati Executive Assoc. AD for Internal Affairs/CFO Banks as the new Senior Assoc. AD for Finance & Administration/CFO for the Hokies. (link); Texas A&M AD Woodward selects university Title IX Coordinator Williams as his new Senior Assoc. AD with oversight of diversity, inclusion & equity. Williams has previously served at the NCAA & at Kansas as Assoc. AD for Risk Management, among other stops. (link)

HC Moves: San Diego State FB HC Long gets an extension through 2021. (link); James Madison FB HC Houston, fresh off a National Championship, sees his base pay enhanced from $300K to $375K, but also getting added years through '21. (link); Pittsburgh will hire a new Wrestling leader after the exit of HC Peters. (link); Virginia Executive Assoc. AD Oliver & team are in the market for a new Volleyball HC with AD Littlepage away as five-year Hoos boss Hohenshelt resigns. (link)

With the Chargers headed to Los Angeles, the question of what happens to Qualcomm Stadium is an important one for San Diego State. $38M in debt still remains for projects that included facility upgrades back in the late 90s. SDSU's lease ends in 2018, which coincides with the same timeline for the Holiday & Poinsettia bowls. Aztecs AD Wicker is discussing options with the city, including having access to sponsorship & ticket inventory that was previously controlled by the Chargers. On the future, "With the heavy lifting that needs to be done, I can't see us having a new stadium before 2020." Lots more. (link)

Fox Sports columnist Mandel writes that new USF FB HC Strong doesn't intend to waste another opportunity to lead a FBS program. On his time at Texas, especially as an African-American head coach, "I got upset at myself for not being successful, and I got upset at myself because you feel like you let a lot of people down. There are only so many African-American coaches, so when you get on a stage like that..." According to Mandel, Strong joins former Notre Dame and Washington HC Willingham as the only black FBS HCs to get fired at one school and rehired at another. (link)

More complaints have been filed against Baylor, this time by former Title IX officer Lyons, who left after less than a year on the job, citing indifference of senior admin to requests for more staffing and mental health services to help deal with the stress of constantly hearing abuse stories. The school denies Lyons' claims, which include that BU law enforcement officials attempted to intimidate her from interviewing alleged perpetrators, and that she received pushback on getting police records and arranging interviews. (link)

eSports grows. The Big Ten Network & Riot Games have entered into a partnership with a college-level League of Legends setup that will feature 12 of the B1G's 14 schools. From Mashable: "The format of the league is similar to other collegiate leagues. Teams will be split into East and West divisions and compete in a round robin within their respective divisions. The top four teams in each division will be seeded into a divided, single-elimination bracket, with the top team from each division meeting in the championship. The Big Ten Network champion will compete in Riot's own North American League of Legends College Championship, which features the top four college teams in North America. […] The full-time students who compete in the new esports league will each receive $5,000 scholarships." More. (link)

presented by From Now On

NewsOK.com's Tramel wonders aloud about the optics of adding Ohio State AD Smith to the CFP committee, given the furor generated by the Buckeyes' inclusion two of the past three seasons. However, he also notes that, if the SEC is fine with the Big Ten influence in the room, other leagues should be as well. Even so, he posits that perhaps conference reps could come from schools that aren't national powers routinely in the discussion for inclusion. "Someone has to be on the committee, sure," but "Why pick someone who will have to leave the room all day long?" (link)

Arizona baseball HC Johnson expressed mixed emotions on the departure of AD Byrne for the same position at Alabama ("Very happy for him," but "darn it"), praising Byrne's consistency and desire to help coaches be successful. Also emphasizes that nothing will change despite the departure of the man who hired him. Johnson: "I don’t think about things that I cannot control. What I can guarantee the next person is, they’ll have a baseball program that is extremely hard-working and very committed to doing things right. I think anybody can get on board with that." (link)

Almost a year after resigning, former Alabama FB AC Davis is speaking publicly for the first time about the NCAA investigation into impermissible contact that led to his departure from the school. Davis talks honestly about how difficult the last eight months have been and how he is hoping to get another opportunity to do what he loves. "I just want people to know that I know I was wrong, and I just want my life back and to be able to support my family." (link)

UC San Diego (DII) continues its push for DI membership & the narrative around potential entry into the Big West Conference is the center point. Chancellor Khosla: "We are pleased both students and faculty have reached the same consensus that UC San Diego is poised to become a Division I campus. In UC San Diego’s short history, the campus has grown to become a world leader in education, research and patient care. The collective votes by both students and faculty demonstrate UC San Diego’s continued growth and trajectory as one of the globe’s most influential universities." (link)

Around Higher Ed: Arizona Prez Hart will make the hire of a new AD in Tucson & university regent Shoopman, who is also co-chair of the Prez search committee, says there's been a high level of interest in Hart's spot. Even though Hart won't fully exit until 2018, leaders want a new Prez in place by this August. (link); The Wright State Prez search is down to three. I don't see any names yet, but each of the three will visit campus next month. (link); Louisville's new Board of Trustees will meet for the first time tomorrow. Acting Prez Pinto, who is headed to lead Cincinnati, believes UofL will be removed from SACS probation. One key agenda item for the new Board is planning to hire a new Prez. (link); President-elect Trump gets inaugurated today. Here's a brief by Inside Higher Ed on Trump's previous thoughts & comments on higher education. (link)

Also Noticed: Teamworks will help the 2017 NCAA WBB Tourney be more efficient with its communications. (link); Pitt & UCF have inked a two-game FB deal for matchups in 2018 & 2019. (link); Looks like West Virginia's ticket sales team was top of the heap last year. Named "Property of the Year" at the annual IMGL GM's conference. (link); Indiana will host this year's Big Ten Baseball Tourney. (link); Looks like the MBB point shaving saga at Boston College back in 78-79 is being made into a movie. (link); Learfield will roll-out Sportsdigita's digital sales engagement platform across its 120-property portfolio. (link); The Oakland Raiders have officially filed the paperwork to move to Vegas. Again, UNLV FB could be a major beneficiary. (link)

Another throwback from former Arizona AD & new Alabama boss Byrne from last year on why he asks job candidates about their Twitter approach, if he'd pay for the service & how much he's toyed with Instagram & Snapchat. Later in the discussion we moved on to other communication options & reviewed the effectiveness of email marketing straight from an AD, plus how much business can really get done via text messages. Listen by clicking the link. - link (length - 8:26)

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