Post by elp525 on Jun 11, 2010 5:01:22 GMT -5
June 10, 2010
By Mitch Vingle
Sports Editor
I'VE KNOWN Oliver Luck for 30 years. I've watched him as a football player and as a businessman in athletics. I've admired his work in both worlds.
That's why every bone in my body and every neuron in my brain screams that he's the perfect hire as the new West Virginia University athletic director.
He's a smart man. He's a likeable man. He's a respected man.
Oliver Luck is a winner.
WVU president Jim Clements not only hit a home run with the hire, he knocked the cover off the ball.
Mountaineer fans can consider themselves fortunate to have Luck on board. Indeed, yes, a bit lucky. He did not need to leave the trappings of Houston and his perch as president and general manager of the Houston Dynamo soccer franchise.
He chose to do so because of his love for his alma mater. It's a great story. And, hey, if you're talking about the long run, he should be a strong marathon man the likes of Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit, Frank Shorter, Marty Liquori and Mary Decker Slaney.
The lone concern for WVU fans should be the short run. Because, yes, the hire was terrific. But conference realignment is happening now. Today. Yesterday. Colorado accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 on Thursday. Nebraska is in line to join the Big Ten today.
"And once that first pitch is thrown ...'' said outgoing Mountaineer athletic director Ed Pastilong.
Indeed, there will be a barrage. It's a critical time for WVU. And, although Luck said he would be in Morgantown frequently, he won't officially begin until July 1. Pastilong is, in effect, a lame duck, even though he'll serve as AD emeritus through 2012.
On Thursday, Pastilong was asked if he's been contacted in regard to realignment.
"No,'' he said. "Nothing has hit my desk.''
We'll soon find out how much hits the fan. And how fast it does so. And where WVU fits.
With that in mind, I asked Luck about his contacts within college athletics. As Clements said, "Oliver is a tremendous networker and a people person and has no problem making friends very, very quickly.''
As the situation stands, however, Luck needs to make friends like Marty McFly did in Back to the Future - retroactively.
Since that's impossible, here was the answer to my question regarding NCAA contacts:
"Well, that's a very fair question,'' Luck said via a teleconference. "I've gotten, through my son [Andrew, a quarterback at Stanford] and some other folks, some conference contacts in the Pac-10. I'm familiar with some of the Big East schools through work I've done here in Texas with our two big local BCS schools - the University of Texas, where I went to law school, and Texas A&M, up the road. I know the athletic directors well at both of those institutions.
"Ironically, they're both in the headlines.''
He continued.
"I wouldn't say I've got extensive contacts in intercollegiate athletics, but I think I've got enough contacts when we put those together with the contacts Eddie [Pastilong] has. Eddie and I spoke [Thursday] morning and he's pledged to me to do whatever I need or ask him to do, whatever's in the best interests of the university. And Jim's been working the phones very hard over the last four or five months with a variety of folks in the intercollegiate athletic world.''
That could be a key because college athletics is all about networking. Talk is cheap - except in college athletics.
"I actually feel I'm in a good position because I not only have Oliver Luck officially on board July 1 and in a decision-making position, but I have Ed Pastilong as well,'' Clements said. "I actually have a double. So we're more than covered. I am not concerned about having lack of leadership. We have leadership-plus in this case.''
We shall see. The bad news is, from all accounts, WVU is on the outside looking in as major conferences make their moves. The good news, at least from Thursday's teleconference, is Clements has been working the phones.
"Conference realignment and opportunities and options are certainly something Oliver and I will sit down and discuss, as I have with Ed Pastilong,'' Clements said. "A lot of people need to realize WVU is a great school. We're a great school athletically; we're a great school academically; we have an unbelievable media following; and our fans follow us everywhere. They're the best fans in the country.
"This is a strong and stable institution and we feel really good about how we're positioned.''
WVU, of course, is a strong and stable institution. As a university set up for the people of this state, however, it's not highly regarded nationally. That has hurt the school, especially in relation to talks concerning possible Big Ten expansion.
So it needs all the help it can get.
It needs someone working those phones.
And maybe, just maybe, a little Luck.
By Mitch Vingle
Sports Editor
I'VE KNOWN Oliver Luck for 30 years. I've watched him as a football player and as a businessman in athletics. I've admired his work in both worlds.
That's why every bone in my body and every neuron in my brain screams that he's the perfect hire as the new West Virginia University athletic director.
He's a smart man. He's a likeable man. He's a respected man.
Oliver Luck is a winner.
WVU president Jim Clements not only hit a home run with the hire, he knocked the cover off the ball.
Mountaineer fans can consider themselves fortunate to have Luck on board. Indeed, yes, a bit lucky. He did not need to leave the trappings of Houston and his perch as president and general manager of the Houston Dynamo soccer franchise.
He chose to do so because of his love for his alma mater. It's a great story. And, hey, if you're talking about the long run, he should be a strong marathon man the likes of Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit, Frank Shorter, Marty Liquori and Mary Decker Slaney.
The lone concern for WVU fans should be the short run. Because, yes, the hire was terrific. But conference realignment is happening now. Today. Yesterday. Colorado accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 on Thursday. Nebraska is in line to join the Big Ten today.
"And once that first pitch is thrown ...'' said outgoing Mountaineer athletic director Ed Pastilong.
Indeed, there will be a barrage. It's a critical time for WVU. And, although Luck said he would be in Morgantown frequently, he won't officially begin until July 1. Pastilong is, in effect, a lame duck, even though he'll serve as AD emeritus through 2012.
On Thursday, Pastilong was asked if he's been contacted in regard to realignment.
"No,'' he said. "Nothing has hit my desk.''
We'll soon find out how much hits the fan. And how fast it does so. And where WVU fits.
With that in mind, I asked Luck about his contacts within college athletics. As Clements said, "Oliver is a tremendous networker and a people person and has no problem making friends very, very quickly.''
As the situation stands, however, Luck needs to make friends like Marty McFly did in Back to the Future - retroactively.
Since that's impossible, here was the answer to my question regarding NCAA contacts:
"Well, that's a very fair question,'' Luck said via a teleconference. "I've gotten, through my son [Andrew, a quarterback at Stanford] and some other folks, some conference contacts in the Pac-10. I'm familiar with some of the Big East schools through work I've done here in Texas with our two big local BCS schools - the University of Texas, where I went to law school, and Texas A&M, up the road. I know the athletic directors well at both of those institutions.
"Ironically, they're both in the headlines.''
He continued.
"I wouldn't say I've got extensive contacts in intercollegiate athletics, but I think I've got enough contacts when we put those together with the contacts Eddie [Pastilong] has. Eddie and I spoke [Thursday] morning and he's pledged to me to do whatever I need or ask him to do, whatever's in the best interests of the university. And Jim's been working the phones very hard over the last four or five months with a variety of folks in the intercollegiate athletic world.''
That could be a key because college athletics is all about networking. Talk is cheap - except in college athletics.
"I actually feel I'm in a good position because I not only have Oliver Luck officially on board July 1 and in a decision-making position, but I have Ed Pastilong as well,'' Clements said. "I actually have a double. So we're more than covered. I am not concerned about having lack of leadership. We have leadership-plus in this case.''
We shall see. The bad news is, from all accounts, WVU is on the outside looking in as major conferences make their moves. The good news, at least from Thursday's teleconference, is Clements has been working the phones.
"Conference realignment and opportunities and options are certainly something Oliver and I will sit down and discuss, as I have with Ed Pastilong,'' Clements said. "A lot of people need to realize WVU is a great school. We're a great school athletically; we're a great school academically; we have an unbelievable media following; and our fans follow us everywhere. They're the best fans in the country.
"This is a strong and stable institution and we feel really good about how we're positioned.''
WVU, of course, is a strong and stable institution. As a university set up for the people of this state, however, it's not highly regarded nationally. That has hurt the school, especially in relation to talks concerning possible Big Ten expansion.
So it needs all the help it can get.
It needs someone working those phones.
And maybe, just maybe, a little Luck.
