Latest Athletic Updates – Coaching Effectively
As the University of Arizona continues to search for its next athletic director, it is interesting to take a look at the latest athletics updates that have been making the rounds. First the school has brought in Curt Bois, former University of Alabama football strength coach, to be the new athletics director. Then they have brought in Tomavez, associate athletic director for communications at the university and are hoping to make athletics marketing coordinator as well.
There is one element of the latest athletics updates that have caught my eye. Apparently the university is in the process of hiring Keith Urban, currently the defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State. Urban has been a part of many successful programs at Middle Tennessee State and holds a national championship banner for the Tigers. However, Urban seems to be at the center of controversy regarding his status at the school. I have speculated that he might be looking to take advantage of an already difficult situation by hiring someone who will run the athletics department while him shadowing the star quarterback of the program and keeping tabs on the hiring of top-notch coaches.
If the current situation is any indication of the problems that can arise in college athletics, there will be a lot of questions that can be answered through the latest athletics updates. Urban’s first move as athletic director was to completely change the Athletic Department leadership structure which put me in an odd position. Because there are more full-time job requirements than ever before for an Athletic Director position in the sport, I am sure that a number of those job requirements will be filled by Urban. Therefore, it could be the perfect time to make some changes in the athletic department. Change the leadership structure, give some raises or promotions and let the players get what they want. I just don’t see any problem with that, however, there are a couple of issues that come up when you take it to the next level.
For one, what happens if Urban goes back to his 3-year plan and start recruiting and signing more student-athletes early in the next decade? That means there will be less room for those athletes to compete for the top-rated football programs in the nation. It also means that there won’t be nearly as many quality recruits to go around to play at the smaller Division II or Junior College programs. In addition, Urban has mentioned that he wants to expand the scope of our facilities all across the board including our high school programs, which means that if there is a lack of space in the dorms that you have at your school you will be even more pressed to find a solution other than satellite television for your student-athletes.
Secondly, what does the recent college year academic cheating scandal say to the future of women’s volleyball in our country? The second part of this question is very disturbing. Many would like to believe that our colleges are beyond any type of impropriety and have zero tolerance for anything less than straight forward academic honesty. However, there has been enough smoke to fill the entire ducat and I fear that we may soon see a lot more fire.
As of right now the biggest story is Urban Meyer and his potential downfall as Florida Gators athletic director. I would be very surprised if he is not implicated in the entire scandal. However, I am not saying that he should resign or get fired at this time. What I am saying is that we need to keep an eye on how much contact athletic directors have with players as well as the type of social media that they use. We certainly don’t want our high school athletes using these social networking sites to try to recruit their peers.