New AD is named . . . at TN Tech

[E.T.]

8) Just keeping everyone updated on future opponents ... what did you think the HeadLine was about?  ;D

The search is over: Wilson is the pick

Buddy Pearson

Herald-Citizen Staff

The search is over, a decision has been made and Tennessee Tech has a new athletics director. After a conducting a nation-wide search, Tennessee Tech University has hired Mark Wilson as the director of athletics at TTU.

After screening 50 applicants and interviewing three candidates, TTU President Dr. Bob Bell chose Wilson, a 35-year-old senior associate athletics director at Ohio University, to head up Tech's athletic endeavors.

"It's a great feeling to have someone with Mark's background in place and to have the process over with such a successful outcome," explained Bell. "I think the search committee did a remarkable job."

Wilson becomes the first full-time athletic director in almost 20 years, dating back to Dave Coffey in the 1980s. Since then, Dr. David Larimore spent more than 17 years directing Tech's athletic programs on a part-time basis followed by Mike Hennigan who spent 10 months as the AD as well as the head football coach.

After Hennigan resigned from his AD duties in December, Dr. Bell decided to do away with the idea of the athletic director being a part-time job and decided it was time to make it a full-time position.

"I had observed for a number of years, not just Tech athletics, but OVC schools in general. I was really impressed with Dr. Dave Larimore and Dave Loos at Austin Peay who were both part-time administrators," Bell explained. "I thought both were outstanding ADs and had outstanding programs.

"I had been committed to staying with the part-time arrangement," Bell continued. "Over a two-to-three year period, I began to think that maybe here at Tech this might not be the best arrangement. Maybe we have moved to a point where we need a full-time person."

A search committee of 20 individuals was formed in January and the process of finding the next athletic director began. Headed up by Dr. Leo McGee, the committee consisting of Dr. Thurston Banks, TTU faculty/athletic representative; Kevin Carter of Budweiser; Tracy Cody of A to Z Office Supplies; Nelson Forrester of First Tennessee Bank; Vic Gernt, TTU Business Office; Philip Gibbons of Clear Channel Communications; Tom Hamilton, Director of TTU development; Frank Harrell, TTU interim athletics director; Mike Hennigan, TTU head football coach; Jim Hughes of Builder's Supply; Morris Irby of Fleetguard; George Johnson of Averitt Express; Diane Ledbetter-Smith, TTU associate athletics director; Deanna Metts, TTU director of internal audit; Bob Niebuhr, TTU College of Business; Jeff Roberts, TTU history professor; Mike Sutton, TTU men's head basketball coach; Grant Swallows, assistant football and baseball coach at Livingston Academy; Terri Watson, TTU administrative assistant; and, Bill Worrell, TTU women's head basketball coach, came up with a set of strict qualifications.

"We started a search and we looked for a group of people who could help us in the search," said Bell. "I remember one of the committee members saying 'You sure have a lot of people on here.'

"I wanted a lot of input from the committee so we made it rather large. They did a remarkable job in a short period of time."

Resume's and applications trickled in during the month of February until Dr. McGee believed the committee had a good pool of candidates to choose from.

"We had excellent representation from the community and the university," said Dr. McGee about the committee. "Their hearts were all in the right place as far as finding the right person goes. The committee really wanted to get the best person for Tennessee Tech and we worked as a team.

"It was also important to do some recruiting," McGee continued. "The committee recruited very hard both verbally and in writing to athletic directors in the Big 12, the SEC and the ACC. We encouraged them to help us identify the top candidates."

The committee whittled its list of potential athletic directors down to four -- Wilson, Dr. Sheahon Zenger of Kansas State, Michael Pratapas of Rice University and former Kentucky athletics director Larry Ivey.

Wilson, Zenger and Pratapas all came to Cookeville for an extensive two-day interview while Ivey decided to rescind his candidacy prior to his interview date. Zenger withdrew his name from consideration after interviewing.

Wilson spent Monday, April 26, and Tuesday, April 27, meeting with athletic administrators, coaches, athletic support staff, deans and directors, the faculty senate, students, folks in the community, the search committee, the president's executive advisory council and Dr. Bell. He then went back to Ohio and brought his wife and two daughters back to Cookeville this past weekend. He knew then, Tennessee Tech would be the right choice for him and his family.

"This wasn't a decision about Mark Wilson, it was a decision about our family," Wilson told the Herald-Citizen. "One of the things that was critical for me was that Michelle, Katey and Meaghan felt comfortable in the community and the university just like I did. We did take the opportunity to sneak down here on our own this week. They fell in love with it just like I had."

Now that Wilson was has been the choice of Dr. Bell and search committee members from the university and the community, he is ready to become part of a Tennessee Tech and Cookeville.

"I need to get engaged in the community right away," he said. "It's going to be critical for us in marketing and fundraising to have community involvement. It's going to be important that I rely on Frank Harrell and Mike Hennigan and all the coaches and staff and people at the university as well as the people in the community. We are real excited about making friends in Cookeville and Putnam County."

Published May 05, 2004 12:13 PM CDT

GO BULLS !!!

[Guest BasketBull.]

Behave E.T., or I'll tell your wife!

[USFMikeB]

I guess that's what it'll take to get us to actually pay much attention to that opponent...

[bulls96go]

they recruited b12 ect to help ID top candidates.

DID WE? or did we rely solely on our consultant and the "buzz".

[smazza]

another comedian is born

[E.T.]

Behave E.T., or I'll tell your wife!

She's already said that no matter how much of a lunatic I am, she still loves me  ;D

27 Days !!!