AD Search

[factman]

Anyone have the live feed link?

[BGorDeath]

First order of business should be fresh popcorn at all games.

[Flipper]

Seems like a good hire...experienced, knows the conference...what the hell do I know though?

[hammb]

This seems like a good get. Things that stand out to me from the first look/bio on the Arizona site:

* MAC experience. May not matter, maybe it does. But he played football here and should know the conference landscape
* Responsibilities included managing the entire Athletic Dept Budget and master plan
* Negotiated some big time deals for Arizona, Fundraising efforts at Austin Peay
* Football player background and executive experience at an upper echelon basketball school and a mid major hoops school

If anybody can find the presser stream I'd love to listen in. I hope he has a comprehensive plan to run BGSU athletics in a fashion similarly to how Arizona or other big time departments are run. Budgeting is obviously an order of magnitude smaller, but the department could still be run appropriately which has NOT happened here for quite some time.

[hammb]

Also is it just me or does it sound like his duties managing day to day ops of the dept, managing the budget, negotiating the contracts almost make him the defacto AD at Arizona? Maybe it's overblown fluff but it almost sounds like he was the one doing the work while their actual AD was schmoozing donors? IS that the way it works at that level, maybe?

[mbenecke]

Also is it just me or does it sound like his duties managing day to day ops of the dept, managing the budget, negotiating the contracts almost make him the defacto AD at Arizona? Maybe it's overblown fluff but it almost sounds like he was the one doing the work while their actual AD was schmoozing donors? IS that the way it works at that level, maybe?

He was the COO of their company (department), all things considered.

I think this has the chance to be a really good hire for us, at least on paper.

I also think it's interesting that Loeffler's time as the QB coach at CMU coincides with time van der Merwe spent there. I have to imagine they are familiar with each other.

[hammb]

Also is it just me or does it sound like his duties managing day to day ops of the dept, managing the budget, negotiating the contracts almost make him the defacto AD at Arizona? Maybe it's overblown fluff but it almost sounds like he was the one doing the work while their actual AD was schmoozing donors? IS that the way it works at that level, maybe?

He was the COO of their company (department), all things considered.

I think this has the chance to be a really good hire for us, at least on paper.

I also think it's interesting that Loeffler's time as the QB coach at CMU coincides with time van der Merwe spent there. I have to imagine they are familiar with each other.

Nice catch about the overlap at CMU. I really hope SL keeps winning some football games so the new guy can put the proper focus on the shitshow that is BGSU Basketball.

[notkithughes]

We shall see.
On the flip side, AZ football is arguably the worst team in the Power 5. Not sure what he is going to do to support Loeffler or the program.
And then there is hockey. SMH...... Once again, the only program BGSU can legitimately say we COULD win a national championship...... the guy has no experience running that program that I see.

[mbenecke]

A link to the stream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ApEIkHsttI

[hammb]

We shall see.
On the flip side, AZ football is arguably the worst team in the Power 5. Not sure what he is going to do to support Loeffler or the program.
And then there is hockey. SMH...... Once again, the only program BGSU can legitimately say we COULD win a national championship...... the guy has no experience running that program that I see.

Fair criticism. I am guilty of forgetting about hockey a lot just because the sport doesn't interest me, but you are absolutely correct that BGSU should focus on hockey as much as any sport in the department. It is curious that he doesn't have experience there.

Although limiting yourself to people experienced managing Hockey/Football/Basketball may be limiting. The hope is whatever skills he gained working in Arizona would translate to hockey as well as elsewhere in the department.

Fingers crossed.

[mbenecke]

I'm okay with the lack of experience on the hockey side of things because I think he'll be a great fundraiser anyway, and there's a wealth of hockey knowledge among that program's alumni that he can lean on if he has to make hard decisions for that program in the future.

[jpfalcon09]

We shall see.
On the flip side, AZ football is arguably the worst team in the Power 5. Not sure what he is going to do to support Loeffler or the program.
And then there is hockey. SMH...... Once again, the only program BGSU can legitimately say we COULD win a national championship...... the guy has no experience running that program that I see.

Fair criticism. I am guilty of forgetting about hockey a lot just because the sport doesn't interest me, but you are absolutely correct that BGSU should focus on hockey as much as any sport in the department. It is curious that he doesn't have experience there.

Although limiting yourself to people experienced managing Hockey/Football/Basketball may be limiting. The hope is whatever skills he gained working in Arizona would translate to hockey as well as elsewhere in the department.

Fingers crossed.

Quite frankly it's not as big of an issue for hockey as you think. There's an associate AD who helps to run the program and I'd argue that individual is more important than the main AD.

[BillyLP]

I don't know Van Der Merwe personally, or anyone who has worked with him, but just looking at his history here are some things I like:

- Previous experience as an Athletics Director
- Good experience as a fundraiser
- Experience in other disciplines such as PR, marketing, & operations
- Experience in the MAC, FCS, and Power 5

My big red flag: He wasn't super successful as the AD at Austin Peay. It seems like he was asked to transfer out of the role because he was good at some parts, and AP wanted him to focus on those instead of running athletics. This was 7-8 years ago and it is very possible he has learned the ropes a lot better in his roles since then.

I think it is a solid, but safe hire. Maybe that's what we need. Best of luck to him and I hope he brings big change with him.

[notkithughes]

We shall see.
On the flip side, AZ football is arguably the worst team in the Power 5. Not sure what he is going to do to support Loeffler or the program.
And then there is hockey. SMH...... Once again, the only program BGSU can legitimately say we COULD win a national championship...... the guy has no experience running that program that I see.

Fair criticism. I am guilty of forgetting about hockey a lot just because the sport doesn't interest me, but you are absolutely correct that BGSU should focus on hockey as much as any sport in the department. It is curious that he doesn't have experience there.

Although limiting yourself to people experienced managing Hockey/Football/Basketball may be limiting. The hope is whatever skills he gained working in Arizona would translate to hockey as well as elsewhere in the department.

Fingers crossed.

Quite frankly it's not as big of an issue for hockey as you think. There's an associate AD who helps to run the program and I'd argue that individual is more important than the main AD.

There is? I don't know of whom you speak... and would love to hear Ty's take on that comment.

[jpfalcon09]

We shall see.
On the flip side, AZ football is arguably the worst team in the Power 5. Not sure what he is going to do to support Loeffler or the program.
And then there is hockey. SMH...... Once again, the only program BGSU can legitimately say we COULD win a national championship...... the guy has no experience running that program that I see.

Fair criticism. I am guilty of forgetting about hockey a lot just because the sport doesn't interest me, but you are absolutely correct that BGSU should focus on hockey as much as any sport in the department. It is curious that he doesn't have experience there.

Although limiting yourself to people experienced managing Hockey/Football/Basketball may be limiting. The hope is whatever skills he gained working in Arizona would translate to hockey as well as elsewhere in the department.

Fingers crossed.

Quite frankly it's not as big of an issue for hockey as you think. There's an associate AD who helps to run the program and I'd argue that individual is more important than the main AD.

There is? I don't know of whom you speak... and would love to hear Ty's take on that comment.

Chet Hesson is listed on staff as the associate AD for hockey. I can't comment on how well he's involved with the program. Certainly if he's not then I hope Derek leans on the right people to help make sure the program stays viable.