JimBob
04-06-2008, 07:45 AM
Holder's search may be intense
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
4/6/2008
Last Modified: 4/6/2008 4:57 AM
If he doesn't nab Self, the search could be a long one.
Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder is admittedly a rookie at this coach-search stuff.
"I haven't done this before," said Holder at a Tuesday press conference. "I'm probably going to get a lot of lessons."
Actually, Holder is not a first-timer. He hired softball coach Rich Wieligman and has hired athletic department staff members. But Holder will make the first all-eyes-are-watching hire of his career when he picks a replacement for former basketball coach Sean Sutton.
When Sutton's departure was announced, Holder said he hadn't yet talked to any coaches, athletic directors, agents or search firms about candidates. He also said he didn't have a list of candidates in his drawer.
But people are kidding themselves if they think Holder, a former golf coach who raised the funds to build Karsten Creek, doesn't have a plan.
Holder was e-mailed a series of basic follow-up questions regarding the search late this week. His response was that he was in "stealth mode."
Holder is in San Antonio, site of the Final Four. That's also where presumed target Bill Self is. Stuart Campbell, who is Self's attorney, also is in San Antonio. While en route Friday, Campbell indicated that if OSU makes a run at Self, it likely would not occur until after Kansas' season is over.
Holder said OSU will conduct a national search and said candidates do not have to have OSU ties. Self is an OSU alum. A best guess is that a true national search will take place only if the Cowboys cannot lure Self back to campus. Hire Self, and the search is a sprint. Otherwise, it could be a marathon.
"I would rather get it right than get it done in a hurry," Holder said Tuesday.
If the search is a marathon, what might Holder experience?
University of Tulsa athletic director Bubba Cunningham oversaw searches to hire head football coaches at TU and his former school, Ball State. "I was totally consumed by it for that period of time," Cunningham said.
Former TU athletic director Judy MacLeod helped helm searches for two head football coaches and five men's basketball coaches.
"There is no question it is very intense and while you are doing it, that's pretty much all you do 24 hours a day," MacLeod, now Conference USA's executive associate commissioner, said.
MacLeod said there are always some job-related things that must get done during a search, but anything not urgent is put on hold.
"It's funny because I don't think you realize how it totally consumes you and there is a point where you are just going on adrenaline," she said.
Of course, everyone wants a piece of the athletic director during a coaching search.
"Some people don't understand, but it's impossible to return every phone call that comes in," MacLeod said. "You don't have enough hours during the day."
MacLeod said you get calls from candidates, people who hope to be candidates, people recommending candidates, media and people who are just interested in the search.
You can't please everyone, but Cunningham said he always en courages input.
"I don't think there is any harm in input," said Cunningham, who has hired a women's soccer coach, two women's golf coaches and a women's volleyball coach while at TU.
MacLeod said there were certain people she called every time there was a search, especially coaches or retired coaches whose opinions she valued.
Do athletic directors get better at searches as they gain experience?
"I think so," MacLeod said. "I think you learn from it every time, but one thing -- at least it was for me -- is no matter how many you do and no matter what your plan is going in, every search is different and different things happen, unexpected things. So it's not like just because I'm doing a search I can do A-B-C-D in that order because you are dealing with people and every search is just different."
Asked if you make a hire based on gut feeling or research, Cunningham said, "I think it's a combination . . . What I found to be most helpful in any hiring situation is being very, very comfortable with the criteria for which I was going to make the selection, whether the number one thing is recruiting or fit or philosophy or whatever that one or two pieces of criteria are, that's what I tried to focus on, and what is it going to take for this individual to be successful here?"
Of course, Cunningham's most high-profile hire was football coach Todd Graham, who led the Golden Hurricane to a C-USA Western Division title and a bowl victory last season.
"In his case, we were looking for consistency in fit and it allowed us to be consistent even though we were changing the head coach and we felt like since he was here and had experience here, he would be an immediate good fit," Cunningham said.
Holder didn't specify if OSU was going to use a search committee, but he said it would be a "team effort."
"I don't know who is going to be on the advance team to do the reconnaissance or surveillance or identify candidates or actually go interview them, but we have great people in our institution," he said. "We have great leadership and I'm sure that we will come up with a good plan and work with that."
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
4/6/2008
Last Modified: 4/6/2008 4:57 AM
If he doesn't nab Self, the search could be a long one.
Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder is admittedly a rookie at this coach-search stuff.
"I haven't done this before," said Holder at a Tuesday press conference. "I'm probably going to get a lot of lessons."
Actually, Holder is not a first-timer. He hired softball coach Rich Wieligman and has hired athletic department staff members. But Holder will make the first all-eyes-are-watching hire of his career when he picks a replacement for former basketball coach Sean Sutton.
When Sutton's departure was announced, Holder said he hadn't yet talked to any coaches, athletic directors, agents or search firms about candidates. He also said he didn't have a list of candidates in his drawer.
But people are kidding themselves if they think Holder, a former golf coach who raised the funds to build Karsten Creek, doesn't have a plan.
Holder was e-mailed a series of basic follow-up questions regarding the search late this week. His response was that he was in "stealth mode."
Holder is in San Antonio, site of the Final Four. That's also where presumed target Bill Self is. Stuart Campbell, who is Self's attorney, also is in San Antonio. While en route Friday, Campbell indicated that if OSU makes a run at Self, it likely would not occur until after Kansas' season is over.
Holder said OSU will conduct a national search and said candidates do not have to have OSU ties. Self is an OSU alum. A best guess is that a true national search will take place only if the Cowboys cannot lure Self back to campus. Hire Self, and the search is a sprint. Otherwise, it could be a marathon.
"I would rather get it right than get it done in a hurry," Holder said Tuesday.
If the search is a marathon, what might Holder experience?
University of Tulsa athletic director Bubba Cunningham oversaw searches to hire head football coaches at TU and his former school, Ball State. "I was totally consumed by it for that period of time," Cunningham said.
Former TU athletic director Judy MacLeod helped helm searches for two head football coaches and five men's basketball coaches.
"There is no question it is very intense and while you are doing it, that's pretty much all you do 24 hours a day," MacLeod, now Conference USA's executive associate commissioner, said.
MacLeod said there are always some job-related things that must get done during a search, but anything not urgent is put on hold.
"It's funny because I don't think you realize how it totally consumes you and there is a point where you are just going on adrenaline," she said.
Of course, everyone wants a piece of the athletic director during a coaching search.
"Some people don't understand, but it's impossible to return every phone call that comes in," MacLeod said. "You don't have enough hours during the day."
MacLeod said you get calls from candidates, people who hope to be candidates, people recommending candidates, media and people who are just interested in the search.
You can't please everyone, but Cunningham said he always en courages input.
"I don't think there is any harm in input," said Cunningham, who has hired a women's soccer coach, two women's golf coaches and a women's volleyball coach while at TU.
MacLeod said there were certain people she called every time there was a search, especially coaches or retired coaches whose opinions she valued.
Do athletic directors get better at searches as they gain experience?
"I think so," MacLeod said. "I think you learn from it every time, but one thing -- at least it was for me -- is no matter how many you do and no matter what your plan is going in, every search is different and different things happen, unexpected things. So it's not like just because I'm doing a search I can do A-B-C-D in that order because you are dealing with people and every search is just different."
Asked if you make a hire based on gut feeling or research, Cunningham said, "I think it's a combination . . . What I found to be most helpful in any hiring situation is being very, very comfortable with the criteria for which I was going to make the selection, whether the number one thing is recruiting or fit or philosophy or whatever that one or two pieces of criteria are, that's what I tried to focus on, and what is it going to take for this individual to be successful here?"
Of course, Cunningham's most high-profile hire was football coach Todd Graham, who led the Golden Hurricane to a C-USA Western Division title and a bowl victory last season.
"In his case, we were looking for consistency in fit and it allowed us to be consistent even though we were changing the head coach and we felt like since he was here and had experience here, he would be an immediate good fit," Cunningham said.
Holder didn't specify if OSU was going to use a search committee, but he said it would be a "team effort."
"I don't know who is going to be on the advance team to do the reconnaissance or surveillance or identify candidates or actually go interview them, but we have great people in our institution," he said. "We have great leadership and I'm sure that we will come up with a good plan and work with that."