University of Minnesota names search committee to help find new AD

MINNEAPOLIS -- University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler announced Tuesday the school has hired a search committee as well as put together a 21-person advisory committee to assist in the hiring of a new athletic director for when Joel Maturi steps down on June 30.

Parker Executive Search has been used by the university in the past in hiring Tubby Smith and Jerry Kill, and Kaler says they will cast a wide net to find the "most qualified candidate in the United States."

"The search firm is a part of modern searches now days," Kaler said in a press conference. "A search firm that has a long history of performing these types of searches gets us access to hundreds of names of qualified candidates and really speeds things along."

Kaler, who appeared with co-chairs Timothy Mulcahy and Mary Jo Kane, said the search will cost the school roughly $100,000 and doesn't expect the process of naming a new athletic director to drag on.

"These searches have a pretty quick timeline," he said. "We hope to be able to name a person in late-April or early-May and have that (person in) place on July 1 when Joel steps down."

Kaler said he has names in mind -- none of which he would divulge -- and said he will work with the committee. However, due to confidentiality issues he will not be part of the interviewing process until someone is named as a finalist.

"If we want to attract sitting athletic directors or other qualified candidates who today have great jobs, it is important to keep their candidacy confidential until they advance to the final status at (which) point their names become public," Kaler said."

The only name brought up was Jim Fiore of Stony Brook. Kaler and Fiore are friends and when Kaler was asked about reports that Fiore was the leading candidate for the job, he smiled and said: "Jim Fiore is a good friend of mine."

It appeared Kaler seemed partial to attracting a current sitting athletic director but said he wouldn't take a myopic approach on a hire that he joked was the most important one of the 21st century.

"I would be real comfortable with somebody with that sitting AD experience, but I am open to qualified candidates from really a wide range of backgrounds," he said. "It is going to be a matter of the right fit, the right background and the right personal values."

Kaler said the university will be competitive in terms of payment for the person selected to replace Maturi. "I expect we are going to have to pay Big Ten market value," Kaler said. "I expect us to be in the mid-range of that to be competitive."

Helping advise the search will be the 21-person committee that includes Gophers quarterback MarQueis Gray and former basketball player Quincy Lewis. Kane said the committee has been selected because they all share the common values and beliefs they are looking for in their next athletic director.

"They have been selected for their knowledge, their expertise, their own integrity and they are people who work both in the trenches and who care deeply about this University," Kane said, who was part of the committee that brought in Maturi over a decade ago."

The four members of the search committee: R. Timothy Mulcahy, vice president for research, University of Minnesota (co-chair); Mary Jo Kane, professor and director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport in the School of Kinesiology; Amy Phenix, chief of staff, office of the president, University of Minnesota; John E. Lindahl, managing general partner, Norwest Equity Partners.

The larger search advisory committee brings together faculty, staff, students, community leaders and alumni. Its members:

Co-chairs - Mulcahy and Kane

Student athletes - MarQueis Gray, football; Mia Tabberson, volleyball

Coaches - Don Lucia, men's hockey; Meg Stephenson, women's gymnastics

Athletic staff - Dan O'Brien, football operations

Faculty and academic leadership - Perry Leo, professor and department director, aerospace engineering, and faculty athletic representative; Linda Brady, professor, food science and nutrition, and faculty athletic representative; Virginia Zuiker, associate professor, family social science, and chair, advisory committee on athletics; Walt Jacobs, associate professor and chair, African American & African Studies, and vice chair, Faculty Consultative Committee; Robert McMaster, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education

Compliance - JT Bruett, director, athletic compliance

Community members - Julianne Bye, Archie Givens, Nancy Lindahl, Peggy Lucas, Dave Mona, Lou Nanne, Mark Sheffert and Darrell Thompson

Former student athletes - Quincy Lewis, basketball; and Sue Grimm, swimming, president, M Club 

Dana Wessel is a contributor to 1500ESPN.com.
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