Athens, Ga. – Dan Radakovich, Louisiana State University (LSU) senior associate director of athletics, should be Auburn University’s new athletic director – at least that is what students in a University of Georgia sport business class think.
Students in College of Education instructor Robert Zullo’s class recently completed a project in which they acted as the search committee for the open position of athletic director at Auburn.
The students were asked to pitch one candidate to the president of Auburn, citing the individual’s biographical information, strengths and weaknesses relative to the university’s needs.
In preparation for the project, the class visited with UGA alumna Laurie Wilder, vice president of Baker, Parker, and Associates search firm in Atlanta. Wilder instructed students on identifying needs, assessing and interviewing candidates, conducting background checks and working with all the constituents of an organization.
Radakovich received 17 of the 27 class votes with Greg McGarity, associate director of athletics at the University of Florida, and Jay Jacobs, senior associate director of athletics at Auburn, finishing in a tie for second.
Senior Corey Jenkins of Danielsville said he chose Radakovich for the position partly because of his experience, but also because he heard him speak at a recent Sport Business Club meeting.
“I was impressed with what he had to say,” said Jenkins, a sports studies major. “Serving as both an athletic director and associate athletic director, Radakovich gained great experience in budgeting, event management, fund-raising, overseeing concessions, football travel coordination and marketing.”
Other top recommended candidates for Auburn’s athletic director included Gene Smith, athletic director at Arizona State University; Debbie Yow, athletic director at the University of Maryland; and Chris Plonsky, director of external affairs and women’s’ athletic director at the University of Texas.
Thirty-three additional individuals made the finalist list including Claude Felton, associate athletic director at UGA; Dave Braine, athletic director at Georgia Tech; and Vince Dooley, former UGA athletic director.
Courtney LaJoe, a senior from Stone Mountain majoring in sport studies, said she chose Yow as her choice for athletic director because of her past experiences as both a coach and former collegiate athlete.
“Her qualifications allow her to understand the needs and wants of both athletes and coaches,” she explained.
LaJoe said that researching Yow for the project was encouraging since she is also a female pursuing a career in a mostly male-dominated field. “I feel it is very difficult for women to get equal opportunities in certain fields – sports being one of them. Yow not only got a job in the sports industry, but also became an athletic director at a Division I school before going to Maryland in 1994.”
Auburn is searching for a new athletic director after the current director, David Housel, announced that he would retire in January 2005 after a firestorm of controversy surrounding a trip to interview University of Louisville coach Bobby Petrino last November with the school’s president and two members of Auburn’s Board of Trustees.
Auburn has already interviewed their four finalists for the position, which include Radakovich,
McGarity, Jacobs and Scott Etheridge, an Auburn alumnus who is chief financial officer at NBC Sports.
Last year Zullo’s class correctly picked Damon Evans as UGA’s new director of athletics in a similar project, with Yow receiving the next highest number of votes.
Other student projects have included studying whether to renovate 40-plus-year-old Stegeman Coliseum or build a new facility, and pitching sample sponsorship proposals to corporate representatives from Cingular, UPS, Russell Athletics, Coke, Chick-fil-A and Transcontinental Hotel Groups.
“We recently had a group pitch the Professional Bull Riding Association to UPS and Chick-fil-A in a cross-promotion. Now that was interesting,” said Zullo. “They have to construct a Web site and professional proposal and present in front of the class.”
Zullo is an instructor in the sport studies undergraduate program and is currently pursuing his doctorate from UGA.
