Friday, June 01, 2007
Screening Coaches
The departure of head men's basketball coach Mike Burns is certainly not a story anybody enjoys having to deal with. And while no one takes it lightly when someone with a family is out of a job, there is one slightly humorous side-note I would like to share.
As the media relations specialist for the University, my name is on the news release that was issued Wednesday regarding the coaching change. Since then, I have been fielding many phone calls from assistant coaches around the country interested in the coaching vacancy.
They apparently are calling me because the release specifically states to contact me if you would like to talk to the interim Athletic Director, Michael Westfall. And things get muddied here because Westfall is also our vice president for Advancement - which oversees my department, University Relations (hence, my involvement in all of this).
So, it's quite humorous to be fielding calls from assistant coaches all over the country. Each one is suddenly my 'friend' and before I have a chance to direct them to the right person they've reeled off their career coaching record, all the stops they've made along the way and how interested they are to either come out west or stay west in the Big Sky Conference.
Six months ago I was in television news covering politics, crime and general issues. Sort of funny to be fielding phone calls for prospective Division One basketball coaches.
Now back to my regular job.
As the media relations specialist for the University, my name is on the news release that was issued Wednesday regarding the coaching change. Since then, I have been fielding many phone calls from assistant coaches around the country interested in the coaching vacancy.
They apparently are calling me because the release specifically states to contact me if you would like to talk to the interim Athletic Director, Michael Westfall. And things get muddied here because Westfall is also our vice president for Advancement - which oversees my department, University Relations (hence, my involvement in all of this).
So, it's quite humorous to be fielding calls from assistant coaches all over the country. Each one is suddenly my 'friend' and before I have a chance to direct them to the right person they've reeled off their career coaching record, all the stops they've made along the way and how interested they are to either come out west or stay west in the Big Sky Conference.
Six months ago I was in television news covering politics, crime and general issues. Sort of funny to be fielding phone calls for prospective Division One basketball coaches.
Now back to my regular job.
