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Q&A: Mike Waddell, Towson University Director of Athletics
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Mike Waddell
(Towson Athletics) |
Mike Waddell was introduced as Towson University's eighth director of athletics Sept. 29, 2010, arriving at Towson after five years as the senior associate director of athletics for external relations at the University of Cincinnati. Waddell oversees an athletic program with 20 sports and nearly 500 athletes.
PressBox recently caught up with Waddell to talk about his first 10 months on the job.
PressBox: What are the biggest challenges or surprises you've seen in your short time at Towson?
Mike Waddell: I don't know if there have been any surprises. I believe they are just challenges that we all have to work with together. I've been here now just a little bit over eight months, and we've had a lot of big issues that we've had to deal with.
We've obviously lost our president -- I mean that was day 79 for me, so when I came here I had a 120-day plan, I guess the biggest surprise was losing our president on day 79. Then in April we hired a basketball coach. In May, we hired a lacrosse coach here. In June, we've hired the deputy director of athletics … and we've reorganized our senior staff to where now all of our senior staff reports directly to me and then all the sports report to our senior staff.
I think the biggest challenge for our staff is adjusting to a third athletic director in six years. So, that's a challenge for them to adjust to and that's a challenge for me to be able to be able to articulate my vision, amidst all this change. It's upward of 26 people that have been hired into our department since I've started. That's a quarter of the work force that's turned over and with that we've had to restructure ourselves. ... We have to put the systems and processes in place to be able to be prepared for the success we will have very soon.
PB: Does Towson face different challenges than other schools, just the fact that there are so many schools in Baltimore and in Maryland, especially when it comes to a sport like lacrosse? Are those challenges for you as an AD or is that something that can really make Towson an easy sell?
MW: I think it can be both. It depends on how you look at it -- I look at it, it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to make something happen, especially in a sport like lacrosse. For our women's program under a first-year coach to go out and for the first time in school history win a regular-season CAA championship, that was great. ... Where we are right now with our men's program under the leadership of Shaun Nadelen, we're trying to take a good look at where we are in the landscape of lacrosse, what do we need to do to put ourselves in position to not only contend for a CAA championship on an annual basis, but to get back to the Final Four.
With lacrosse, it's a regional phenomenon around here in terms of the fervor with which the media focuses on it, but make no mistake about it, our No. 1 priority in terms of our athletics department is basketball on the women's and the men's side. As we move on with each year, our goal is to continually improve and have a pattern of improvement in terms of support for our other sports.
PB: When does the athletic season kick off for Towson this fall?
MW: Our first home football game is Sept. 3 against Morgan State. That was a game that was not originally on the schedule, but we worked along with (Morgan State athletic director) Floyd Kerr and the leadership over at Morgan to put this game together for this year. We want to put together some great partnerships that make sense and that can help the community, but also showcase college football in Baltimore, because outside of Towson and Morgan, there is no Division I college football in the city. There are a lot of great opportunities. It's our hope to work out and be able to make a Morgan-Towson game a regular on our schedule.
PB: And the football team has a short road trip to Maryland this season?
MW: It's the first time in our 42-year football history that we've ever played Maryland, and that game will be Oct. 1. Our schedule this year is really set up for coach Rob Ambrose and our team to really have success because we play six home games out of an 11-game schedule and we don't leave the state of Maryland until Oct. 15. We're very lucky to have our first three games at home, an open date in Week 3, and then Maryland in Week 5 in College Park.
PB: It's great for Baltimore fans to know that they'll at least have some football come fall.
MW: Absolutely. I mean we're very supportive of the Ravens they've been great partners to us. They're our partners in hosting the Division I lacrosse final ever year. Steve Bisciotti and his staff are great for their community and we are firmly behind them. We hosted the Ravens players for their unofficial workout back in May. We'll continue to work with them in a variety of projects, whether it be around community service or summer camp.
PB: You talked about how you came into the job with a 120-day plan and the president retired. I bet you didn't think you'd have locked-out NFL players practicing within about six months of you taking the job.
MW: No, but I've been in two NFL markets before in Cleveland and Cincinnati, so you learn real quick that the NFL is the power brand in American sports. If there's anything you can do to latch on that and if it rubs off on you and gives you a little bit of publicity, that's a great thing to do. I'm very fortunate to have an aggressive coach in Rob Ambrose on the football side who understands that and who saw the opportunity and made that happen for the school and for the Ravens.
-- Interview conducted by Kevin Heitz
Issue 163: July 2011 |
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